Dorcus Titanus Beetles
Dorcus titanus stag beetles are very popular with beetle collectors and breeders since they are large and violent beetles. There are 17 known subspecies of the Dorcus titanus stag beetle, 12 of which are found in Japan. However, as the picture to the left shows, the Dorcus titanus beetles found in south-east Asia grow to much larger sizes than the Japanese beetles. The beetles in the picture are the Dorcus titanus pilifer from Japan and the Dorcus titanus palawanicus from the Philippines.
The Dorcus titanus beetles found in Indonesia and Philippines are very large. This is an area where many of the Dorcus titanus beetles have to coexist with the giant and violent Asian Chalcosoma rhinoceros beetles, such as the Chiron (Caucasus) rhinoceros beetle. It may be for this reason that the Dorcus titanus beetles needed to grow larger to compete for shelter and food against these other giant beetles. The palawanicus pictured is 95mm long, while the pilifer pictured is 65mm long. |
Dorcus titanus beetles have similar wide, jet black bodies. However, the different subspecies differ in body size and also mandible shape. A look at the different subspecies that I have owned below will show these variations. For example, a close examination of the palawanicus and the yasokai will show that their mandible shape is very different. In contrast, the palawanicus and the tatsutai do have mandibles that look very similar, but their body sizes are different. Palawanicus can grow up to 110mm, but the tatsutai can grow up to 80mm. It is believed the Dorcus titanus beetles ended up being separated onto islands after lands moved apart a long time ago. As a result, the beetles adapted to their environment, resulting in the different subspecies we see today.
Many Dorcus titanus beetles are now imported to Japan from Indonesia and Philippines. Although it was initially thought that these beetles would be unable to survive the cold Japanese winter in the wild, research has shown that some of these beetles have escaped or been released into the wild and mated with the native Japanese Dorcus titanus beetles creating some crossbred beetles. There is a fear that the native Japanese Dorcus titanus beetles are now under threat as this crossing continues or as the different subspecies fight for shelter and food. |
Breeding Dorcus Titanus Stag Beetles
It is always best to keep your male and female titanus beetles in a container that has a divider or in two separate containers. The reason for this is that the males are very aggressive and it is not uncommon for the male to kill the female.
The best temperature for breeding titanus beetles is 23 degrees Celsius. Once it regularly becomes this temperature and both the male and female are eating lots of beetle jelly, you can remove the separator and put the male and female together. If one of the beetles hasn't been eating their jelly due to the colder months, you should wait until they begin eating. After a week of regular eating, then you can put them together. Keep your eye on the pair. The male may treat the female violently. If this is the case, you will need to remove the female before she gets injured. If they appear to be fine, leave them together for about a week. In this time, they will hopefully mate. |
Once you introduce the male and female together, you should find that they have big appetites. Also, the male will spend most of his time by the beetle jelly waiting for the female to come. Make sure to keep replacing the beetle jelly.
While the beetles are together, you should begin to prepare a different egg laying container for the female. |
You should choose pieces of wood that are about 10cm thick. The female likes wood a little on the soft side. Female titanus beetles may lay some of their eggs in the wood.
|
Put one or two pieces of wood in a container filled with water. Put the lid on top to keep the wood submerged in the water between half a day and a day.
|
Use a flathead screwdriver to remove the bark from the wood.
|
Let the wood dry a little under the sun.
|
The humus you use in the egg laying container is also important as the female will also lay eggs in the humus.
|
Use your fist or a glass to compact the humus to a depth of about 5cm.
|
Place your pieces of wood on top of this compacted humus.
|
Add more humus to the container so that only a little of the wood is exposed. This humus should not be compacted.
|
Place the female and some beetle jelly in the egg laying container. Keep the temperature around the 23 degrees Celsius mark if possible. Leave the female in there for about a month. Replace the beetle jelly as necessary.
|
After a month you can remove the female when you find her on the top of the humus. You shouldn't put the female back in the same container as the male after she has laid her eggs. There is a high risk that the male will kill the female.
|
The female above is the titanus tatsutai which is from Japan. In her efforts to lay her eggs, she lost three of her legs in the process.
|
After you have removed the female, wait for a month without disturbing the egg laying container. If you look at the sides and bottom of the container during this time, you may see larvae. Once the month is up, you can look through the humus for larvae.
|
Even though the above technique shows the tatsutai breeding, the process is the same for all the other titanus subspecies, both Japanese and foreign. At the same time as I was breeding the tatsutai subspecies, I also attempted to breed the pilifer and palawanicus beetles. Unfortunately, my pilifer pair weren't compatible and the male killed the female. However, I had success with the palawanicus pair.
