Breeding urchin beetle(Prionotheca coronata)

[attenboroughii]

Hi all.
Urchin Beetle(Prionotheca coronata coronata) is breeding and I'd like to share information.
I got some adults from Israel last November.


This is the rearing container. It's about 570 square centimeters.
I spread silica sand 1.2 inches thick and moistened half of the container.
They eat whatever they are fed. cat food, wheat, Carrot, cabbage, banana, and so on.
I kept them at 82℉.


mating


They remained still for a while, but in February of this year, they suddenly started laying eggs.
Eggs are laid at night in damp areas of sand. About 5 eggs every few days.


Eggs hatch in about 2 weeks.


Larvae are reared one by one in such cups.
Crushed cat food or cereal grains are the food.
Place a pinch of food in the bottom of the cup, cover it with dry sand to a depth of about 0.4 inches, and put the larva in.


When the larvae dive, mist the sand and moisten it slightly.
If they dry out too much, they may molt improperly.


First instar larvae with full bellies.


The larvae reach the 2nd instar in about 10 days.
The cups should be changed from time to time to prevent mold growth on the food.
It takes a little longer than 2 weeks to reach the 3rd instar.


The larvae are growing well and the largest larvae are in the 4th instar.
Just after molting, they are about 1.2 inches long.

 

[attenboroughii]

There are about 30 larvae.
So far, the survival rate is about 50%, but this is mainly due to the fragile eggs.
The adults prefer to lay their eggs in moist sand, but humidity control is difficult because too much humidity can lead to mold.


Recently, the survival rate has been improving because the eggs are dug up and managed after they lay eggs.
Larval rearing is not difficult if one is careful to avoid molting failure.
View attachment gomidama.mp4

















They grow fast, so I will write again when they progress to the next stage.

 

[paumotu]

Wow! @wizentrop , have you seen this?

 

[wizentrop]

Very impressive, but I should point out that it is not difficult to get eggs or larvae from this species.
For us, the main bottleneck for breeding was failures during pupation. Collapsed cells, mismolting, malformation after emergence, etc'.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

Very impressive, but I should point out that it is not difficult to get eggs or larvae from this species.
For us, the main bottleneck for breeding was failures during pupation. Collapsed cells, mismolting, malformation after emergence, etc'.

I think that's usually the darkling problem.

 

[wizentrop]

I think that's usually the darkling problem.

Yup, definitely had the same problems with other large darkling beetles, like Blaps for example.

 

[attenboroughii]

I plan to use Exoterra desert sand for pupation.
This soil hardens when moistened and then dried. I think it will support the pupal chamber well.
Or, I intend to add silt to Silica sand to make the soil less crumbly.

 

[MantidMaster]

Any updates on this?

 

[attenboroughii]

View attachment togeheri.mp4

















6th instar larva. It is growing well.
It took about a month to grow from L5 to L6.
Larvae need moisture in the sand to prevent molting failure.
L6 is about 4 cm(1.6 in) just after molting and very large.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

What is the dark area on the larva?

 

[attenboroughii]

Hi all.
Prionotheca coronata is now an adult.
It pupated on the ground, but has eclosed safely.
The size is also nice. It is not a dwarf.
I kept the pupa dry and when it was close to hatching and the limbs and chin were colored and the body was a bit soft, I moistened the sand a bit to increase the humidity.
Unfortunately, I could not witness the eclosion because it happened at midnight.

 

[attenboroughii]

What is the dark area on the larva?

I think it's the food he ate or something.

 

[ColeopteraC]

I plan to use Exoterra desert sand for pupation.
This soil hardens when moistened and then dried. I think it will support the pupal chamber well.
Or, I intend to add silt to Silica sand to make the soil less crumbly.

Was this the method you used to obtain a safe pupation+eclosion?

 

[attenboroughii]

Was this the method you used to obtain a safe pupation+eclosion?

In fact, I could not prepare that soil because I did not know what the final instar was.
The larvae have turned into prepupae on silica sand.
It may have been a good idea to keep them completely dry from prepupa to just before emergence .

 

[Milipedesarecool]

Hi, I know this is an old post, and I am very sorry for the disturbance, but it's an emergency and I have no idea what to do. My urchin beetles just laid a few eggs, and I have isolated the eggs from the enclosure. Now I don't know for sure if the eggs need humid sand or completely dry sand to hatch.
Thanks so much

 

[attenboroughii]

Hi.
I have changed the way I manage them from before.
Place eggs on dry, clean sand in a 120cc cup and keep them inside a 430cc cup with a lid.
430cc cup should be filled with water.
Maintain aerial humidity without directly moistening the eggs.
I believe this method will allow them to hatch safely.



The contents of the cup are the eggs of another Tenebrionidae


This method is also effective for larval rearing, so try it.

 

[Hougen]

Hi!
Mine started laying eggs recently. But so far every egg (it were three so far) got destroyed for an unknown reason while in their cups. With the last two I was extremely careful but they still didn't make it. Though I wouldn't rule out the possibility that I still destroyed them while separating them. What ist your method when it comes to separating?

Also my female seems to lay her eggs at the most random places ever. So far every egg was on top of the substrate or on dry leaves that are in the enclosure. Do you have similar experiences with that? I think on leaving the eggs where they are, but I'm not sure If the beetles would eat their own eggs. Besides that I was wondering if the larvae would also feed on plant based substrate like leaf litter, white rotten wood or Flake Soil?

 

[attenboroughii]

Eggs are very fragile and should be dug up carefully.
If the sand that the eggs are touching is wet, they will mold, so keep the sand dry and the environment humid.
They are usually laid in the sand, so if they are laid on leaves, they may not have been fertilized.
I feed the larvae cat food, so I do not know if they eat fallen leaves, etc.

 

[Hougen]

Okay, there we have my problem solved then. I put them in moist sand because the eggs of all my other beetles species need a certain amount of moisture. I Just assumed that It's the Same with Prionotheca coronata. Thank you for the quick answer! I definetly saw them mating, so I really hope the eggs are fertilized.

 

[Hougen]

Hi, sorry for posting again. The passt few days mine laid more eggs. As instructed in your post, I put them in a cup with dry sand and put the cup in a bigger container filled with water. So far one of the eggs seems so change its form. To me it looks like it shrunk because of a lack of moisture.

Do they need higher temperatures just like the beetles? In that case it might be the best way to just put the cup in the enclosure.
I'm honestly kind of frustrated with the whole thing because I have no Idea what to do.