Darkling beetle picture thread

Show off your tenebs!

Coelocnemis californica -California broad-headed Darkling beetle


Eleodes gracilis(?) Male eleodes, unknown species.



Eleodes osculans



Phloeodes diabolicus



"Foul! Reaching in!"


Eleodes dentipes

Forked fungus beetle







Been breeding these over the past 4 years or so

My wife wanted to give super worm breeding a go. Just for the fun of it, doubt we'll ever have a proper supply to feed anything. She really loves these little beetles and I've become kinda attached to them as well. We have five of these little buggers.

"Zophobas morio beetles"


When transferring to a new container today we noticed some larvae. One is a decent size (about meal worm sized thus far) but the others must be freshly hatched. They are teeny. Maybe 1-2mm tops. Success!

We also have one mealie beetle that must of came in with a cricket shipment and transformed in their enclosure. I call him Frank. Poor Frank lives a solitary life. Next time he surfaces out of the oats I'll snap a photo.

Cryptoglossa muricata

The ONLY darkling beetle I found all night in palm desert! The reason being I stupidly focused on the hills which were solid rock, and provided very little burrowing opportunities..

Oh well, at least I got something other than an eleodes, lol

I've looked and can't seem to find a source to purchase Phloeodes diabolicus or the forked fungus beetles...

is their care the same as regular mealworms and superworms? Are the larvae suitable to use as feeder insects? I'd like to have a mealworm farm but would like something a bit different in the way of adult appearance. lol.

ratluvr76 said:

I've looked and can't seem to find a source to purchase Phloeodes diabolicus or the forked fungus beetles...

is their care the same as regular mealworms and superworms? Are the larvae suitable to use as feeder insects? I'd like to have a mealworm farm but would like something a bit different in the way of adult appearance. lol.

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Phloeodes is actually quite a large genus, Im sure there are hundreds of unnamed species, as they can be difficult to notice without a good eye. Their habit of tucking their limbs in and playing dead for several minutes is very good camouflage, I have a very good eye, and I fail to see them until I decide to take another look later on, so obviously there could be many species that continue to go unknown.

Anyway, to answer your question, they take a while to breed. They require different care, moist coco fiber is required to breed them, they wont tolerate the same conditions as mealworms., they also can be quite picky, but thanks to trailblazr80, I know they love bananas and fruit. They definitely depend more on fruit than darkling beetles, Rhamnus, Prunus ilicifolia, and california blackberry are common in riparian habitat here in socal. It's likely they feed heavily on these berries, they also have a fondness for polypore fungi and lichens! (Btw i didnt know this until recently- ironclads aren't darkling beetles! But they DO share ancestry with them.)

I had brought home a few slabs of lichen-encrusted oak-bark, and my ironclads stripped them bare! They also love dried out old mushrooms. Basically, you want to emulate oak woodland habitat.. They seem to be repelled by fresh mushrooms, but devour old dry mushrooms with gusto. Just keep the coco fiber from getting too dry, and without oversaturating it.

I have been providing mine with overripe cherries and dry mushrooms, and my females have been disappearing under the slabs, so I'm sure there are some eggs under there

I guess Socal is another spot on my "must visit" list. LOL go get me some beetles..

good information, thank you.

My favourite beetle family. I especially adore Diaperis boleti. Here's the one I captured 3 years ago.


And my wife's object of study - Alphitobius diaperinus, "photographed" with SEM microscope.

Dark Raptor said:

My favourite beetle family. I especially adore Diaperis boleti. Here's the one I captured 3 years ago.

And my wife's object of study - Alphitobius diaperinus, "photographed" with SEM microscope.

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fantastic photos!

Smokehound714 said:

fantastic photos!

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Thanks!

Here are two other, untypical Tenebrionidae beetles:

Cteniopus sulphureus


Lagria hirta


...and Alphitobius diaperinus, last instar larva.

Dark Raptor said:

My favourite beetle family. I especially adore Diaperis boleti. Here's the one I captured 3 years ago.

And my wife's object of study - Alphitobius diaperinus, "photographed" with SEM microscope.

Click to expand...

I'm no good with beetles, but is that one of the pleasing fungus beetles? I had one of those a while back, but I mistook it for a burying beetle. Unfortunately it died.
EDIT: I just took the time to look that up. I had a Megalodacne, it seems.

Micrathena said:

I'm no good with beetles, but is that one of the pleasing fungus beetles? I had one of those a while back, but I mistook it for a burying beetle. Unfortunately it died.
EDIT: I just took the time to look that up. I had a Megalodacne, it seems.

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Yup it's a teneb. You can tell those two families apart by the "cheek bones" that only tenebs have, and erotylids have clubbed antennae, while tenebs tend not to have the clubs at the end. There are a lot of beetle families that look similar, so it can be a rough group to work with until you get some experience

Another species from Poland...

Uloma culinaris - female


Uloma culinaris - male


Platydema violaceum


Corticeus fasciatus


Corticeus cf linearis

Dark Raptor said:

Another species from Poland...

Uloma culinaris - female

Uloma culinaris - male

Platydema violaceum

Corticeus fasciatus

Corticeus cf linearis

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great to see some cylindrical bark beetles

AWESOME photos, as usual!

Smokehound714 said:

great to see some cylindrical bark beetles

AWESOME photos, as usual!

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Thanks

Of course, there are also more "typical" species...

Opatrum sabulosum




Bolitophagus reticulatus


And very, very old photo of Tenebrio opacus. The rarest Tenebrio species in my area.

Phloeodes diabolicus feeding on greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata), a species of lichen common on oak bark.

Cool looking pronotums and elytras. This is something I love in this family

2 other species from my area.

Blaps lethifera, successfully kept and bred few years ago...





Tribolium confusum, common pest in food products.

^^--- Are those guys eating orange chicken? Haha

Smokehound714 said:

^^--- Are those guys eating orange chicken? Haha

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As I remember, it was chicken meat... you were really close

Five more, unidentified, from Borneo.

That rainbow one is AMAZING!