PACHNODA / RHINOCEROS BEETLE REARING INSTRUCTIONS.
These beetles are very easy to rear and breed in captivity providing the correct culture conditions are observed.
- Pachnoda species unknown.
- Rhinoceros beetle = Oryctes monoceros or Oryctes rhinoceros.
- Adult food = fruit
- Larvae food = fruit.
- Optimum temperature = 70 to 75'C.
- ADULTS
- Should be kept in a clear container which will hold 4 to 6 inches of sedge peat,the bottom 3 inches should be compacted with the hand so that it is firm and then 2 or 3 inches of loose soil placed on top. A container 12 inches square will hold up to 200 Pachnoda adults and 100 Rhinoceros adults, and will need a tight fitting lid with vents. The adults are fed on slices of orange which are placed on the surface of the soil and changed whenever needed, Pachnoda adults also need a protein supplement in the form of a mixture of 1 part flour, l part yeastamin (dried brewers yeast) and enough honey to make it into a crumbly mixture which will bind into a loose mass when squeezed in the hand.
- EGGS AND LARVAE.
- The large white eggs are laid in the compacted layer of soil and can either be collected or the adults removed and the eggs left in the soil to hatch, which takes about 10 to 16 days depending on the temperature. The larvae are kept in the same containers as the adults and are fed on slices of oranges placed on the soil surface as in the adults or, for a better rate of growth, on rabbit pellets ground into a powder. The larvae should be cleaned out whenever needed.
- PUPAE.
- The larvae will eventually make a cell in the soil in which to change into the pupae and should not be disturbed once they have started. They will eventually emerge as adults after 2 to 4 weeks. The soil with the pupae in should not be allowed to dry out or this will trap the newly emerged adults which will then die
- Provided that these instructions are followed carefully the beetles will breed continuously.