Post by cabintom on May 21, 2014 10:14:25 GMT -8
So I was visited by a gentleman early this morning wanting to sell me a beetle. I'm thinking it is a small female Augosoma centaurus (though it's about half the size of the one I already have in my collection... so I'm not sure). Anyways, he wanted to sell it to me for $5 US... utterly ridiculous. I ended up giving him 500Fc (about $0.50 US) partly so that he'd stop bothering me and partly because I didn't want to discourage him from showing up with other interesting insects he might find... it was still too much for that particular specimen.
The upshot to all that though, was that one of the street boys I work with witnessed our exchange. He speaks about as much french as I speak Swahili, so I doubt he understood what was going on... but what he did see was that I kept the beetle.
This afternoon he came to me carrying another specimen (slightly larger and in better condition). Awesome! It's fun hunting butterflies with them, maybe now they'll also be on the look out for beetles. So, after some confusing communication, he finally understood that I wanted to know where he had found it. He went, grabbed a shovel, and led me to a nearby mound of dirt. We spent about 30 minutes digging through the dirt, finding 2 more adult females, 2 larvae, and 4 pupae.
So, finally, my question: What do I do with the larvae and pupae? I've currently got them in a large jar full of dirt.
Thanks!
Tom
(I can post pictures if they'd be helpful.)
The upshot to all that though, was that one of the street boys I work with witnessed our exchange. He speaks about as much french as I speak Swahili, so I doubt he understood what was going on... but what he did see was that I kept the beetle.
This afternoon he came to me carrying another specimen (slightly larger and in better condition). Awesome! It's fun hunting butterflies with them, maybe now they'll also be on the look out for beetles. So, after some confusing communication, he finally understood that I wanted to know where he had found it. He went, grabbed a shovel, and led me to a nearby mound of dirt. We spent about 30 minutes digging through the dirt, finding 2 more adult females, 2 larvae, and 4 pupae.
So, finally, my question: What do I do with the larvae and pupae? I've currently got them in a large jar full of dirt.
Thanks!
Tom
(I can post pictures if they'd be helpful.)
