This is a Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma or Trypoxylus dichotomus in Latin – yes, it has two names, unless I misunderstood something and Kabutomushi in Japanese). And it is indeed my newest pet. See, I’m not allowed big pets in my apartment, and my daughter is still too young (and not well-behaved enough) to safely keep small pets (fish, small mammals, etc). So as I’ve been without a pet for far too long, I thought it would be a good choice.
The only issue is that they only live for a few months when they’re adults. The good news is as I have a couple, I also now have about 15 babies (aka grubs, not exactly the cutest babies in the animal kingdom), which means I will have some next summer too. However, 15 is way too many, I cannot and don’t want to take care of that many, so I have to find a way to relocate most of them soon, or else I won’t have any other option than be called a baby killer….
5 thoughts on “My newest pet: the Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle”
Where did you get it/her/him (not sure how one would determine the gender)? Pet store or just found it? If you know where their natural environment is, you can probably periodically dispose of the excessive grubs putting them back where they naturally live… otherwise you use them to go fishing 😉
I got them in the pet shop, and as it’s a Japanese species, I’m all for disposing of them in nature, but my “coach” (the person who’s giving me tips on how to take care of them, as there is little to no information on the topic in French or English) is adamant that I must not do it. According to her, there can be differences in regional species, and we don’t know where mine are from. Honestly, I believe that most people do dispose of them in nature, but well, I’ll listen to her, at least this year.
In exchange, she said she’ll help me finding people who’re interested.
We’ll see…
Oh by the way, it’s a male. I know it’s very sexist of me to not take pictures of the female too. Females look like basic beetles with no “special features”.
Hi, David! Bonjour! I know this was posted a long time ago, but if you have a new group of Japanese Rhino Beetle larvae, I would love to get one if it can ship to the U.S. My son is looking for one for a pet. Merci!
oh, never mind. I just found out that you have to have a special license to ship live insects to the U.S.
Yes, it’s illegal to export or import animals overseas without special permits, authorizations and more.
This is how ecosystems get destroyed and species get wiped out.