Rhinoceros and stag beetles: 8月 2013

2013年8月25日星期日

Phalacrognathus muelleri (Rainbow stag beetle)

I bought four P. muelleri L3 larvae on October 16th 2010 .

The weight of the larvae was 3 grams , 6 grams , 6 grams and 7 grams .

I had fermented some decayed wood flakes before buying them , so i employed the wood flakes to feed them .

The larvae were put in plastic containers , the volume of the containers is about 1 liter .

Through the transparent containers i could observe the larvae clearly .

2010-11-19 , i found that the larvae consumed the wood flakes very fast , so i decided to change the wood flakes .

2010-11-20 , i changed the wood flakes and weighed the larvae at the same time , their weight was 11 gram , 13 grams , 9 grams and 13 grams respectively .

At that time , the larve had started to store fat , the fat inside their bodies was white in the beginning , as time goes on , much fat would be stored in their bodies , when they approached to build pupal cells , they were opaque and yellow in color , signifying that they achieved maximum weight , at that moment , the weight would not increase quickly .

2010-12-11 , One of the larvae was dead , the weight of the rest larvae was 14 gram , 16 gram , X , 16 gram .

2011-1-21 , Their weight was 16 grams , 18 grams and 19 grams .

2011-2-28 , i discovered a pre-pupa .

2011-3-16 , the individual became a pupa .

2011-3-19 , i discovered the second pupa .

2011-3-21 , the last larva was in the pre-pupal period .

2011-3-23 , the last individual had pupated .

The larvae were males , their pupae all had obvious mandibles .

The first pupa turned into an adult on April 16th 2011 , i let him stay in the original pupal cell , because the conditions of the cell was well .

Another two pupae had been taken out of the pupal cells , i put them in artificial cells , finally , they turned into the adults on April 21st 2011 and April 23rd 2011 respectively .

This time , i had used fermented decayed wood flakes to raise the larvae at the room temperature , i found that the wood flakes decayed quickly when the rearing temperature was high , once the rearing humidity was also high , the wood flakes would become dirt quickly .

In order to prevent the condition , i would decrease the rearing humidity or keep the containers in cool places .

In Taiwan , the beetle breeders usually use kinshi bottles to raise rainbow stag beetles and have gained many good efforts .

Once choosing kinshi bottles to rear P. muelleri larvae , the temperature control is necessary , because the temperature inside the bottle was higher than the room temperature , when the fungi decompose the lignin , the temperature would rise within 1 ~ 5 degrees Celsius .

P. muelleri larvae and adults all have amazing look , i personally suggest you to experience the species in person .

Related pictures :

The larva ate the wood flakes alone with his excrement pellets

P. muelleri L3 larva , 9 grams , 2010-11-20

P. muelleri L3 larva , 13 grams , 2010-11-20

The larva started to store fat , 2010-11-20

P. muelleri old L3 larva , 18 grams , 2011-1-21

P. muelleri old L3 larva , 19 grams , 2011-1-21

P. muelleri old L3 larva , 16 grams , 2011-1-21

P. muelleri pre-pupa , 2011-2-28

P. muelleri male pupa , 2011-3-16

P. muelleri pre-pupa , it would pupate in two days later , 2011-3-21

Above individual had pupated , 2011-3-23

P. muelleri male pupa

It was time to start eclosion

Starting to spin his body , 2011-4-16

To dry out his inner wings

Starting to stretch his mandibles

The eclosion was over

Another individual :

2013年8月22日星期四

Making kinshi bottles from fungi bags

In Taiwan , beetle breeders use kinshi bottles , fungi bags and fungi bricks to feed stag beetles and even rhinoceros beetles .

The contents of the three products all consist of wood flakes and fungi mycelium , the major difference of them is the volumes , other differences such as fungi species , wood kinds , additives , humidity and grain sizes may be caused by different brands and manufacturers .

In general , kinshi bottles have higher decayed degrees than fermented wood flakes , but it is not always like this , if i want it to come true , i must check something first .

In my experiences , kinshi bottles will undergo three different stages in their lifespan .

The three stages all relate to a kinshi bottle's wood flakes and mycelium status .

At the 1st stage , the fungi mycelium have not spread to all the wood flakes inside the bottle , so the kinshi bottle is not full white in color .

At this moment , the wood flakes is dark brown and hard in texture .

At the 2nd stage , the fungi mycelium colonize all the wood flakes inside the bottle , as time goes on , the decayed degree of the wood flakes will be rise gradually .

Finally , the color of the wood flakes will be changed from dark brown to pale yellow , signifying that the kinshi bottle is suitable to be used to rear larvae .

At the 3rd stage , the fungi mycelium are rotten , i can't see filaments anymore .

At this moment , the texture of the wood flakes is soft and similar to dirt .

Using the 1st or 3rd stage kinshi bottles to rear larvae is always failed , eventually , the larvae will become minor adults or die in the bottle .

For me , the manufacture date of a kinshi bottle is the most important thing which i can use to estimate that the kinshi bottle is or not worth to buy .

If the boss does not know the manufacture date either , i will try to identify that the kinshi bottle stays in which stage . Or to buy the non full white kinshi bottles as the spare .

