# Hercules Beetle, DYNASTES HERCULES ssp. HERCULES



## Darkrai283 (Apr 9, 2015)

*[09.04.15]*

I ordered a pair of DHH (minor male- 98mm) on Friday last week from Japan and it finally came today after parcelforce managed to muck things up again. The pair still seem to be inactive as neither of them were interested in the jellies or banana I had offered them and dug down after a while. I'm looking forward to getting some decent sized 1st generation adults from these two!


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## Denny1st (Apr 9, 2015)

Nice! sign me up for larvae i love D. hercules

wait is it two males

Doesnt matter still awesome congrats!!


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## Darkrai283 (Apr 10, 2015)

Denny1st said:


> Nice! sign me up for larvae i love D. hercules
> 
> wait is it two males
> 
> Doesnt matter still awesome congrats!!


Haha. No way I'm going to buy a pair of the same sex unless I wanted some specimens for pinning. xD

It's a m &amp; f pair.


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## Darkrai283 (Apr 12, 2015)

*[09.04.15]*

I was waiting for the thumbnail to change to what I set it to in these links here but it's still taking ages so I will post them anyway.  

Here's the unboxing video:


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## Bill Myers (Apr 12, 2015)

Darkrai283 said:


> *[09.04.15]*
> 
> I ordered a pair of DHH (minor male- 98mm) on Friday last week from Japan and it finally came today after parcelforce managed to muck things up again. The pair still seem to be inactive as neither of them were interested in the jellies or banana I had offered them and dug down after a while. I'm looking forward to getting some decent sized 1st generation adults from these two!


Hmm... I don't know about _D. hercules hercules_, but it sounds like they are in hibernation mode. My _D. tityus_ beetles are usually not interested in eating and just want to burrow down into the substrate for a couple of months after I pull them out of the hibernation cooler. Maybe that's what's going on.

Cheers


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## Darkrai283 (Apr 12, 2015)

Bill Myers said:


> Hmm... I don't know about _D. hercules hercules_, but it sounds like they are in hibernation mode. My _D. tityus_ beetles are usually not interested in eating and just want to burrow down into the substrate for a couple of months after I pull them out of the hibernation cooler. Maybe that's what's going on.
> 
> Cheers


Bill, that's what I said in the opening post if you re-read it carefully. You probably mis-understood it as the period of resting after eclosing into an imago is called the period of inactivity here in the UK and not hibernation.  

"The pair still seem to be *INACTIVE* as neither of them were interested in the jellies or banana I had offered them and dug down after a while."


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## Bill Myers (Apr 12, 2015)

Okay, I see, now. I misunderstood. Yup, hibernating.

That's actually a good thing. It means they'll live longer than if they didn't get a chance to hibernate.

In a couple of months, they'll be chowing down so much beetle jelly, you'll probably be wishing they were still hibernating! LOL

I'm rather envious of you, right now. I've always wanted a breeding pair of D.h.h beetles!

Congrats on your acquisition. They are a splendid looking pair.

Good luck with them and keep us posted.

Cheers


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## Darkrai283 (Apr 12, 2015)

Bill Myers said:


> Okay, I see, now. I misunderstood. Yup, hibernating.
> 
> That's actually a good thing. It means they'll live longer than if they didn't get a chance to hibernate.
> 
> ...


Cheers mate.

Actually, it doesn't mean that they will live longer as the period of inactivity is a crucial stage of any large Cetonid or Dynastid and they will go through it, no matter what. Therefore, it's pretty much impossible for them to 'live longer' than one that doesn't go through it... as they will be inactive after eclosing anyway! It's not a choice they can make so they will just not move or feed, no matter what happens.  

Haha, I have more than 10 boxes full of premium beetle jellies from Japan (a new brand a well-known company released which is far more expensive and actually gives good results) of which I won't be running out of anytime soon as that's over 2000 jellies in total. It's the best jelly I've used over the last 10 years and am very happy with the results.

*Edit:*

By the way, you talked about a "Hibernation cooler". Unless you're dealing with species that actually hibernates through the winter as active adults (some _Dorcus_ species for example), you do not need to lower the temperature for them in any way. Your _Dynastes tityus_ counts as one of these as well as they are a North American species that experiences the cooler autumn and winter temperatures right after eclosing in the wild.

This however does not apply to the species from the tropic like this _Dynastes hercules _as they have not evolved to go through hibernation after eclosing as they do not experience the cooler temperatures like the _Dynastes tityus _do in the wild.


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## Darkrai283 (Apr 12, 2015)

I understand where the confusion lies now!

All _Lucanidae_, _Dynastinae_ and _Cetoniinae_ (if not, almost all of them) experience in their life cycle after eclosing is a period of inactivity ranging from a couple of days to a couple of months depending on the species. During this period, they will neither move nor feed as they will be sitting motionless inside the pupal cell.

What you started talking about is hibernation, which *ONLY* species from the temperate regions that experience a period of cold temperatures go through. Your _Dynastes tityus_ counts as one of these species as they are native to North America. The _Dynastes hercules ssp. hercules_ I have does *NOT* hibernate as they are from the tropics, which is where you misunderstood/ were mis-informed.

What you said about beetles that don’t hibernate first live shorter adult lives *is* correct as their bodies have evolved to do that… but it doesn't apply to all species as I explained above. Therefore, the part where you said that might apply to _Dynastes hercules_ as well, is not the case.  

I hope this cleared things up a little. Lol.


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## Bill Myers (Apr 12, 2015)

Good to know. Thanks for the clarification.

Yeah, I was kinda' wondering what Dhh beetles would be doing hibernating.

Makes sense that the tropical species haven't evolved to activate the hibernation gene.

