Care Guide Series 1:
Beetles
​
Care Guide 1.4:
Sex determination in beetle larvae
Written by Mark Nelson
Sex determination in flower beetle larvae
​
When it comes to determining the sex of flower beetle larvae, it can be a bit tricky at first, but once you know what to look for and have had a bit of practice it becomes much easier. Here are some pictures to demonstrate. But please note that this is only accurate when examining larvae in their 3rd and final instar.
Step by step
​
-
Take hold of the larvae. Be firm so that it cant bite you, but not so firm that you cause it any harm.
-
Then examine the final larval segment as demonstrated in these images
-
Now pay close attention to the highlighted areas in the second set of images. In the image on the right you can see a dark black spot in the centre of the highlighted red circle. Whereas, the image on the left has no such spot.
-
Specimens with the dark spot are male and those without are female.
Coming soon - I will also be adding sections here on how to determine the sex of rhinoceros and stag beetle larvae, but am waiting until i have my own images so please bear with me!
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions please feel free to send us a message via our contact us page!
