Phanaeus Rainbow Dung Beetles

(2 customer reviews)

$9.00

Out of stock

Description

These seasonally offered Phanaeus Rainbow Dung Beetles are beautiful with their exquisite metallic colors. They are usually available April to around the end of May. Get on the waiting list if you want to be notified when they return. The ones we ship may be P. vindex or P. difformis. Their ranges overlap and there is reasonable suspicion that they hybridize. They are very similar looking and often they are only very easy to distinguish between in major males. Please consider purchasing the dung beetle book (see related products below) for help in providing care for these rarely kept US beetles.

$9 each. Females are usually more common than males and so orders for multiples will usually be a bit female heavy which is good for breeding, of course. Sorry, no requests. Also, major males are proportionately rare and so we reserve those for orders of 7 or more beetles (while supplies last).

Supply on these is typically rather limited, and demand rather high. These are wild caught beetles and aside live arrival there is no guarantee on their lifespan after that. If there is any instance of dead on arrival (DOA), I will refund the cost of the beetle(s). Notification must come via email on THE day of delivery. I don’t guarantee that these adult, wild caught beetles will live beyond arrival. I don’t know how old they are and I take a risk myself in getting them in. But these are amazing, difficult to source insects and I can only offer them under these special terms of understanding. All that said, you could get 3 or more months out of them, on average. Finally, they are worth this price simply as dead specimens. No gemstone from the ground and polished by human hands can surpass these in brilliance and color. Put it on a band and propose to your spouse! If they love you the answer will be yes, possibly followed by some vigorous hand washing. Actually, it is highly recommended that you always wash your hands after handling these wild caught dung beetles.

If you’re going to breed these, guess what else you need? That’s right, dung! Cow and horse are the most common. We have very little data on what else they might eat in captivity since these are so rarely kept but they do seem to nibble on both beetle jellies and bits of fruit. In nature they apparently drink the liquids associated with fresh (moist) dung. We look forward to additional feedback from our customers about what foods have worked so we can pass the word along. Another customer noted that his were eating Chinchilla dropping. Seems most any dung will do!

Update 4/25/16: one customer reports snake poo and now two customers report tortoise poo.

4/25/17…guinea pig droppings are on the list!

3/28/18 @thesassyteapot from Instagram says sugar glider droppings!

4/14/18 “They’re going crazy over horse dung!”

5/14/19 from Chris, “Bought some of these dung beetles from you a couple of years ago. I did well, they bred successfully but, because I couln’t keep the humidity down I lost all brood except one. Raised them on ferret poop. Had PLENTY of that”

4/4/21 from Chelsea “I just wanted to thank you for the beautiful dung beetles. They are happily munching on rat and prairie dog poop. Their tunnels are amazing looking on the side of their container! Anyway, thanks again, and you can add the aforementioned rodent poops to the list!”

Please note that the male in the photo is a major male. Not all the males we get in our shipments have that same ginormous horn structure.

Want to learn more about Dung Beetles and their place in the world? Listen to the Ted talk about them.

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Additional information

Weight .15 lbs

2 reviews for Phanaeus Rainbow Dung Beetles

  1. ashton.foley (verified owner)

    Snagged 10 of these absolutely beautiful dung beetles. Truly remarkable colors, all came in alive and healthy.

  2. allforjoy7 (verified owner)

    Rad beetles!

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