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Breeding Scarab beetles - The captive breeding of scarab beetles of the families cetoniinae and dynastinae will be discussed in this online manual. There is a general technique for rearing such beetles which involves creation of a rearing substrate consisting of two basic materials: wood mulch and leaf mulch. The process for creating these two substrate components will be described early on in the manual. The manual is divided into two sections. Section 1 concerns mainly the procurement and preparation of the materials you will use to create your rearing substrate, and section 2 deals with the actual biology and life cycle of the beetles themselves. The mulch ratios and extra additives used in the final substrate mixture will vary depending upon the species you wish to rear, and all beetle hobbyists have their own personal variations and techniques of using it. I would like to point out that the rearing of scarab beetles is by no means an easy thing to teach someone, and it is actually a skill which must be learned by personal experience. To become a real master of scarab beetle propagation, one must often work at it for many years as one would for a hobby such as exotic plant culture. In time, you will develop an innate sense about things such as substrate quality, and will be able to determine its precise moisture level and consistency just by touching, smelling, and looking at it! The sequential instructions presented in this manual however, will give you a good head start about what to do.
(note: If you are seeking information specifically for Goliathus, please refer to the Goliathus manual for breeding/rearing info on such.)
Section 1 - Substrate collection and preparation:
Before you even obtain some pairs of adult scarabs for breeding, it is always a good idea to at least have the materials prepared that will be used to create the rearing substrate. The materials used to rear beetles of the subfamilies cetoniinae and dynastinae are heavily decomposed deciduous hardwoods and old leaf litter that has aged to the point that it has become a bit soft and moldy. When found in nature, these two materials are very seldom of the proper consistency for ideal use as a rearing substrate for captive beetles, and they usually must be broken down further. So, the first section of this manual will be concerned with explaining the methods by which one actually prepares these two materials, and uses them to create the rearing substrate which is the very foundation of captive scarab breeding.
(a - collection of the substrate materials)
Obviously, the first thing you need to do is locate some sources of decayed wood and leaves. If you have access to some deciduous hardwood forest or woodland (see figures 1 & 2 at right), that will certainly be one of the best places to look for what you need.
Note: If you live in a part of the world where venomous snakes and spiders are common, use caution when exploring a wooded area. For the wood, what you'll be looking for are rotten, decomposing logs and stumps of deciduous hardwood trees. These are non-coniferous trees which shed their leaves each year, and have wood which is quite hard when in the living state, hence their name. A large hardwood log lying on the forest floor can take upwards of 10-15 years to become aged to the point that it will make an attractive food for scarab beetle larvae. Wood that is fresh is completely useless. Even an old hardwood log can be tough to break into pieces of a manageable size to transport home, so it's a good idea to bring some strong tools to break up logs. A large sledgehammer can prove very effective, as can a strong pickax. Fungal action is the decomposing agent that makes these logs suitable as a component for rearing substrate. When the spore (microscopic seed) of a species of wood-eating fungus lands on a log which is of proper age and moisture content, it starts sending out tiny roots called mycelia. Over many years, these mycelia spread and gradually party digest the hard cellulose of which the log is made. In time, the log is transformed from a very solid wood to one that is very soft and crumbly. In addition to the fungus, there are other living things which help get the log into a condition appropriate for your use. Ants, termites, and the larvae of many beetles and other invertebrates all take up residence inside logs and dead stumps once fungal transformation has begun, and further aid in breaking down the wood into a suitable, crumbling consistency. One of the very best varieties of decomposing wood and leaves to use is that which originates from species of Oak trees (Quercus sp.). Also, that from Beech (Fagus sp.) is very suitable.
In general, decomposing material from all species of deciduous hardwood trees can be used, but one should generally avoid the use of coniferous (needle-leafed) trees such as Pine (Pinus) and Cypress (Cupressus). The reason is because the wood of these trees contain resin and oils which are toxic to scarab beetle larvae. Thus, the many commercially available forest products such as pine bark mulch and cypress wood mulch are quite useless to the beetle hobby. If you live in an area of very old growth coniferous forest, and find a log which has obviously been decomposing for an extremely long time and has become exceptionally soft and crumbling, it can be used so long as you cannot detect any resin smell upon close examination. If it has a strong fungal smell when moistened, then you can be reasonably sure that it has reached a stage of decomposition that would make it suitable for scarab beetle larvae. The main concern with coniferous wood lies with the presence of resin. Very old and rotten conifer logs and stumps lack this compound, as it gradually evaporates out of the wood during the decomposition process.
