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Atlas / Library / Scarabaeidae (Cetoniinae) / Sun beetle (fruit beetle)
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Scarabaeidae (Cetoniinae)

Sun beetle (fruit beetle)

Pachnoda marginataPachnoda marginata peregrina

The page we cite does not state this figure. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and it gives no temperature for this species at all. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. richardsinverts.com

Photograph: Greg5030 · CC BY-SA

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Sun beetle (fruit beetle) is diurnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Burrowing · temperate · middlingFrom the sheet: 22–28°C, humidity 50–70%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/pachnoda-marginata

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature22–28 °C
Humidity50–70 %
Enclosure20×20
Diet1–2 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
22–28°Ambient

One ambient band, 22–28°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states22-28C

Humidity

50–70%Target RH

The sheet states50-70%

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m2–3 cm
1520100400 cm
2–3 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Coleoptera
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Beginner
Commonality
Very common; ideal first beetle; grubs sold as reptile feeders
Adult size
Body 20-30mm; orange-and-black
Lifespan
Larva ~2-4 mo; adult ~2-4 mo
Growth rate
Fast (quick, forgiving cycle)
Activity & niche
Diurnal; adults on fruit; larvae in compost/flake soil
Temperament
Placid, active; harmless
Venom / defense
Harmless - no venom; simply flies off if disturbed

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substratewarm hidewater20 cm20 cm
warm hidewatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
20 × 20 cmWidth × depth
4dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Seen from above: the sheet gives a footprint and no height.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet statesTolerates group rearing: 10-15cm flake soil/compost; adults in a ventilated 20x20cm+ tub

Temperature
22-28C
Humidity
50-70%
Min. enclosure
Tolerates group rearing: 10-15cm flake soil/compost; adults in a ventilated 20x20cm+ tub
Substrate
Larvae: flake soil / leaf-compost / rotten wood; adults: same + bark
Hides / decor / water
Bark, leaf litter, branches; light misting

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 1–2 dAs an adult
28Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window. The sheet gives several ages on one line; this is the adult figure.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesAdults: fruit (banana), beetle jelly; larvae eat compost/flake soil · Adults: fruit every 1-2 days; larvae: top up substrate as eaten

Staple food
Adults: fruit (banana), beetle jelly; larvae eat compost/flake soil
Feeding frequency
Adults: fruit every 1-2 days; larvae: top up substrate as eaten

Behaviour and handling

HandlingDocile; easy to handle
CommunalCommunal-tolerant (larvae + adults can be grouped) - unusual for beetles
Defense / stress signsQuick flight, burrowing

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
0.2–0.3 yrLifespan in care
0.2 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Eggs -> L1-L3 -> pupa in cocoon -> adult; breeds readily in a tub

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsMites/flies if too wet; overcrowding stunts grubs
Red flags / quarantine
SignsNon-native - never release; keep ventilated to avoid fungus gnats

Good to know

  • So easy it is bred by the thousand as 'Pachnoda grubs' to feed reptiles and other inverts

What it needs

A thermometerbecause temp22-28C
A hygrometerbecause humidity50-70%
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « Tolerates group rearing: 10-15cm flake soil/compost; adults in a ventilated 20x2 »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.