Dynastes Grantii
Dynastes grantii beetles are found wild in America in places such as Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. They are also known as the white Hercules, but they are much shorter than the Dynastes Hercules. The male grantii beetles range from 40-70mm in length. They have a short, sturdy horn on their head. The female grantii beetles range from 40-53mm in length.
In dry conditions, their bodies are a beautiful off-white color. However, when conditions become humid, their body becomes a brown/black color. If you compare the color of the male and female above, you can see that the male is its off-white color, while the female next to it has turned slightly brown due to the humidity. Grantii beetles also turn brown when they are nearing the end of their life. The very dark female pictured here died not long after this photo was taken. |
Caring for Dynastes Grantii Beetles
The general care for these beetles is the same as for the Japanese rhinoceros beetles.
Use a medium sized container to house one male and one female. It is best to use a coniferous blend matting to help prevent mite infestations. However, regular humus is fine.
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Add a little bit of water to the matting. It doesn't need to be much because grantii beetles will produce a lot of excrement that will keep things moist.
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Place pieces of wood around the container for the beetles to stand on and hide beneath. You also need to add beetle jelly. If you have two beetles in the same container, you should put jelly at two points.
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Regularly replace the jelly. Wipe down the container when it gets too moist inside. This will help reduce the smell and keep things from getting moldy.
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Breeding Dynastes Granti
Adult grantii beetles live for only 2-4 months. They are not a large beetle, so it is best to keep a male with a female in a medium sized container from the start to give them every opportunity to mate. The optimum temperatures for the adult beetles are between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius.
Leave the male and female together for about one week. In this time, you will probably see the male mounting the female to fertilize the eggs inside her. |
For the egg laying container, use the same humus you would use if breeding Hercules beetles. In Japan, they simply call it Hercules matting. Use a large container. Compact the humus to a height of 10cm.
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Fill the container to about 80% full with the Hercules matting. You do not need to compact this humus. Make sure the humus is moist, but not really wet.
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Add some wood and beetle jelly. Finally, add the female. In the photo, you can see that the female is brown. This was due to the high humidity in the container with the male. Leave the female in this new container for about 1 month before removing her. It is best to wait for her to resurface when doing this.
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Here comes the truly unique and most frustrating part of breeding grantii beetles. It takes about 3 months for the grantii beetle's eggs to hatch. You do not want to rush to look through the humus for larvae too early. My brother-in-law said it took his eggs 4 months to hatch. I cannot be sure when mine hatched, because I first looked through the humus about 8 months after first putting in the female to lay her eggs. This was another reason for using a large container for the female to lay her eggs. There was a lot of humus for the larvae to eat. You should also try to keep the temperature between 20 and 28 degrees Celsius for these eggs/larvae.
When I finally looked through the container, 8 months after the female was left to lay her eggs, I was really surprised with what I saw when I first emptied the humus. Many of the larvae were third instar larvae. However, there were also first and second instar larvae. I even came across an egg! There was a huge range as to when the eggs must have hatched, so it was good not to disrupt the humus too soon.
When I finally looked through the container, 8 months after the female was left to lay her eggs, I was really surprised with what I saw when I first emptied the humus. Many of the larvae were third instar larvae. However, there were also first and second instar larvae. I even came across an egg! There was a huge range as to when the eggs must have hatched, so it was good not to disrupt the humus too soon.
They will remain as larvae for about 18 months to 2 years. If is a good idea to separate the larvae into different containers. The tall containers you see in the photos were the same ones I used for my Hercules beetles. However, for the Hercules larvae, I only had one in each container. For the grantii larvae, I have put in two to three in each container. This is because they are much smaller. You should change the humus every 5 to 6 months.
The larvae in these containers began making pupae chambers over two years after the female was left to lay her eggs. Then, it took them 2 to 3 months before they emerged as adults. The adults stayed in their chamber for another few weeks before making their way to the top of the container to feed on the beetle jelly I had been putting in there. You definitely need to be patient when breeding grantii beetles. |
This male and female just recently came out of their pupa chambers. You can see they are a dark color. This is what they initially look like since the humus they come out of is moist.
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This male and female became active a few days before this photo was taken. You can see they have the "white" look. The container they were put in was dry. If the humidity increases, they will turn dark again. It only takes them a few minutes to change from dark to white when moved from a moist place to a dry place.
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This photo shows the differences in color. The male on the left was in a moist container. He is a dark color. The male on the right was in a dry container. He is a white color.
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Here are the same two males after being left in dry conditions for a few minutes. Now they are both white. This change in color in humid and dry conditions is quite fascinating.
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Unfortunately, this male is permanently dark, even in dry conditions. This is because he had some complications when emerging. If you look at his wing at the back, you can see it is deformed. This is not a good sign and he will probably die within a couple of weeks.
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Even when put together for a photo opportunity, males will start to fight with other. You can see the grantii using his horns to scoop up another male.
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Usually the larger males will emerge from their pupa chamber later than the smaller males. These 4 healthy males emerged from the larvae containers that were pictured above.
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Also from the five larvae containers that were pictured above, 8 healthy females emerged.
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