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Mecynorrhina torquata


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I imported 8 larva of Mecynorrhina torquata last year. I had never ever had beetles before, but wanted to try my luck at raising them. Well, what a shocker it was when I opened up my parcel to see these GIANT larva with huge mouth parts that were ready to clamp down on anything that touched them. They were terrifying, and nobody wanted to look at them but me. I was fascinated with them. I read all the information I could before I got them, and I had set up little deli cups for them.

Anyway, it was quite a trial trying to find things these guys would eat. They all seemed to like WELLNESS brand dog food, as well as apple chunks, and pear chunks as well as all the weird kind of woods that Beetles prefer.

You can imagine my shock when some of them actually started to pupate. I was so happy. I had no idea what they were doing when they stopped eating. I thought they were all dying.

I was lucky enough to have my female larva pupate up against the wall of her container, so I got a front row seat to watch the full transformation. It was amazing.. It's too bad my camera didn't agree with me, and took horribly blurry shots every time.

My female was the first to emerge. She was so shiny and green. She had a bit of brown on her back, but lost it after a couple days of emerging. Soon after a male followed, and then another. I ended up with 3 Beetles all together. One larva died from a mite infestation I could not get rid of and One died building its little nest/cacoony area. I still have one that is a little strangler and hasnt pupated or anything. I think he likes being a larva.

I put all three beetles together in a 20Gallon tank, and let them do their beetle thing. I threw all kinds of food in there for them, and water, and wood and stuff. They all seemed to ignore each other, or bury themselves. At night I would hear them flying around inside the cage.

One night I was lucky enough to actually catch some breeding action. The male used his little nose/horn to grab hold of the female underneath a leg, and shove her around, positioning her. I would liken it to Beetle "Rape". He was not nice with her at all. He tossed her all over the cage. Poor girl.

A few days later I found her dead. I was really upset. I figured the tough love he gave her wore her out. A couple days after the female died, I found the male clinging to life. He soon passed away as well.

By now I was really upset. And the little male that got no action was all alone. Its been a few weeks, and I noticed some of the food was starting to spoil, so I figured I would clean it out. So I took out all the gross food, the started to mix the dirt around so it was all damp, instead of dry and wet patches.

Guess what I found? 3 baby larva kicking around in the dirt. They are so tiny, I can't believe it. I never exected to find babies, because of how fast the female died after I saw breeding action. I must have missed the important egg laying process. Damn my need for sleep. =)

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Thank you. =) It was a tough call on what kind of beetles to get first, but I couldn't resist these guys. Their colour is what did it for me. They are absolutely gorgeous. A little smaller than what I thought they'd be. Everything I read said they were the second largest/heaviest of the beetles.. But they just seem small. Maybe I was hoping for something gigantic? Here's a picture of my second male as he emerged. He has the cutest little horn on his face. Haha.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 6 years later...
On 5/22/2011 at 9:16 AM, purrfectdarkness said:

Thank you. =) It was a tough call on what kind of beetles to get first, but I couldn't resist these guys. Their colour is what did it for me. They are absolutely gorgeous. A little smaller than what I thought they'd be. Everything I read said they were the second largest/heaviest of the beetles.. But they just seem small. Maybe I was hoping for something gigantic? Here's a picture of my second male as he emerged. He has the cutest little horn on his face. Haha.

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They can be a lot bigger but it is not always easy to raise a major male.

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  • 2 months later...

You say that you gave them mainly wood as larvae? Wood is generally saved for lucanus and dynastes species, while cetoniids only need a little of it, if at all. The main substrate should consist of well decayed leaves, and little to no wood. In terms of supplement foods, I find that a specific brand of turtle hatchling formula works great, just sprinkle a little pile on top and wait for the grubs to eat.

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  • 4 years later...

Wonderful pics and information, thanks.

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