My Palawanicus Story
I ordered the palawanicus pair online. It is not uncommon for beetle breeders to send their beetles in boxes to places around Japan. The boxes have stickers on to warn the delivery people that the contents are very fragile. You can see the box this pair arrived in had holes in the side to allow air to move through the box. It also had a lot of newspaper to prevent the beetles from moving around. In hotter months, they put cool gel packs in with the beetles. In colder months, they put in hot packs to keep the beetles warm.
|
The male was placed in a small tube. The female was placed in a pudding container. Usually the beetles are shipped overnight, but it can take two days to have them delivered.
You don't want to miss the delivery, otherwise you will have to reschedule, causing even more of a delay. This can be a little concerning if you ordered the beetles during the hot summer months. |
The palawanicus pair I purchased had a male 95mm long, but the female was only 39mm. Often when you purchase beetles, it will give the length of the male, but just say free size for the female. If you order online, you don't quite know how big the female is. With a huge size difference between the male and female, it can be difficult for them to successfully mate, but it is possible.
|
I went through the breeding process described above and left the female in an egg laying container for one month. After removing the palawanicus female from its egg laying container and waiting another month before disturbing the contents, I found twelve larvae in various instar stages. Eight larvae were in the humus and four were in the wood. The picture above shows two of these larvae.
|
Palawanicus males can grow very large. You can raise the larvae in humus designed for stag beetles, but if you want large males, you should use kinshi bottles. This can be an expensive method, as the male larvae will need 3 to 4 new kinshi bottles. When the larvae are in the first or second instar, you can use 900cc kinshi bottles. However, the males will need 1500cc kinshi bottles as they near full size.
Female titanus beetles will remain as larvae for 6 months or so before becoming a pupa. Male titanus beetles will remain as larvae for about a year before becoming a pupa. They will then emerge as adults about 2 months later. Out of the twelve larvae originally found in the egg laying container, four males and five females emerged as adults. However, one of the males had four of its limbs missing from the upper joints. All the males ranged from 86-90mm. |
Dorcus Titanus Subspecies
Below are pictures of all the Dorcus titanus subspecies I have owned over the years.
Dorcus Titanus Palawanicus
These beetles are the largest Dorcus titanus beetles. They can be found on Palawan island in the Philippines. The males can grow up to 110mm long. They are very aggressive beetles so you need to be careful when handling them, as their mandibles are very strong. Compared to other titanus beetles, their mandibles are also much longer.
Dorcus Titanus Titanus
These beetles are found in Sulawesi, Indonesia. They are popular because of their large size and strong mandibles. They can grow up to 100mm long. They are a very violent beetle. Not only do they fight other beetles, but they will also kill the females. They are very easy to look after if you keep the males and females separate. They can live up to 2 years as an adult.
Dorcus Titanus Yasuokai
These beetles are found in Sumatra, Indonesia. They are very similar to the other Dorcus Titanus beetles found in Indonesia. They are very popular because of their big bodies and large, strong mandibles. They are a very aggressive beetle and are quick to fight with other beetles. As a stag beetle, it is fast moving. They can live up to 2 years as an adult. The males can grow as long as 100mm.
Dorcus Titanus Typhon
These beetles are found in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Like other Dorcus Titanus beetles found in Indonesia, they have strong mandibles. Their mandibles are long and smooth closer to its head, before moving into a section that has small like teeth. The tips of its mandibles end with a fairly strong curve. It is a very fast moving beetle. They can live up to 2 years. The males can grow up to 102 mm long.
Dorcus Titanus Pilifer
These titanus beetles are found around the main island of Japan, Honshu. They are one of the smaller titanus beetles. It is common to see males between 55 to 65mm long. Even though they lack the size of others, they still have powerful mandibles that are reluctant to let go when it clamps on to something. They are also quick movers and aggressive. They can live up to 3 years.
Dorcus Titanus Tatsutai
These titanus beetles are found on the island called Iki in western Japan. They look similar to palawanicus and castianicolor. They are, however, a much smaller size than the palawanicus.The male pictured above is 76mm long, which is quite big for this subspecies. They can live up to 3 years.
Dorcus Titanus Sakishimanus
These titanus beetles are found on the island called Yaeyamashotou, which is located at the very south of Japan. The males can grow up to 80mm long. They have wide and strong bodies. They are very aggressive. They can live up to 3 years.
Dorcus Titanus Okinawanus
These titanus beetles are found on the island of Okinawa, Japan. They are a quick, aggressive beetle. The mandibles on the male are curved at the end. They can live for 2-3 years.