It does take many years for this to occur, however, so only use conifer wood which you are quite sure is extremely old and decomposed. Some types of conifer wood, such as Cedar (Cedrus) never really become suitable for use, as their wood is so dense and strong that it can withstand the forces of decay for many decades, remaining completely hard and intact. If you can get access to fine shavings or sawdust from hardwood trees however, that would be suitable, but it would still be fresh and un-decomposed, and some alteration would be necessary using commercially available fungal cultures. Making your own decomposed wood using fungi is a process complex enough to warrant its own section in this manual, and so it will be discussed at some point in the future after I have gained experience with it. For now, I will continue to describe the means by which one makes rearing substrate by simply using materials gathered from nature itself.
As for the decomposing leaves, I think you'll find this a much easier material to find and collect. Deciduous hardwood trees such as Oak (Quercus), Beech (Fagus), Elm (Ulmus), Maple (Acer) and many others are all suitable. It is best to use leaves from species which have rather large leaves, because this will end up amounting to a greater quantity of the leaf mulch which will be created from them. It is possible to use rather freshly fallen leaves once they have been on the ground for several months, but if you can get leaves that have been "composting" for a couple of years and have obvious signs of decay, that will be even better! To quickly gather old leaves for transport, I just rake them into large piles and then stuff them into ordinary plastic garbage bags, compressing them periodically. To always have a ready supply of decomposing leaves year-round, you might want to consider creating a special compost pile for leaves only. A small space enclosed with fencing or wooden panels will work well for this purpose. All you need to do is keep the leaves in a somewhat sheltered area to prevent them from being blown away in the wind. See the example in the photo at left (fig. 8).
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(b - preparation of the substrate materials) All right, so lets assume that you have obtained the decaying wood and leaves that you need to create your beetle rearing substrate. The time has come to further break down those materials, and turn them into a soft mulch. The leaves, being thin and brittle will be very simple to process into a finer consistency. The wood will likely prove to be considerably more labor intensive, and I will discuss how to break up the wood first. You'll need a standard plastic 5 gallon (19 liter) pail (sold in hardware stores), a strong flat edged shovel, and possibly even a sledgehammer for harder, more stubborn pieces of wood. If the wood is very dry and tough, it is helpful to submerge it underwater for 24 hours or so in a large container such as a plastic trash can. An easy way to do this is to get a large trash can with a tight fitting lid which can be locked down on the sides. Fill it nearly to the top with the decomposed wood chunks and secure the lid. Make a small hole in the lid that is just large enough to pass the end of a garden hose through, and then fill the can with water until it starts flowing out the hole in the lid. Then, let it stand for a night and a day. You'll find the wood much more pliable and easier to break up after this water saturation treatment. After you have taken your wood out of the water the following day (assuming that you needed to use that extra step), put enough of the decayed wood chunks into the 5 gallon pail to fill it up about half way. Then, with many strong, fast downward chops, use the shovel to chop and pulverize the wood to the point that it consists of particles that are between the size of a grain of rice and about 20 mm. It's okay to have a number of much larger chunks than that, but you really want most of the wood to be composed of fine particles and shavings. This can take some time and effort to do, but it is necessary. Wear heavy work gloves to prevent damage to your hands. This can be a rather laborious effort if you are working with decayed wood that still contains a considerable amount of harder pieces, and make sure to take frequent breaks if you feel it necessary. Be mindful of the outdoor temperature in warm climates, and do this work in the shade!
