Is it too late to become a summer beetle catcher?

3 comments

1. They both have quite short lifespan, so even if you catch one now, it will soon die. On top of that, you would likely be much too late to catch a pair and get them to mate.

   There is specialized beetle pet shop, I’ve been to one close to Nakano. Should be easy to Google Maps search it, it’s how I found it. The place I went to was selling beetles that are not domestic to Japan (they might have Japanese beetle too, but do not remember seeing them), so if you get some of those, you have to be careful to not get any escape and if they mate, you need to make sure you do not get an egg or larva get in the wild.

   There is a lot of different species, some can be pretty expensive like over 40 000 yen, but there is also some that are sub 3000 yen pair. The idea is to get your pair to mate so you can raise your next beetle, the the grub stage can be a year or more.

   Obviously, a specialized store will have all the gear, like cage, wood chip, jelly, etc.

2. It’s not too late north of Tokyo, probably, but you would need to be careful of where you catch them: in many places (*e.g.,* many publicly-owned lands) it would not be legal to take them.

   u/gdore15’s idea of going to a pet shop is a good one, but you probably don’t have to go to Nakano: I see them in many pet shops (albeit earlier in the year than now).

3. Rhinoceros beetles are mostly gone by now, stag beetles should be around until the end of September, although there will be fewer than in June-August.

   There are 3 main types you can find in Tokyo, コクワガタ which are the smallest and most common, ヒラタクワガタ which are larger and quite rare, and ノコギリクワガタ which are larger, brownish and have curved jaws.

   The first two species can survive over winter, ノコギリクワガタ die at the end of the season so it you do manage to catch one now it won’t have long to live.