kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33 
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:08:42 GMT -8
Being the latest addition to the population of this wonder forum, I would like to share with you my story of Australian golden stag beetle
In 2007 just before Christmas, I went to Karawatha forest for a walk. Trekking alone the Lagoon track, I spotted something shiny dangling on a spider’s web. It turned out to be a beetle trapped by the spider’s web. At the time, I had no idea of what it was but its beautiful colour mesmerised me the moment I rescued it from the web. Later on, I found out it was a type of stag beetle called golden stag beetle (lamprima latreillii). It was the very first time I was aware of the existence of such beautiful insects living in my neighbourhood. The desire of seeing this gorgeous beetle again gnawed at m, so I kept returning to the same place again and again but I hadn’t been able to see any of them again until a few weeks ago.
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kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:14:16 GMT -8
In a visit to a fellow beetle lover recently, I was told golden stag beetle larvae prefer certain kind of rotten trees and the key to finding them is to find the right type of trees. Armed with this new knowledge, I started poring over Google map of my local area and identifying potential parks and forest where their host trees could thrive. I singled out a few places and applied for a week’s personal leave from work to start my epic journey of capturing golden stag beetles!
I must have a knack of spotting the right rotten trees because I captured 4 golden stag beetle larvae in the first rotten tree trunk I dug. They are all females.
A few days later, a red female emerged
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kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:20:15 GMT -8
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kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:23:40 GMT -8
One day later, a blue female also emerged
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kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:28:28 GMT -8
I also found a lot of larvae of golden stag beetle
 
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kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:38:06 GMT -8
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kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:41:04 GMT -8
The interesting thing was I didn’t find any male golden stag beetle initially. Maybe the males emerge later than the females or there are just more females than males. I have no answer to this question but I was bend on finding males. Lucky for me, a few days later, in a rotten log on the other side of the park, I found my first male lava.
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kan
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kan on Nov 22, 2015 4:46:52 GMT -8
From this moment on, I could tell, just by looking at the rotten log, whether it contained lamprim or not since my intuition had been honed through days digging
 
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2015 6:22:55 GMT -8
Wow, great story and super pics. Welcome to Insectnet kan. I wish I had those around me.
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pierre
Junior Member
Posts: 33
Country: Switzerland
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Post by pierre on Nov 22, 2015 6:32:55 GMT -8
Splendid report. Thanks for sharing!
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Post by bugboys3 on Nov 23, 2015 10:01:17 GMT -8
Those are some amazing beetles!
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Post by mothman27 on Nov 23, 2015 13:27:11 GMT -8
Those are cool!  |
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Post by Dany on Dec 1, 2015 8:20:35 GMT -8
Fantastic!!!
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Post by Bugman on Dec 14, 2015 4:29:02 GMT -8
Wow very nice pictures and beetles! So what is their host tree actually? Some breeders here in Germany got this species and tried to breed them but failed. I guess it is because they used the wrong wood.
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Post by bichos on Dec 14, 2015 16:36:52 GMT -8
Wow very nice pictures and beetles! So what is their host tree actually? Some breeders here in Germany got this species and tried to breed them but failed. I guess it is because they used the wrong wood. Try the substrate as with P. muelleri. They inhabit a wide range of local and exotic species. The fungus they prefer is best described as 'White rot'. |
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