General Information:

There are several important points when it comes to mating the adults and getting the females to lay eggs. If you keep these points in mind, you can acquire eggs and offspring relatively easily.

Maturation Time:

Beetles need 1-12 months (length depending on the species) to reach sexual maturity after emerging as an adult. Forcibly allowing sexually immature adults to mate will lead to infertile eggs and a introduces the danger of the female’s internal reproductive organs becoming damaged. When adults exhibit sudden changes in behaviour such as increased food intake or regular flight attempts in their enclosure, it is highly likely that they have reached sexual maturity and are searching for a mate. The average maturation time for each species will be listed in the species specific care sheets.

Examples of the maturation length of rhinoceros beetle species:

1. Diloboderus abderus – 1 month

2. Trypoxylus dichotomus – 1 month

3. Chalcosoma atlas – 2 months

4. Chalcosoma caucasus – 2 months

5. Chalcosoma moellenkampi – 2 months

6. Golofa porteri – 2 months

7. Megasoma actaeon  – 2 months

8. Megasoma elephas – 2 months

9. Xylotrupes gideon – 2 months

10. Xylotrupes pubescens – 2 month

11. Augosoma centaurus – 3 months

12. Dynastes grantii – 3 months

13. Dynastes hercules – 3 months

14. Dynastes neptunus – 3 months

15. Dynastes tityus – 8 months

16. Eupatorus gracilicornis – 10 months

17. Eupators siamensis – 10 months

Mating Procedure:

If both the male and female are sexually mature, they will mate without the need for any special interaction and are kept together. To ensure mating on the spot, place the female on a perch and gently put the male directly behind the female. When the male senses the female, the male will climb on top and mate.

Avoid defective individuals that are missing their claws when purchasing adult beetles. Missing claws are often a sign of old age so the adult will not live long. Even if the claws are missing due to an accident and not due to old age, it is better not to purchase adults with missing claws if your intention is to use the male for mating. Adult males mate by hooking their front legs onto the female’s body to get into the correct position for mating. Therefore males that are missing claws will struggle to get themselves into the correct position and will result in mating failure.

Wild Collected Adults?:

When it comes to wild collected adults, there is usually no need to mate the female acquisition as it is most likely that the female has already been mated in the wild. There is no harm in purchasing a male too to mate the female yourself for peace of mind however – just in case that the caught female was still a freshly emerged one and was captured before the female had any chance to mate.