Hercules Beetle, DYNASTES HERCULES ssp. HERCULES

[Darkrai283]

[21.05.15]

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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[21.06.15]

The L1 larvae are fattening up nicely.

IMG_4847 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr
IMG_4840 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[13.07.15]

Found the first L2 larva today.

IMG_5623 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr
IMG_5624 by Richard Nakamura, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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:

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Darkrai283]

[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:

 

[Darkrai283]

[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

 

[Hisserdude]

Beautiful beetles, hope your larva grow nice and strong!