1/8/2022: Goliath beetles round two

I chronicled at length last year my attempt to streamline goliath beetle husbandry, as well as my successes and failures therein. This year, armed with that knowledge, I’m giving them another go.

I’m determined to make a communal enclosure work. I feel confident saying, with the results from the previous set-up, that larvae can be kept communally without issues if they’re provided proper food, temperature, and space. Results this year reinforce this, as I am keeping the new batch of larvae in a very poor set-up and haven’t had cannibalism or injuries in the few weeks they’ve been together.

Building off of decent results with other cetoniines that seem to obligatorily need sturdy cocoon construction materials, I have opted to use a deep layer of clay/sand mixture in the new communal goliath set-up.

To ensure both are free of pest invertebrates, both ingredients had to be thoroughly heated and desiccated, then painstakingly re-hydrated. This is not my favorite process.

I added a bit too much water and ended up with a… nauseating slurry. Will effectively captured this moment and the experience was made better for it.

Masterpiece by William Samojeden.

Hopefully the clay will absorb the excess water and the rest with evaporate quickly, leaving a moist and sturdy pupation matrix for the larvae to burrow directly into. Time will tell!

-Kyle