Once the mycelium spread to all the wood flakes inside the bottle , they still need time to decompose the lignins , so i will wait for a while before using the bottle .

I prefer to use fungi bags rather than kinshi bottles , because fungi bags allow me to adjust something about rearing , if i don't want to do that , i can use the fungi bags directly .

When using fungi bags or fungi bricks , i usually tend to remake them , thus , i can put something to aid the fungi growing well and portion out the fungi lump in the prepared jars .

Besides , the water distribution of the fungi lump also can be averaged by crushing the lump and stirring the wood flakes before topping up the jars .

If the fungi bags are fresh , the mycelium will be strong and not afraid molds to compete with them , finally , all the jars will be white in a few days .

In order to ensure the successful ratio , i will disinfect my hands and tools with alcohol before touching the fungi bags , then , placing the finished jars in somewhere at 20 ~ 25 degrees Celsius . (The most of molds like the environment which is warm and moist .)

Notice that fungi growth needs oxygen especially in the expanded period , so i prefer to poke some ventilation holes on the lids and cover the jars incompletely .

For fermented wood flakes , the dark brown color means that it has higher decayed degree , that completely different from kinshi bottles , so i must choose the right substrate with the right decayed degree to rear the right larvae .

Related pictures :

The 1st stage fungi bags , 2011-11-26

The ends of the fungi bags were dark brown

The 2nd stage fungi bags , they were full white , 2011-12-8

The right fungi lump had pale yellow wood flakes , it was suitable for rearing

Adding additives in the wood flakes (N source)

Adding additives in the wood flakes (C source)

After stirring the wood flakes , the white color had disappear

The finished jars , 2012-2-11

The wood flakes were whitish , 2012-2-12

The wood flakes had been covered by mycelium , 2012-2-12

2013年8月19日星期一

Three species breeding results of the Genus Dorcus

I have ever bred three species of the Genus Dorcus .

Their scientific names are Dorcus hopei binodulosus , Dorcus grandis moriyai & Dorcus hopei hopei .

According to some researches , we all know that the vast majority of Dorcus females only oviposit in decayed wood .

So i always laid some decayed wood in the bottom of the breeding containers , whether it is vertical or horizontal , both available .

In my cases , i got bone dry decayed wood from dedicated shops .

When i was going to set up a breeding container , i picked out some decayed wood whose hardness was proper for Dorcus females to oviposit in it .

Then , i placed the decayed wood vertically in a tub which had been filled some water , then , putting stones on the top of the wood to fix them thoroughly .

If the water had been absorbed totally , i would add water in the tub until the wood was filled with water .

Before placing the wood in the tub , i had weighed the wood , then , weighing the moist wood again , through the weight comparisons , i could know the wood moisture and adjust the humidity by absorbing water or drying out .

In the wild , females of stag beetles will ingest proteins by preying other insects , in captive breeding , i employed fishmeal as the protein source , i often sprinkled fishmeal on the jelly to feed them .

Once a breeding container had been prepared , i put a fertilized female in the container about one month and kept the breeding temperature in the range of 20 - 25 degrees Celsius .

As a reminder , D. h. h. females had a good chance to hibernate when the temperature was too low , so i bred them at room temperature in the end of spring and the beginning of summer .

For me , to retrieve the L1 larvae from hard decayed wood was not a easy thing , hence , after taking the female out of the breeding container , i would wait more than one month to retrieve the larvae .

Thus , i could break open the wood and retrieve the larvae easily , because most of the eggs had hatched and formed many tunnels inside the wood .

In this way , most of the larvae were old L1 or young L2 larvae , so i could put them into the prepared kinshi bottles directly or use fermented decayed wood flakes to feed them .

A breeding container had been set up on May 10th 2010 , i laid a piece of decayed wood in the bottom of the container and used decayed wood flakes to cover the wood .

I put a D. h. h. female into the breeding container , then , taking it out of the container on June 13th 2010 .

2010-6-21 , i seen a larva in the bottom of the container , which means that the female laid eggs immediately when she was being put into the container .

2010-7-2 , i broken open the decayed wood with bare hand , but the middle portion of the decayed wood was still hard , so i put it back , this time , i just retrieved larvae from the decayed wood flakes and the soft portion of the wood chunk .

In the second time , i found the rest ten larvae in August 2010 .

Those larvae was fed on fermented decayed wood flakes , and turned into adults in May 2011 .

I bred Dorcus hopei binodulosus and Dorcus grandis moriyai on July 20th 2011 and July 28th 2011 respectively .

The females were taken out of the containers on August 21st 2011 and August 28th 2011 respectively .

I used a piece of hard decayed wood to breed Dorcus hopei binodulosus and retrieved L2 larvae on October 1st 2011 , i put them into the prepared kinshi bottles , finally , the adults emerged in July 2012 .

As for Dorcus grandis moriyai , i used a piece of middle decayed wood and a piece of soft decayed wood as the oviposition medium , i retrieved L1 larvae from the wood chunks , the female was not picky about wood hardness .

After retrieving the larvae , i used the prepared kinshi bottles to rear them , eventually , the adults emerged in August 2012 .

For the three species , each harvest could achieve up to ten plus normally ,so i had prepared sufficient jars and food before retrieving larvae .

Related pictures :