Pachnoda fissipunctum - Fruit Beetle Sexed Pair

 
Pachnoda fissipunctum belong to the subfamily Cetoniinae which includes other subspecies of sun beetles with various markings that live in west and central Africa, often found living in acacia trees. P. fissipunctum are yellow with a deep red to black pattern covering the thorax and elytra, which sometimes resembles a skull! Their abdomen can be red, yellow or a combination of both, with white dots around the end of the abdomen. Both sexes are monomorphic, meaning males and females look the same, however males have a thin line or indentation that runs vertically down the centre of the abdomen. Antennae are club-like, and adults have a good sense of smell which they use to seek out ripe fruit.
 
Adults can fly but it tends to be very clumsy and often only shown by the males when trying to seek out other females, otherwise these beetles are very docile and can easily be handled. Adult females will burrow into the substrate after mating to lay a single egg, which after a few weeks will hatch into a very small white grub with a brown head, where it spends its time eating and growing up to the size of your pinkie finger! Larvae will form a cocoon around itself made of a combination of chewed up organic material and secretions, and then attach themselves under a piece of bark for protection whilst pupating.
 
These beetles will thrive in a warm, fairly humid vivarium that is tall, has a good layer of quality substrate, and receives bright light, which they use to regulate breeding cycles. Sun beetles tend to gravitate towards light, hence their name, and without it your beetles may not breed as successfully or live their happiest life. We suggest using a glass or plastic terrarium that is minimum 30x30x30cm for 4-5 beetles, with a secure lid, plenty of ventilation, heat lamp or LED light, and at least a 10cm depth of quality substrate (a litre of substrate per larvae is a good rule to follow). Provide plenty of branches, hardy plants or moss, and cork bark for your beetles to climb on and fly off and provide a substrate that contains plenty of rotting wood and leaf litter, as this is the life source for the larvae. We recommend adding a clean up crew such as dairy cow or dwarf white isopods and springtails to your beetle set-up, as these will help keep the tank clean of waste and in our experience do not impact the breeding success rate of the beetles. 
 
Size: up to 4cm as larvae, 2.5-3cm as adults
Lifespan: 6 up to 10 months (2-5 months as larvae)
Status: captive bred
Place of Origin: West and Central Africa
Temperature: 20-28˚C, 25˚C optimal
Humidity: 50-70%
Diet: larvae eat hardwood leaf litter (oak, beech, hazel etc), rotten hardwood, flake soil, variety of fruit and vegetables (favourites include cucumber, squash, apple, and melon), protein source (shrimp pellets, nutritional yeast, and bee pollen). Adults eat a variety of fruit and veg (favourites being cucumber and melon), leafy greens like lettuce and spinach, and occasional protein sources listed above. Beetle Jelly can also be provided as an optional supplement.