Hercules Beetle, DYNASTES HERCULES ssp. HERCULES

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Darkrai283

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[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! :D

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

wait is it two males

Doesnt matter still awesome congrats!!

 
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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 & f pair. ;)

 
[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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[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! :D
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

 
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."

 
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

 
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
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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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. :D
 
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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

 
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?

 
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.

 
That is fantastic news!

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!

 
[14.05.15]

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



 
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