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Vermis I'm new here...
Joined: 19 Jan 2007 Posts: 18 Location: Northern Ireland
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:47 pm Post subject: Captive care of the Great Green Diving Beetle? |
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A suggestion about keeping aquatic inverts on another forum got me thinking. Ever since primary school trips to local nature reserves I've been impressed by the great diving beetle, Dysticus marginalis, and it's suddenly occurred to me that it might be feasible to keep them.
But is it?
Google doesn't turn up much on captive care. Is there a chance anyone here has kept them, or knows of someone?
Is there more to it than a standard coldwater aquarium (with plants, filtration, etc.)?
Can more than one be kept together, or won't they be safe from each other? What about potential breeding pairs?
Would they take standard livefood? It seems to me they'd have no problems with it. Are the larvae instantly predatory upon hatching? What would they take?
Lastly, are all my questions moot because it could turn out to be a protected species?
Last edited by Vermis on Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:34 am; edited 1 time in total |
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HerpCrazy!!! Key Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 421 Location: Jersey, Channel Islands
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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I have kept great diving beetle larvae for a long while but always released them when the get too big and scary!
They call them water tigers I think, and they really deserve the title. I fed them on guppies while they were small and as they grew (to just over 2"!!!) they were taking down and eating 3"+ golden orfe! The bite is ridiculously painful and the teeth are visibly massive. Sorry I can't give you any more info but if I can get some more tigers this spring I'll give it a go and see how they pupate. _________________ Licking this cane toad was the worst flippin idea you.............whoa man that penguin just put something in your pocket. |
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Vermis I'm new here...
Joined: 19 Jan 2007 Posts: 18 Location: Northern Ireland
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:28 am Post subject: |
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Thanks! I might go pond-dipping myself, this year.
I also found a bit of info myself, in the Reader's Digest 'The Living Countryside' book The World of Still Water. Some (hopefully) relevant stuff:
Quote: | This species is a common insect in ponds and slow rivers, but can also be kept easily in aquariums where it may survive for two or three years.
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Great diving water beetles do not hibernate, but swim about in all but the coldest weather.
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If you keep these beetles in an aquarium you will find they feed readily on pieces of meat or worms, but make sure you do not give them too much food. The surplus will decay and cause the water to turn foul.
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In addition to a pair of sharp spikes on the beetle's underside, it can produce an unpleasant-smelling nerve poison which is sufficiently lethal to kill a frog. This deadly fluid emanates from glands on the thorax.
If you catch any water beetles try not to touch them. They are best tipped straight from the net into a jar of water or into a box filled with wet water weed.
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In March and April the females lay their eggs singly in slits which they cut in water plant stems with ovipositors equipped with extremely sharp blades. Individual adult females lay eggs at the same time each year. The eggs are rather large - up to 7mm (1/4in) long - and hatch in about three weeks.
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In about six to eight weeks the larva is fully fed. At this stage it leaves the water and burrows into damp soil near the water's edge, making a roundish cell to pupate in.
In summer the adult beetle emerges from its pupa after only two or three weeks, but if the larva does not pupate until autumn, it will not emerge as an adult until spring. |
Copyright Reader's Digest, I suppose.
The adult beetles might do best in an aquarium, but I wonder if the larvae could be raised in regularly-cleaned tubs or jars? Live plants and aeration aren't too important to them, I think. It could make it easier to keep a few in limited space; though that's not to say I'm thinking of overcollecting them. |
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HerpCrazy!!! Key Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 421 Location: Jersey, Channel Islands
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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I've always kept the tigers in small plastic containers but they seem to like attaching themselves to something for support so i usually put a small twig or reed stem in for them I'll try and pupate a few this year then _________________ Licking this cane toad was the worst flippin idea you.............whoa man that penguin just put something in your pocket. |
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Rob Byatt I've settled in...
Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 25 Location: Liverpool.
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Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:44 am Post subject: |
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Hi,
I bred D. marginalis for a number of years (90'-95), so I can help here
You will have no problem keeping them together, just don't try to keep anything else with them, not even large crayfish
The females require submergent plant stems to lay their eggs in. I found that they liked to lay in a plant common in pet shops - its leaves are strap like and very long (almost like daffodil leaves) - but I can't remember the name !
The larvae hatch in around 2 weeks and are highly predatory within a day.
They must be kept singularly !
They will feed happily on bloodworms, gammarus, mosquito larvae etc. They will also take insect trapped in the water film - they spend a lot of time hanging by their spiracles at the surface.
Larger larvae will attack anything that moves, including fingers.
The larvae will require a mud bank to climb out of the water and a stone to pupate under.
Sorry this is a bit rushed, I'm really busy !
Rob. _________________ I only sell mantids that I have bred myself. I do not 'buy and sell'.
Keep species newly available in the UK in culture - send them to breeders. It's not about money ! |
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Vermis I'm new here...
Joined: 19 Jan 2007 Posts: 18 Location: Northern Ireland
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Herpcrazy, and thanks Rob. Can I pick your brains about the mud bank (composition, gradient, water level, possible substitutes etc.) when you have more time? |
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Rob Byatt I've settled in...
Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 25 Location: Liverpool.
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Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Vermis wrote: | Thanks Herpcrazy, and thanks Rob. Can I pick your brains about the mud bank (composition, gradient, water level, possible substitutes etc.) when you have more time? |
A bit late noticing this reply, but please PM me if you still need help.
Rob. _________________ I only sell mantids that I have bred myself. I do not 'buy and sell'.
Keep species newly available in the UK in culture - send them to breeders. It's not about money ! |
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Bohan Key Member
Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 311 Location: Devon, uk.
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:58 am Post subject: |
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Rob Byatt wrote: | Hi,
The females require submergent plant stems to lay their eggs in. I found that they liked to lay in a plant common in pet shops - its leaves are strap like and very long (almost like daffodil leaves) - but I can't remember the name ! | Might be vallisneria sp Rob _________________ http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p17/Bird-fly/
2.0.0 Varanus glauerti.
1.1.0 Varanus a brachyurus.
1.1.0 Chlamydosaurus kingii.
1.3.4 Lacerta vivipera. |
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Rob Byatt I've settled in...
Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 25 Location: Liverpool.
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 10:03 am Post subject: |
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Bohan wrote: | Rob Byatt wrote: | Hi,
The females require submergent plant stems to lay their eggs in. I found that they liked to lay in a plant common in pet shops - its leaves are strap like and very long (almost like daffodil leaves) - but I can't remember the name ! | Might be vallisneria sp Rob |
That's the badger ! _________________ I only sell mantids that I have bred myself. I do not 'buy and sell'.
Keep species newly available in the UK in culture - send them to breeders. It's not about money ! |
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