Breeding Ground Beetles?

I once found some small shiny green Carabids (I had found out the name but have since forgotten it) in my yard about 5-6 years ago. I was collecting isopods then and didn't think much of throwing them in with the isopods as I collected both. Months later I noticed my isopods were not thriving as I had been told they would; when I went to dismantle the colony I found it was full of the original carabid adults, their larvae, and also pupae in small chambers underneath the moistened soil. I would suspect that the adult carabids quickly eat any ova they may produce (a generalization for all species) but since they were in a setting where there was not only space but also food of varying sizes (in the form of the differently aged isopods) they managed to propagate.

 
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Kyle, I think I saw this post, were they Chlaenius sp?

I have a little "report". I am trying to get a female Carabus nemoralis to lay eggs in a cage with potting soil, sand and zoo med jungle mix. No luck yet, but it has only been a week or two. She is eating isopods, mealworms and other bugs.

 
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I'm moving to a new city and can't bring these beetles with me so I'm going to dismantle the colony for now, and catch some new ones later in Fall or next Spring. Who wants free beetles? :lol:

 
I've tried putting some live and dead Giant Lobster Roach nymphs in their container and they'll attack them and drag them around but they don't seem to eat them.

 
Harpalus beetles are actually omnivorous. They eat a variety of seeds as well as insects. Maybe try feeding them millet or niger seeds?http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/ground-beetles

 
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