Just keep repeating this process of half filling the pail with wood chunks and pulverizing them with the shovel, placing the finished product into a large storage container such as a plastic trash can. An example is shown on this page (figs. 12 & 13) of the type of trash can with lid that works very well for the storage of mulch. As you can see, it has handles on the sides that can be used to lock the plastic lid down securely. A can of this type costs about US$10. Several large holes should be cut or drilled in the lid as shown (fig. 13) to allow the mulch to "breathe", continuously, otherwise your mulch can develop problems with anaerobic bacteria. These bacteria will cause a bad sulfurous smell, and can turn your mulch into an oily sludge over time. The next paragraph concerns your wood mulch only if you did not use the water pre-soak step mentioned earlier. When you submerged the wood, you not only softened it, but you also pretty much cleared the wood of any unwanted organisms at the same time. If you did not use the pre-soak to soften the wood for chipping, you'll still need to soak your finished mulch for a 24 hour period to serve this purpose, in the event that it happens to contain ants or other small animals which could potentially be pests in your beetle terrariums. After 24 hours, you should retrieve your soaked mulch and spread it out on a large sheet of plastic to dry somewhat before gathering it up and placing it in its storage can. Do not allow it to sit in the water for more than a couple of days, otherwise it can begin to develop a sulfurous smell from bacterial build-up. If the sun is hot, you can dry it to about the right moisture level in one day or less, but when it comes right out of the water, it will be far too wet for immediate storage. You may want to use a rake to periodically rotate the mulch to speed up the drying process, especially if the weather is cool or there is no sun. Do not over-dry the mulch. It only needs to be moist enough that you can squeeze a clump of it very hard and only have it stick together rather loosely momentarily. If you squeeze it and a lot of water freely runs out, it is still far too wet. You will come to develop a sense of when the moisture level is right. It should merely be moist to the touch, not soaking wet!
Now, here's how to process the dried leaves - the leaves need to be chipped into a finer consistency just as you did for the wood. The simplest and most time efficient way of doing this is to use an electric or gasoline powered leaf blower (such as the electric model shown in the photo (fig. 14) which has a function for turning leaves into mulch. This allows you to reverse the air flow from the leaf blower, so you can use it as a leaf vacuum. When the leaves are sucked into the machine, they are chopped up nicely by the internal blades and sent into a collection bag which can then be emptied into a large container like a trash can. If the leaves you have collected are quite damp, you'll need to spread them out on the ground to dry them for a while, as these machines are designed to suck up dry leaves, and not ones with a lot of moisture in them. Also, take care not to suck up any twigs or sticks, because they can jam the mulching mechanism.
Of course, if you don't already have a mulching leaf blower, and don't want to spend the money on it, you can just chop up your dried, decaying leaves by some other means. If they are brittle enough, you can get some protective work gloves and try crunching them up by hand, but if you are trying to make really large quantities of leaf mulch, a mulching leaf blower or some other sort of mechanical chipping/shredding device is really the best way to go. If you use one of these devices, make sure to wear a protective face mask to filter the air you breathe, because they can generate quite a lot of dust when chipping the leaves. Wear protective goggles as well, to keep the dust out of your eyes.
Once you've chipped all of your decayed leaves either mechanically or manually, you'll have a material that's likely to be extremely dusty and dry. Soak the resulting mulch in water for around 24 hours in the same way as was described earlier for the wood mulch. This will both moisturize and rid the leaf mulch of unwanted organisms. Again, a large plastic trash can works well for this purpose. The material created from mulching 2 large plastic trash bags full of compacted leaves will fill a 32 gallon trash can to nearly full capacity. Put enough water into the can so as to allow for some stirring of the mulch with a shovel, but do not put so much water as to overflow it. Once you've stirred your water saturated mulch to the extent that you can see no more dry patches, you'll have a mixture of leaves that is like a thick soup. Let that stand for 24 hours, and the next day, remove it and spread it out to dry to the right moisture level as you did after soaking the wood mulch. You may find that the easiest way to remove it from the soaking can is to use a strong net, which will also allow a lot of the excess water to drain out as lifted. The moisture level should be essentially the same as for the wood mulch. It is often helpful to first spread the mulch out on a large screen to allow excess water to gradually drain out of it. It may take a few days to do this. Afterward, you may still need to spread the mulch onto plastic sheets to dry in the sun further. How you dry your mulch to the appropriate moisture level all really depends on how you are doing it, and the condition of the weather. What you'll end up with is a very soft, moist, (but not dripping wet) material.
(c - combining of the substrate materials) Now that you have created the two basic components that will form your beetle rearing substrate, the labor intensive part of your work is basically over. The step in the process I will now describe is the final step in getting your breeding substrate ready for your beetles. Get a large plastic bin, box, or other sturdy container to use as a mixing vat. For a general scarab breeding substrate, mix a 50-50 ratio of wood mulch and leaf mulch, thoroughly mixing it together by hand. That's it, you've created your substrate! For dynastine scarabs (rhinoceros beetles) it is better to have a higher wood content, around 70% wood mulch mixed with 30% leaf mulch.