My D. tityus beetles, on the other hand, DEFINITELY need to go through hibernation in order to live longer as an adult.

Again, thank you for all that invaluable information.

Good stuff to know.

Cheers


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## SherlockOhms (May 31, 2015)

I apologize if I am violating any necro-bumping rules here.

Richard,

How are the beetles doing? Hope they have broken their inactivity! Will you be buying the larval rearing substrate(mmm rotting wood) from Japan/Taiwan or making it yourself?


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## Darkrai283 (May 31, 2015)

SherlockOhms said:


> I apologize if I am violating any necro-bumping rules here.
> 
> Richard,
> 
> How are the beetles doing? Hope they have broken their inactivity! Will you be buying the larval rearing substrate(mmm rotting wood) from Japan/Taiwan or making it yourself?


Hi, I haven't been posting updates on any of my invertebrate threads on any of the forums I post in due to exams. It will be over in 3 weeks time so I still won't be posting until then.

To answer your question, the female became active 3 weeks ago and she has already laid 27 eggs.  I will be making my own substrate as once these guys get to L3/the final instar, it would cost a fortune to keep up with the amount they eat.


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## Rayneger (Jun 1, 2015)

https://youtu.be/Dg-r-S0fIkA lol.


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## SherlockOhms (Jun 2, 2015)

That is fantastic news!



Darkrai283 said:


> I will be making my own substrate as once these guys get to L3/the final instar, it would cost a fortune to keep up with the amount they eat.


That is also my predicament. The good stuff from the Far East can get very expensive, especially when you're switching half the substrate of a few larvae once every couple of months. I also heard they that don't do too well with changes in wood type and decay level once they've been established on something already. I'm interested to learn how you would go about making their substrate. Good luck on your exams!


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[09.04.15]*_

A few pics taken on the phone of the 98mm male.



IMG_2548 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_2551 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_2553 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_2554 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[15.04.15]*_

The pair feeding on jelly.



IMG_2748 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[04.05.15]*_

A short video recording the male stridulating. They do this by rubbing the elytra on a roughened patch on the propygidium (Jarman 1974).



IMG_3262 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

*[07.05.15]*

A few pics of the female. You can see how hairy she actually is in the 3rd photo!



IMG_3859 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_3853 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_3839 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_3841 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_3820 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_3824 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[14.05.15]*_

The male lost his thoracic horn from a nasty fall after flying into a bookshelf. Poor thing. :'(


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[21.05.15]*_

A video showing the ventral surface of the abdomen beneath the wings.


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[29.05.15]*_

I checked the laying tank today and found 27 eggs.  



IMG_4153 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_4156 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[01.06.15]*_

I saw a worm in one of the pots containing the eggs so I tipped the substrate out and saw that two eggs have already hatched.

The one in the first 2 photos hatched recently while the one in the 1st photo must have hatched sometime in the last 3 days as it's head capsule already has some colour to it and I can see some substrate in its gut.  



IMG_4240 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_4241 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_4248 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_4247 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[04.06.15]*_

A female in the progress of laying an egg/compacting some substrate.  

In the Dynastes hercules thread on Bugnation:


> ....maybe thats what they do. dig a vertical tunnel, lay an egg, come up, move to another spot on the rotten log.





> ...the description that you (_agrius_) give is the typical egg laying behaviour. Usually females tend to wander around in the substrate digging until they find adequate egg laying locations. They use their hind legs and body to compact the substrate around each egg after laying it.




IMG_4297 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[08.06.15]*_

Just tidied everything up... and from one female over the course of 3 weeks, I've had a total of 45 eggs laid so far.

3 larvae (separated from the rest at the bottom), 39 eggs and 4 others I accidentally squashed as they were freshly laid and very fragile.



IMG_4474 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[16.06.15]*_

Here's my male (98mm when his thoracic horn was still intact) in comparison to a plastic copy of another male which was approx 145mm which I got in Japan just over a decade ago.

What a massive difference.  



IMG_4568 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[21.06.15]*_

The L1 larvae are fattening up nicely.  



IMG_4847 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_4840 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

*[13.07.15]*

Found the first L2 larva today.  



IMG_5623 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_5624 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[21.08.15]*_

A mixture or L1 (right) and L2 (left) larvae.



11870864_846710882065312_1274012483038513120_n by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


11891972_846710918731975_4620902771502349713_n by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[05.10.15]*_

The female just passed away so I went through all the substrate and here's a a photo of all the larvae I still have. I've already sold a few of the largest larvae already so the largest still in my possession are still L2.



IMG_0681 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_0682 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_0683 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[21.10.15]*_

I ordered another adult pair (different bloodline) from Japan 2 weeks ago in the hopes of mixing some blood when the offspring of both mature. The parcel was however redirected to APHA last week and was finally able to collect the pair today from Heathrow airport with quite a hefty fee.

The good news is that the pair is still alive and kicking so fingers crossed that they weren't weakened too much from the long journey!

Unboxing video:


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

*[22.10.15]*

The male is 135mm and after letting them feast on slices of banana for a day, I decided to introduce the male to the female and he was on in a click of the finger.  



Untitled by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


Untitled by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


Untitled by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[23.10.15]*_

Here's a video of the adult male in which he started feeling the texture of my watch and mistook it for another species of Coleoptera! :laugh:


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## Darkrai283 (Nov 9, 2015)

_*[07.11.15]*_

I finally got the camera battery charged up to get some 'decent' photos of the male guarding the female.  



IMG_9456 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_9434 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_9289 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_9481 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


IMG_9320 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr


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## Hisserdude (Nov 9, 2015)

Beautiful beetles, hope your larva grow nice and strong!


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