Hellburnt Diabolical Ironclad Beetle
$9.99
Description
The Hellburnt Diabolical Ironclad beetle, Phloeodes diabolicus, is a color morph with four pale areas on the abdomen as noted in the top video, below.
Limit 3 per person due to low inventory, sorry.
Ironclads are close relative of darkling beetles but are in the completely separate Ironclad family Zopheridae. These are charcoal black with paler areas and measure about 1/2 to 3/4 inches. They are very cryptic looking beetles with rough and chunky, asphalt-like texture. Their pronotums extend out in almost heart-shaped flanges aside their heads. Recesses below the pronotum provide hiding places for their antennae when they go into death-feigning mode (tonic immobility). When disturbed they sometimes exhibit a tripod like stance that is opposite the normal darkling “head-stander” behavior. These beetles sit on their haunches and extend their front legs like little bulldogs.
This beetles can live with the other desert tenebs (family Tenebrionidae including death feigning beetles and darklings of various flavors). They tend to come from slightly more moist habitats than these other beetles but I’ve not noticed that they don’t struggle in my desert tanks. Their cuticle is famously thick and entomologists break their pins trying to pin them and like to tell stories about how their exoskeleton is so tough they can, apparently, survive being run over by a car. In other words, there probably isn’t a lot of water loss for these beetles and giving them a bit of food with moisture in it probably goes a long way to keep them hydrated.
More photos available on Bugguide.
We keep them on bits of carrot, apple (peeled) and dried pet food. I’ve seen them eat store bought mushrooms. They are not able to climb glass or smooth plastic tank walls.
Additional information
| Weight | .15 lbs |
|---|
7 reviews for Hellburnt Diabolical Ironclad Beetle
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Karen Lineberry (verified owner) –
Good pet
Dylan Carter (verified owner) –
Beautiful creatures! Ordered two and they sent one big one and one small one. They are cute together and I like letting them crawl around my hand. They arrived quickly and alive.
Duncan Miller (verified owner) –
These are magnificent pets that I keep with my other death feigning species. They arrived in perfect condition, and I could not be more satisfied with such a unique and cool creature.
Brian Wolfman –
What are magnificent beetle species. I am glad I have it because it’s so tough that I can’t crush it by accident if I’m clumsy which is a great feature. These little guys are fun and beautiful to watch but be careful about food they are very picky.
Cherry (verified owner) –
I love my little guy so much! 😠I ordered one along with a few BFDB, and they all have so much personality. This dude is the shyest and sweetest beetle I’ve ever seen, but also really lives up to his name. One moment he’s stomping around like he owns the place and pushing his head into the other beetles to get them to move (he’s very small in comparison to them), and the next he’s slowly walking to his favorite spots to play dead because he has a rough life lol. These beetles are the best purchase I’ve ever made, and they all arrived safely and healthy. ♡
For food, so far I’ve seen him eat fresh shrimp, banana, green pepper, mushrooms, and the fish/shrimp pellets that are sold on this site.
Ken Reynolds (verified owner) –
I ordered two beetles two weeks ago. The Beetles shipped fast and and are doing great. Packaging was great as well. They love banana beetle jelly. I will be purchasing again soon.
Sophie –
Amazing beetles- I got one gigantic one and a smaller beetle. They are healthy, active, and beautiful!