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Now that you have your substrate created, the time has come to procure some containers suitable for the breeding of the species of scarab(s) you wish to reproduce in captivity. There are many shapes and sizes of plastic boxes available that are quite suitable for the breeding and rearing of scarabs. Most such boxes are manufactured for the storage of clothing, blankets, and other household items. Many are made of transparent plastic, and have lids that lock down tightly - both ideal features for an insect rearing container. Large "blanket" boxes such as the one shown (fig. 17) are excellent for use as mating / oviposition (egg laying) terraria, while smaller ones (see fig. 18) are well suited to the rearing of single, large larvae. Alternatively, a minor number of small to medium sized larvae could be reared together in such a container, granted that the larvae were not of a type prone to cannibalism (more about that in a later chapter). In all instances, the lids of such boxes will often need some slight modifications made to them to allow for proper ventilation. Just cut out some small rectangular sections in the lid as shown in the example (fig. 19). You may affix some patches of screen (the finer the mesh, the better) over the holes if you think it appropriate, especially if you are going to be breeding a species of beetle that would be small enough to crawl through the ventilation hole. Of course, you can really just utilize whatever convenient container you have for use as a rearing terrarium. The only real requirements that a container must meet to be suitable are (a) sufficient depth and width (b) adequate ventilation, and (c) made of a material such as plastic or glass which is unaffected by moisture and is resilient enough that it cannot be chewed by larvae. Some hobbyists use large pickle jars and other large to medium-sized jars, as well as plastic pails of various sizes, plastic shoe boxes, etc. I just prefer to use the sort of boxes as the ones pictured at right because they are all of the 4-sided, rectangular shape which is preferred by many hobbyists as breeding / rearing terraria for beetles. They are also of consistently standard sizes, have lids that lock down well, are made of transparent plastic, and are very durable and lightweight. Glass jars and aquariums are fine, but glass can break easily, and it's also quite heavy if you're going to be moving your rearing terraria around from time to time. So, I recommend plastic boxes over other other types of containers.
Try to get at least three or more pair of the beetle species which you intend to breed in order to get a good supply of eggs from them. In general, it is often productive to have more females than males. Also, many hobbyists can supply the beetles in the larval rather than adult stage, and usually at a lower price. Another important thing to keep in mind is whether or not you'll need to keep the males of your species separated. Most (though not all) male cetoniines are safe to keep together in the same terrarium, but some genera of dynastines, especially Chalcosoma (Fig. 20) and Megasoma, will fight terribly if kept together, and in the relative confinement of a terrarium, they can quickly damage each other. The strength and endurance of these beetles is enormous, and two males can easily fight all night! Holes pierced in armor and snapped off legs are common injuries resulting from such fights. Therefore, it is best to keep your males separated from each other if they are of an aggressive species. Females dynastines have no horns and do not fight, and so it is all right to keep them together. To enhance genetic variability, you can rotate the time that each male is placed in the terrarium with the females. That way, all of your males can be kept separate, yet still have an opportunity to mate and provide their genes to the next generation.
(b - substrate depth, terrarium items) For most small to medium sized scarabs, a substrate depth of 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) will be sufficient. For really large species, such as the rhinoceros beetles Dynastes and Megasoma, it would be better to have a substrate depth of at least 12 inches (30 cm). If you use a substrate layer that is not of adequate depth for the female to burrow down well beneath the surface, she will not be very enthusiastic about laying eggs. The amount of space available between the substrate surface and the terrarium's lid should be about equal to the depth of the substrate. At any rate, it should certainly be spacious enough to allow the beetles to move about unrestrained. Additionally, if space permits, you can place some large chunks of decayed wood or flat sections of tree bark on the substrate surface (see Fig. 21) so that the beetles will have some objects on which they can walk and rest. Not having any small logs, wood chunks, tree bark or branches on the surface of the substrate of your breeding terrarium would not give the beetles anything solid upon which to walk or anchor themselves. This can lead to problems when they are trying to mate, and also, if they were become turned upside down on their backs, they would not be able to right themselves very easily. They would likely struggle for hours trying to turn right side up, using up a lot of energy in the effort!
