Bugs Alive!

Hi Enis, Christmas Beetles feed on gum leaves and their chewing causes a characteristic zig-zag hole in the leaves. Young Christmas Beetles, called Curl Grubs, live in the soil and feed on plant roots and organic matter. You can feed adult beetles with small branches of gum leaves placed in a jar of water to keep them fresh. Spray the beetles with clean water once a day and change the gum when it no longer looks fresh.

Because of their different food needs, adult beetles and grubs are found in different habitats – gum trees for the adults and pasture for the grubs. They are therefore most common in suburban parklands or the edges of farmland.

Adult beetles have stout mouthparts but don’t bite, but their strong claws can get a firm grip on your hand if you let them.

Hi Elizabeth, the Museum does have a free identification service. Please feel free to have a look at the guidelines here.

Hi Finn, We don't have a Green Headed Ant colony at Melbourne Museum - we have Green Tree Ants, Meat Ants, Jumping Jacks and Bullants. We can't find any records for the precise timing of nuptial flights for this species, but it is most likely early spring. If you know the location of current nests, the best bet for obtaining a queen is to search for queens returning from their flights on warm spring afternoons.

Hi Robert,

We forwarded your enquiry to Museum Victoria’s Live Exhibits team, the Museum’s animal keepers, who responded with the following information:

Giant Burrowing Cockroaches feed on dead gum leaves in the wild, collecting them from the forest floor and dragging them into their burrows as stored food. In captivity, they will also readily feed on finely chopped apple, as well as carrot and cucumber.

They are definitely handleable but can be easily overhandled. Opinions differ on this subject, but there is anecdotal evidence that too much handling can shorten their lives. If they are taken out of their enclosure and handled more than once a day, we suspect it will have a detrimental effect.

 

Hi Kade, the wood scorpion, Cercophonius squama feeds on small invertebrates generally less than 10 mm in body length. You can find out more at this link.

Hi Kade, antlions are relatively easy to look after but are not particularly exciting pets as they are invisible most of the time. You need fairly loose, dry sand and a good supply of ants. The antlions will set up their own pits if the sand is right, and they’ll require a spray of water every day or so.

Small ants are preferable, and it’s best to keep adding ants at regular intervals so there is a steady supply. When fully fed, the antlions will pupate at the base of the pit and emerge some time later, the time taken depending on the species.

If you’re willing to drop some spiny stick insects to the Museum, we’re always happy to add them to our collection.

Hi Liam, No, Museum Victoria does not have a colony of Fire Ants. We only have native ants in our live collection.

Hi Katrina! Send us a photo and message through our Ask the Experts page, or if you have several photos, email us at discoverycentre@museum.vic.gov.au - we look forward to helping you out!