Keeping Pet Beetles in Captivity

Introduction to Exotic Beetles

Beetles (Coleoptera) have been around for millions of years and provide a janitorial service to us all. They are experts at clearing up waste in one form or another and are found in virtually all countries of the world.

They belong to the group coleoptera which contains over 400,000 different species of beetle currently named to date and is sub divided in to a further five main sub categories: polyphaga (the main one), Adephaga (mostly predatory), Myxophaga (tiny beetles) and Archostemata.

The most popular beetles fall in to the first category, this is because around 85% of all beetles belong to this group and include the giant beetles and the colourful ones, these are the ones often kept in captivity. Mostly the giants come from Africa and Asia as this natural environment allows then to grow in to huge beetles. This beetle (right) is from Africa and it is the Rhino Beetle, named as a result of the horn on the front as pictured here. This beetle grows to a size of around 3 inches in length and feeds on leaf litter, fruits and the grubs on rotting wood.

This is one of the jewel beetles - Sagra buqueti from South East Asia, it is commonly known as the Frog Beetle due to the large back legs. The beetles exoskeleton is green with a cerise and gold coloured band running down its back. As you can see this beetle is metallic looking all over.

Right:Pachnoda marginata peregrina Another very popular beetle is this Sun Beetle - Pachnoda marginata peregrina. It is an excellent starter beetle as it is easily bred and the life cycle of around 4 - 6 months means that the owner can see results of the labour fairly quickly. This beetle feeds on fruit.

The Giant African Ground Beetle - Anthina thorocica is a 2 inch long carnivorous beetle with huge insect crushing jaws. In captivity it can be fed on most commercially available live foods which it takes with relish!

Housing Beetles

Beetles are easily kept in small tanks filled with leaf litter, compost or similar unfertilized substrate. They will often consume the substrate so it should be free from pesticides and plant food.

The tank need not be more than 12 x 10 x 12 which could accommodate up to 12 small to medium size beetles depending on the species. Larger colonies can be housed in larger tanks in which case many different species can be kept together so long as they are not carnivorous in nature!

The substrate most often used is a mixture of oak leaves, rotted wood and peat or loam, this is usually made up by the keeper and provides a great many of the fruit beetles and other commonly kept beetles the perfect place to breed.

Some beetles however have much more specific breeding requirements and we will discuss these later.

Here are some photos of a recent batch of Pachnoda beetles starting with a fully developed pupae.