Necrobia rufipes
Starter culture with enclosure (~50 mixed): $30
Detailed Species Stats -Click- Adult Size: 7 mm. Care Level: Easy. Temperature Requirements: 65-90 degrees Fahrenheit. Air Humidity: Not picky. Substrate Humidity: Dry. Favorite Foods: Dog food, cat food, meat products. Locality: Livonia, Michigan, United States.
Despite being a stored product pest, red-legged ham beetles are quite beautiful. The thorax coloration is quite brilliant and has a brilliant blue-green shine in good sunlight. The adult beetles are active and are usually out and about, courting and chasing each other. The larvae are quite vermiform and more closely resemble caterpillars than other beetle grubs. Similar to caterpillars, these larvae build silken cocoons to pupate in. This is an excellent, easy to care for beetle species for those who may not have the time or resources to keep “traditional” hobby beetle species. This stock was collected from a ground-level infestation on bags of dog food at a major hardware store.