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(c - temperature for the breeding / rearing terraria) Most tropical scarab species do best at a temperature of between 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit (24-29.5 degrees Celsius). Keeping them too cold will either make them sluggish or even kill them, because their metabolic processes won't work properly at lower temperatures. They are exothermic (cold-blooded) animals, and their body temperature stays at approximately the same temperature as their surrounding environment. For species from cooler parts of the world such as North America, the temperature can be allowed to drop lower than 75 degrees Fahrenheit at times, and in fact some species which come from high elevation forests in cooler climates need a seasonal variation in temperature to properly complete their life cycle.
(d - lighting)
Having an overhead fluorescent tube light for your breeding terrarium can be helpful in encouraging normal breeding activity in some varieties of scarabs, most notably, the cetoniines (flower beetles), which are active by day. Direct lighting is not considered to be very important for dynastine scarabs (rhinoceros beetles) which are mainly active at night. Also, it is not necessary to light terraria which are for growing larvae only, as the larvae live buried in the substrate, and thus lighting is of no significance to them.
(e - humidity)
The substrate should be kept moist, but certainly not soaking. A pressure sprayer is useful for maintaining the balance of moisture in your breeding / rearing terraria. Various sizes of these devices can be purchased in the gardening section of most hardware or department stores. If you have many terraria to spray regularly, get a 2 gallon (7.60 liter) model. If you have only a few terraria, a smaller size sprayer such as the one shown in the photo (fig. 22) will suffice. Whatever you use for spraying water in your terraria, make sure that the vessel has not ever been previously used for spraying insecticide or any other chemical which may have left residues that could prove harmful to your beetles. The substrate should be somewhat damp to the touch (see figs. 23 & 24), but if you can squeeze a clump of it in your fist and get water to run out of it very freely, it is probably too wet. In general, spray the surface of your substrate when it starts to look rather dry. A hard crust may form on the surface which can be rather misleading. This crust can conceal a very most layer just beneath the surface, so always break this crust first to make sure that you aren't actually moistening a substrate that is already moist.
(f - feeding (adult beetles)) Most cetoniine and dynastine scarabs will happily accept soft fruits such as banana in captivity. A few species like pear or apple. Give them a fresh, adequately sized slice of such fruit each day if you can. Every 48 hours will suffice, but feeding them a fresh piece each day is recommended because the beetles tend to make a pulpy mess of the fruit, and it starts spoiling VERY fast in the high humidity of the breeding terrarium! To supplement the beetles with any protein requirements they may have, you can sprinkle a quantity of ordinary flake fish food on the surface of the banana slice or other fruit. Also, some species will eat apple sauce, again with fish flake fish food mixed in for nutritional enrichment. This can be a much less expensive alternative to fresh fruit if economy is an issue. Slight misting of the terrarium and beetles occasionally will supply moisture needs for both the insects and the substrate. Just mist the terrarium if the environment starts to look a bit dry.
(g - first appearance of eggs and young larvae)
If you start out working with adult beetles as opposed to larvae, and have prepared your substrate and breeding terrarium as I have indicated, you should start seeing eggs or young larvae within a short time. Usually, you can get your beetles to deposit eggs within just a few weeks of having introduced them to the terrarium. Mating (see fig 25) may be observed almost immediately, but the females may take some time before actually starting to lay eggs. A few weeks or even a few months are sometimes needed before egg laying, or "oviposition" starts taking place.
The female beetles may burrow deep into the substrate to lay eggs, or may deposit them near the surface, depending on species. Large types, such as those in the subfamily dynastinae, nearly always oviposit their eggs very near the bottom of the substrate. As always, the substrate surface will need to be misted occasionally to prevent the lower layers from drying out. The amount of misting will vary depending on the humidity of the air in the room, but usually it will need to be done every two or three days if the humidity is low. Avoid over watering, otherwise the lower substrate can become rather saturated, even when the surface appears quite dry. Over watering can prove fatal to the eggs.
