Darkling Beetle Photo Thread

Found these under a rotten leg, they're a lot prettier in person, they have an iridescent sheen on them like an oil spill.





 
That larva sure has a blunt tail. It's like the insect version of a rubber boa.
I know, it looks like a Meracantha contracta larva, however that's not what the beetles are. Trying to ID the beetles by looking through Bugguide, so far no luck...

Andy, could you possibly get a brighter picture of your beetles? Which state were the collected in?

 
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The beetle is Ceropria induta which i collected in Korea and the larva is a Plesiophthalmus species, the adults were collected in japan.

 
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The beetle is Ceropria induta which i collected in Korea and the larva is a Plesiophthalmus species, the adults were collected in japan.
Well that's why I couldn't identify them by looking though Bugguide, lol! :D Cool, did you collect enough to start a colony with?

 
Yes i have plenty of the Plesiophthalmus larvae and a pupa and larva of the Ceropria induta.
So cool, keep us updated on their progress! :) Do they need rotten wood for their development? I assume at least the Ceropria do.

 
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Here are some of my Embaphion muricatum adults, these guys are one of the easiest to rear darkling beetles I've ever kept, and the development cycle is pretty quick too! :D

E.muricatum%25231.JPG


 
That's such a cool species. I have one likely from the same subfamily pinned up and I just love the look of them (mine doesn't have the same extreme pie dish shape of yours). How large are they? I'm sure smaller than most Eleodes
Yeah, they are pretty awesome. :) There are 8 different species of Embaphion in the US, some with less pronounced ridges on the prontum and elytra than others. 

They get to approximately 18 mm, give or take, size can vary quite a bit between individuals. So yeah, pretty medium sized.

 
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Yeah, they are pretty awesome. :) There are 8 different species of Embaphion in the US, some with less pronounced ridges on the prontum and elytra than others. 

They get to approximately 18 mm, give or take, size can vary quite a bit between individuals. So yeah, pretty medium sized.
Huh, not bad at all then! I didn't know there was that much variety in the species. 

 
Huh, not bad at all then! I didn't know there was that much variety in the species. 
It's not a huge variation in size, but I've grown some big individuals and some pretty small ones, some of the larva in the cage try pupating before reaching full size for some reason and those ones make small adults. Not sure if there is a difference in sizes between genders or not, seems like both males and females can be the same size.

 
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