You know, we actually have pet in the house, although I rarely talked about it. But we’ve almost never seen it around because it is living in a plastic box buried under a heap of soil. In fact, it hardly can be called a pet at all, because we can’t, you know, pet it or play with it. The only thing we can do is watching it while it’s growing.
Anyway, meet our pet: a Colombian Hercules beetle larva! Sidra calls it ‘Herakuresu’, which is simply how the word ‘Hercules’ said in Japanese. He’s crazy about all these kabuto (rhino beetle) and kuwagata (stag beetle), so my husband and I finally agreed to have one.
It was bought last August in a beetle store in Shibuya, the store owner said that the larva was *maybe* a male. He showed me how to differentiate the male from female by looking at some spot on its tiny belly. Although he said that there was a certain thing to see there, I have to admit that I couldn’t see anything. So I hope this larva would really turn out to be a male. Because male Hercules beetle will have this most impressive long horn. It is said that an adult Hercules beetle can reach more than 15 cm in length. A 15 cm length crawling insect! How cool is that!
The larva is a pretty low maintenance animal. A container is filled with some special soil and then the larva is put there. It will consume the soil for about 3-4 months until the soil is changed to new one. This should continue for several month, and sometimes years. Then one day the larva will suddenly decide that the time has come to begin a metamorphosis process, it will stop moving and eating for a certain time, and then emerges as a cool, menacing-looking beetle.
While it’s living buried in soil, sometimes a glimpse of the larva can be seen when it stays near the side of the container. The three of us often take a peek together and comment on how it has grown so big or how it moves around etc. My husband is not an ‘insect person’, but he’s grown to love this larva. Although he still doesn’t want to tough this wriggly thing, he would check the temperature and humidity of the soil before he goes to bed and adjusts the lamp or sprays some water when necessary.
Because the soil is only changed every a few months, the occasion is something that we wait for excitedly. I would dig the larva and pick it out, then all of us would scream at the sight of the larva and how big it has became! So far, we’ve done it twice. I hope the larva will turn into a beetle this year, although I will miss this fat wriggly thing.
In case you like wriggly things, there’s more pictures of this Herakuresu in my flickr set.
Hello!! I’ve just found your blog!! And I like it!!
I found some weeks ago some larvas of a Cetonia aurata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetonia_aurata) in my pot!! It was similar to yours, even if more little!!
I took them along the river, made an hole in the soil and left them over there!
Greetings from Italy!
Laura
Hi Laura, thanks for passing by!
Happy to hear about the larvae, I hope they will find a comfortable life along the river. I think they are such amazing creatures once you pass the ‘ewww’ part. Even kinda cute
Oh My! That’s a large larve. I thought we were weird housing tons of tiny snails. I can’t wait to see pics of the larve when it transforms into a beetle. I just hope the beetle isn’t as big as the larve in the last pic. That would be one big bug!
….I WAS JUST READING BUT NoW I HAVE TO ASK YOU:
what do you mean by WHEN IT WILL TRANSFORM????? into WHAT?
I am amazed to see this herculesthing living with you! I swear I have never seen this in my life!wow!
cheers from berlin – lovely blog you have! a whole new world!
Actually it is mentioned several times in the post that the larva will turn into a beetle
OMG! that is amazing. I wonder if I can get that in the US. I kinda want one.
Eeew :D. That last pic really creeps me out, its huuge! Im sure it has a great personality tho :]
EEEWWWWW….. moi, absolutely not an-insect-person…. segala macem yang menggeliat-geliat seperti cacing is a big no no or I’ll be jumping cow
*sssshhh, don’t tell sidra* I’m afraid of herakuresu
OMG. I’ve never seen you smile. Let alone grinning like you did in the first picture. Knowing that what made you smile from ear-to-ear is a giant larva, I’m pretty shocked.
LOL!
What I find most inspiring is your parenting style. You make the most sparky parent and Sidra is blessed to have you (as you are blessed by his presence too).
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for entering the Mario Badescu contest. Good luck!
Oh and I love your little critter
Hope you’re having a nice day!