Continue to make sure that the adult beetles are given fruit as needed, at a frequency of at least every two days, or daily if possible. A few weeks after introducing the beetles to the substrate, you can very carefully dig down into the substrate and check for the presence of eggs or young larvae. Cetoniine scarabs tend to deposit eggs in the upper and middle layers of substrate, although this is not always the case with some of the larger species. Because the dynastines oviposit near the bottom, it is often best to not disturb this area for a considerable time, 6 -8 weeks in some cases. The eggs are quite delicate, and often susceptible to rupture if handled. It is important to move the substrate around quite gently, as the eggs and young larvae are easily injured. At this point in time, the larvae would likely still be quite small if present at all. Again, keep in mind that it may take as long as 6-8 weeks before any larvae appear, as the oviposition +egg incubation period varies depending on the species. Bear in mind also that the beetles may not necessarily begin laying eggs immediately after mating. The eggs of course vary in size depending upon species, up to 1/4 of an inch (6.35 mm) in the case of large rhinoceros beetles such as Chalcosoma, and are generally light in color. Continue feeding and maintaining the adult beetles as always.
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(h - larvae present and growing) When you find that you have larvae in the substrate, be very careful in handling them. If they appear to very newly hatched and have heads that are very large in relation to their bodies, it is best to let them grow for a week or two before attempting to move them (if you intend to separate them into individual rearing containers).
Once the larvae have reached body proportions comparable to that of the early 1st instar larva shown at right (fig. 27), you can safely transfer them into other containers of substrate.
Most hobbyists prefer to separate out the larvae of larger scarab species for two basic reasons: (a) To prevent the cannibalization that can occur in some species.
(b) To ensure that the larva doesn't have to compete with any other larvae for food resources, and thus reaches its maximum growth potential. However, so long as an adequate amount of food is provided, some species actually appear to grow better when reared together!
Before you place the larva(e) into a new container(s) of substrate, there are a few simple things that you should do to the substrate to get it prepared. Some of the breeding terrarium's substrate (1 metric cup should suffice) should be mixed into the substrate of the new rearing container in order to "seed" it with any beneficial bacteria that may be present in the waste product of the adult beetles.
Without these bacteria, the larvae may possibly not be able to digest food properly, and will thus not be capable of reaching maximum growth. Another good idea is to bury a few pellets of high protein dry dog food into the substrate, to serve as a rich nutritional source for the larva. In the wild, although many scarab larvae live inside decaying logs where they feed mostly upon wood, or in compost piles where they feed on decayed leaves and other plant material, they also eat a lot of other things that they encounter such as the fruits of fungus. Also, a few species have been observed eating the larvae of other beetles as well as other small arthropods.
Essentially, most scarab larvae in captivity tend to do quite well if fed a high protein supplement such as dry dog food. Dynastine and cetoniine larvae that are fed purely on a diet composed of only decayed leaf and wood mulch usually will not grow to an extremely large size. I have tested this with a number of different scarab species, and the results were always the same: larvae fed a lot of protein ALWAYS became larger adult beetles. It is very important that the larvae have access to such food very early on in their larval cycle, otherwise they will not grow large later. However, it is VERY IMPORTANT not to give beetle larvae too much dog food at a time, otherwise your substrate will become biologically unbalanced and develop problems with mites, bacteria and other pests. Another supplemental food which has proven to help ensure good growth in scarab larvae are slices of fruit. In particular, apple works best because it will stay reasonably solid for at least a week after being buried in moist substrate, at which point any uneaten apple should be removed and replaced with fresh slices. Genera which thrive on a regular supplement of apple include Eudicella and Chelorrhina. Though Chelorrhina larvae have been reported to be cannibalistic, I have never experienced this problem, even when rearing them in large numbers in the same container. Scarab larvae grow by means of 3 larval stages, called "instars". Each time an instar is complete, the larva sheds its skin and head shield to reveal a new, larger one beneath it. If high protein foods, along with a rich substrate of decayed wood and leaves are not given to larvae during ALL of their instars, maximum growth potential will usually not be reached. Thus it is very important that you replace portions of the rearing substrate as it becomes broken down by the feeding activity of the larva, as well as put in more dog food pellets at regular intervals for the larva to consume. The intervals at which you change out the substrate and replace the protein food pellets will of course vary depending on the amount of larvae you are rearing within a container, the size of the container, and the size of the larva(e). Let us use the larva of Chalcosoma caucasus (a large rhinoceros beetle of Malaysia) as an example. By the time that a C. caucasus larva reaches the mid-point in the 2nd instar stage, if you are growing it in a container of substrate measuring about 12" X 8" X 8" (30.5 X 20.5 X 20.5 cm) you would likely need to do a change of substrate about every 8 weeks, and need to bury some more food pellets (4-6) about once a week.
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