Coelocnemis dilaticollis longevity

[kevinkk]

On June 21rst of 2022 I picked up this beetle at Lost Lake in Linn county Oregon, the elevation is about 3500 f.
I didn't find a lot about care, so I have had it in a large enclosure with some forest substrate, dry plant material and mist the whole thing from time to time. It's still going, and walks around in the evenings.
I'll look for a biotope picture and try to get that on this as well. It's been a nice pet, very low maintenance, my Great Grig was in the same enclosure
for a time, also found at the same location, but it apparently perished and the ants got to it before I did.
So, this beetle has been doing well, by any means, for over 2 years at this point.

beetle 2024 A.JPG (118.31 KiB) Viewed 2433 times

Lost Lake Biotope.JPG (83.07 KiB) Viewed 2430 times

[livingplanet3]

Long ago, I heard from a colleague that some adult darkling beetles have been known to live for at least 15 years, but I'm not sure of the origin of this claim, and can't give a reference. Possibly though, it came from long-term studies of tenebrionid species in the Namib Desert, which may have started as far back as the 1960s, at the Gobabeb Research Institute founded by Austrian entomologist Charles Koch (1904–1970).

[kevinkk]

Interesting, anything living in the Namib is going to be resilient. I read somewhere, that I can't find at the moment, that Coelocnemis can go
2 years, in captivity, of course, I don't think you can measure the lifespan of wild animals very easily, or with accuracy.
Well, hopefully I won't need provisions in my will for any long lived insects.

[kevinkk]

Just an update. After I made the post, I started feeding the beetle fruit, elderberry while they lasted, and lately, yes lately, it's still going, apple.
At first when I started putting in the fruit, I saw the beetle feed every night at length, I almost expected the sudden nutrition to kill it, change isn't
always good, but it's still going, close to 29 months in captivity. I'm really going to miss this critter when it expires, a good reason to get back to Lost Lake.