This caresheet should be applicable to the other Nyctoporis species.
Housing:
Housing:
Any container half a gallon to a gallon in size, with more width than depth, (but still with at least 3-4 inches of depth) will work well for a starter colony, and you can upgrade the enclosure size a bit as their population grows. None of the life stages can climb smooth surfaces, so a tight fitting lid is not necessary.
For the substrate, this species isn't very picky, fine coconut fiber or a mix of coconut fiber and sand work well for adults and developing larvae, you can mix in other organic matter as well, just be sure not to make it too coarse. However, when it comes time for pupation, larvae and pupae do prefer a more sand based substrate. Bark and/or cardboard hides are recommended for the adults, while the larvae will spend all their time underground.
Most of the main enclosure should be kept dry, with a quarter to a third of the substrate being kept moist at all times. You can go with a horizontal humidity gradient, or, if you have enough substrate depth, a vertical humidity gradient, (which would probably allow for larvae to pupate in the communal enclosure successfully). They should be given a very high amount of ventilation, as per usual for desert/scrubland dwelling Tenebrionids, in fact you could probably get away with keeping them in a lidless enclosure, provided the substrate is an inch or two below the top of the container.
Diet:
Dog/cat/chick feed works as the staple diet, they'll also nibble on leaf litter if you offer it. Most fruits and veggies usually go ignored, but some root veggies may be accepted.
Temperature:
They breed well at temps from 70-80F°. Any lower will greatly slow or halt reproduction and possibly larval growth, though they can probably take higher temps no problem, it's just not necessary.
Breeding/Life cycle:
Adults live for 1-2 years on average it seems. Females lay dozens of eggs during their lifespan, which are pretty large in comparison to their bodies and oval in shape. The eggs take less than a month to hatch, and the resulting larvae take 6-8 months to mature, then create a pupal cell and enter the pre-pupal stage for approximately 1-2 weeks. Then they molt into a pupa, and typically in about a month they will eclose into a soft, teneral adult.
Ideally, in a large enough enclosure with a proper humidity gradient, larvae will successfully pupate and mature in a communal setup. However, if for some reason there are too many individuals in the enclosure, or the enclosure is too small, has an improper humidity gradient, etc., or you just want to maximize the amount of adults you rear per generation, you may need/want to isolate larvae yourself to induce successful pupation.
To do so, remove fully grown larvae from the main enclosure and isolate them in 1-2 oz deli cups with minimal ventilation, and a couple CMs of humid, compressed substrate, preferably a sand and coconut fiber mixture (the sand helps hold the substrate together and ensures their pupal cells keep their shape). Leave them be and don't feed them, just make sure the substrate stays humid enough to stay compressed and hold it's shape, but not dripping wet either (which will kill the larvae/pupae).
After the adult beetles eclose and darken up a bit in color, they usually dig their way to the surface. Definitely wait for them to emerge from their cells themselves, disturbing them when teneral seems to be very dangerous for this particularly species. Once they dig themselves up, they should be left in their humid pupal deli cups for another few days, offered food, and perhaps better ventilation (while still keeping the humidity raher high). After a few days, it should be safe to move them to their drier breeding setup. And the cycle begins anew.
After the adult beetles eclose and darken up a bit in color, they usually dig their way to the surface. Definitely wait for them to emerge from their cells themselves, disturbing them when teneral seems to be very dangerous for this particularly species. Once they dig themselves up, they should be left in their humid pupal deli cups for another few days, offered food, and perhaps better ventilation (while still keeping the humidity raher high). After a few days, it should be safe to move them to their drier breeding setup. And the cycle begins anew.