Dawn
http://thealternativebride.blogspot.com/
It does look cute. But I’m not sure I can touch it.
It felt strange actually, the body is firm and cold to the touch. It almost doesn’t feel like a living thing but then it keeps wriggling around. You should try! 😛
It’s not slippery? I imagine it covered with slime.
You watch too many animes! 😛
No, it’s not slippery at all. It’s clean and dry, firm and cold, maybe a bit like a small and firm banana? If a banana can squirm, that is.
That is indeed super cool. But I would definitely not want one in my house. You are brave to let it live with you.
And I hope you’ll put up pictures when it turns into a beetle. Haha. Now you’ve got me hooked!
Well, it does stay put in the container and doesn’t move anywhere.I don’t think I can stand it if it has the tendency to wriggle out of it! I’m sure gonna put the pictures when it has transformed, hope it will happen soon enough
You are the most surprising person! I love the photos of you and your son with the amazingly gigantic larva. I am student teaching in a sixth grade class right now and we have had Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches in the classroom lately. They are very cool too and make good pets.
Eeeek cockroach! But after searching on google, I think this particular cockroach is okay-er than the ordinary ones. At least they can’t fly…
oh my gosh…I have to say I had to take a double take on that. IT IS HUGE!!!!!
I don’t think that I could handle it. Im so afraid of beetles.
but very cool pet!
x
Oh isn’t it cool but at the same time a little eww!
That was my first reaction when I saw them! But then I’ve grown to like it, it’s kinda… cute, no?
Soooo coool! My son would LOVE one of these! Lucky boy!
Aaww!!! SURE IS BIG!! I’m not much fan of insect but I must admit I would love to touch that larva XD
oh my…!! he is so biiigggg!
when I was a little girl, my grandpa used to catch rhino beetles for me in the summer. good childhood memories…
I’ve read that the beetle larvas can stay in the soil for several years(six or seven) before they turn into an adult! I guess it depends on whan kind of beetle it is, though…
That’s so sweet! Last summer, Sidra went for his first beetle hunt night with some friends, my first one too. We went to a nearby wood with flashlights in hand looking for them on trees. It was very exciting, although my husband didn’t really like the idea of flying insects. He was very jumpy that night 😀
I’ve read about that too! It would be a bummer if this larva turns into a beetle by the time Sidra goes into Junior high!
That is absolutely INCREDIBLE. I MUST do this when my daughter is older.
WOW WOW…I don’t know . I am not a big fan of larvae but the end product looks so impressive! what a re you going to do when it turns in a beetle? Can you keep it or you have to let it go? Can it live in side does it bite??
No, no, we can’t let it go! An adult Hercules beetle is very expensive in pet shop. The beetle will be kept in an aquarium/transparent container with soil and dead leaves as base and fed with special jelly beetle. It’s actually a quiet animal and won’t bite, the horn is only used to fight other beetle and to move leaves around.
Awesome, I love it!!! And so huge, wow! I would love to have a cameleon instead, they are my favorite animals (along with dolphins) but I’m afraid he might suffer in a restricted space … I never thought a bout a bug though, taht could be an idea instead, problem is we don’t have those in Italy
Bugs, especially beetles, are pretty popular here in Japan, there are beetle magazines, beetle shops, beetle clubs etc. My son has poster of beetles on the wall and a beetles encyclopedia.
Chameleon is cool! When I live in Indonesia, I have wild chameleons running around in my front yard
That’s huge!!!! I never know beetle from larva too heheh
that’s AWESOME!
Oh my gosh, I love this! I’m getting one!
My first reaction was to freak out and go “THAT’S A BUG” but thats amazing, very low maintanence but I dn’t think i have a strong enough stomach to have one as a pet… knowing how big it gets.
Oh my!!! the way you are lovingly holding the ‘thing’ and the proud big grin on your face, it might have as well been a fluffy bunny/cat/dog.. 😀
it’s pretty cool and it certainly have grown…
Awww, you don’t think he’s as cute as a fluffy bunny? 😀