The ultimate Blue Death Feigning Beetle setup
Written 12/09/2024, Last updated 12/09/2024
About the beetles:
Blue Death Feigning Beetles are a species of darkling beetle native to the southwestern states of the USA. The beetle can be found in two of the most iconic American deserts: the Mojave and Sonoran. Despite their small size, they are enchanting pets with some awesome behaviours, and striking yet malevolent appearance. The species is known for its incredible ability to play dead to evade predation, a characteristic known as 'tonic immobility' which has given this species its name. Its iconic blue colour can be attributed to the waxy coating, which entomologists believe helps protect the beetles from the dry, harsh sun across their native range.
As they survive some of the toughest habitat in the wild, the species is hardy and a great addition to a captive collection. Sadly, almost all Blue Death Feigning Beetles are wild caught, due to the increased demand in the pet trade, and their difficulty in captive breeding. Here at Ali's Menagerie, we are hopeful that we will soon be able to add to the limited worldwide success breeding this unique species.
The perfect setup:
We love a naturalistic setup here, and even our invertebrates deserve the very best! A naturalistic, or even bioactive, enclosure isn't just great for us to look at, but provides a functional and enriching home for the animals housed within them. In this guide I'll take you through the construction of my simple naturalistic setup for my trio of Blue Death Feigning Beetles. When I plan a new tank, I take a look at plenty of photos of the natural habitat, as well as the species in the wild to see what it closely associates itself with. The free online platform iNaturalist is a great tool for research, and has proved invaluable in helping to inform the planning and construction of several of my setups.
By the end of this guide, hopefully you'll be inspired to go away and produce something that looks a little like this...
Figure 1: The natural habitat of Asbolus verrucosus: the Blue Death Feigning Beetle
Construction:
Step 1-
First we need to select the tank we'll be using. Glass tanks are generally considered best for beetles due to their visibility, ease of use and thermal properties. In addition, the Blue Death Feigning Beetle is unable to climb smooth surfaces, such as glass, making a glass enclosure a great escape-proof option! Almost any tank will do for housing this species, so it is generally down to personal preference.
For this build I'll be using a spare 2ft glass aquarium. This is suitable for a small group of around 6 beetles.
Step 2-
This isn't a care guide, but I can't cover enclosure design without mentioning heating and lighting!
Again, this can be down to individual preference- the species is incredibly hardy and can even be kept at room temperature with natural daylight. For colder locations, providing heat with a heat mat or overhead heating lamp could be beneficial, ensuring that ambient daytime temperatures remain at- or above- 21 degrees Celsius. I won't be using any heating on this particular setup as the tank is situated on top of a warm vivarium.
Whilst specific lighting is not necessary, wild Blue Death Feigning Beetles will experience very bright days with full sun for hours at a time. This is unlikely to be anything like the level of light they would get in your home without supplementary lighting. In my setup I'll be using an Arcadia UVB kit, but you could also use LEDs, or even a combination of both for natural full-spectrum lighting.
Step 3-
Now we can get to actually putting our setup together. The foundations of any setup is the substrate. I'll be using three different substrates for this build:
- Coco fibre
- ProRep Bio Life Desert
- ProRep Leo Life
There are several other options available on the market, or you could even make up your own substrate mix with a variety of soils, sands and stones. If you are aiming to recreate America's Sonoran Desert, Exo Terra produce a substrate mix which is supposedly representative of the landscape.
Firstly, I am going to lay down a layer of damp coco fibre.
I've added this layer to provide a slightly more humid area for the beetles to deposit any eggs, and allow any potential larvae the ideal environment to grow and thrive. I've built it up deeper at the back due to the plan I had to allow the next substrate layers to cascade forward from the back of the tank. At its deepest point this layer is around 3 inches deep.
Next, I added a mix of the other two substrates across the surface of the coco fibre. This separates the damp layer with the surface, which needs to remain hot and dry for the adult beetles. It ranges from around an inch deep in some areas to nearly 5 inches in others. The overall finish is a dusty, rocky red appearance, which is similar to that seen in the image of the Sonoran Desert at the beginning of this guide.
Step 4-
Well that's the boring bit done, now we can get on to the fun bit! Looking at images of the deserts I found that they were quite rocky in places, which I wanted to replicate in part of the tank. In the next images you can see how I start to put together some of the hardscape elements, utilising natural materials, including some which I have been able to forage from my local area*.
At this point I have added most of the large, heavy hardscape items. All of the pebbles have been partially buried and positioned to avoid squishing beetles. The species is a brilliant excavator, especially when it comes to laying eggs, so care must be taken to ensure there is no risk to the beetles should they decide to try and dig beneath any of the tank elements.
I've also added some large stone chippings, a cactus, and pine bark. I love using pine bark as I can find it for free in the local area. It is also lighter than many alternatives and I think it suits an arid setup more than cork bark. In the third image you can also see I have now set up the Arcadia UVB light.
Step 5-
Next I have added a variety of smaller hardscape items to bring some life and dimension to the setup. It can also offer the beetles places to hide, or even climb, which I have observed on some occasions. Again, almost everything added to the tank at this stage was scavenged and appropriately disinfected to make it safe for use in the tank.
Step 6-
This step will really bring the desert feel to life. Many people immediately jump to rolling sand dunes and towering, thorny cacti when they hear the words 'desert' and 'arid' but that isn't quite like the home of the Blue Death Feigning Beetle. Instead, their rocky habitat supports a small variety of other plants, such as woody-stemmed shrubs, and deep-rooted grasses.
The twisted branches and bark sheets added in the previous steps could perhaps suggest the presence of these woody shrubs, but up to this point I have neglected grasses.
Rather than splashing out on expensive ornamental grasses from the garden centre I simply tore up some dead meadow grass from a nearby green space and gave it a quick rinse. I then cut the strands to size and created small clumps which I was able to insert into the substrate and between the pebbles.
You might also spot the small section of deer vertebrae hidden among the grass- you can't have a desert tank without some sort of bone. Only in the interests of the authenticity of this naturalistic enclosure, it is of course real!
Step 7-
Finally, all that needs to be done is add a small, shallow food bowl (I use a deli-cup lid) and let the beetles explore their new home!
A water bowl is not required, and would in fact pose a huge threat to these arid beetles. Instead, they will get most of their water from their diet. I do also give a light mist over the tank a few times each week, but it is important to avoid spraying beetles directly as this can damage their protective wax coating and turn them dark.
The finished product-
It's all done! Hopefully this brief guide as inspired you to create something similar for your own beetles. The basics of this setup could also be employed with some alteration to any other invertebrate or reptile from the beetle's habitat. If you have followed this guide to create your own tank, I'd love to see it- send us a message @alis_menagerie on Facebook or Instagram.
*It is important to remember that caution is required when scavenging for items outdoors. Ensure you only take from areas where it is safe for you and your animals, avoid polluted areas, and disinfect materials thoroughly wherever required.
