Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

Conocoryphe t1_jd2mlix wrote

Being a biologist myself, Titanus giganteus is definitely on my bucket list of species that I'd love to see at least once in my life! (They also get bonus points for having one of the coolest Latin names out there, on par with Dynastes satanas, Attacus atlas and Varroa destructor).

These beetles belong to the family Prioninae, which are notoriously difficult to breed, as these insects require very specific conditions that are often hard to replicate in a terrarium. That's why they haven't been bred in captivity.

It would probably have been done by now by hobbyist beetle keepers, if you could just buy them from an online store without any trouble. But they are illegal to buy or own in many countries.

You could theoretically travel to the South American forests to find male and female beetles, but the female titan beetles are really elusive and may take a lot of time and effort to find, and not many people are willing to commit to such an expedition, because knowing what the larvae of these insects look like isn't exactly a scientific priority.

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Conocoryphe t1_jd2lxo2 wrote

They belong to the family Prioninae, which are notoriously difficult to breed, as these insects require very specific conditions that are often hard to replicate in a terrarium.

It would probably have been done by now by hobbyist beetle keepers, if you could just buy them from an online store without any trouble. But they are illegal to buy or own in many countries. You could theoretically travel to the South American forests to find male and female beetles, but the female titan beetles are also really elusive and may take a lot of time and effort to find. Especially since we're rapidly destroying their habitat.

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Nneliss t1_jd2dmvr wrote

Visited it a couple weeks ago, incredibly impressive to see. You can see a little hole close to its nose, of which a description mentioned it was caused by a bone inflammation. Crazy to see that’s still visible after 65 million years.

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Dragmire800 t1_jd2athq wrote

Imo the state should be able to seize things of significant historical value and only pay out for the loss of projected income over losing access to the land during the dig, as well as any restorative costs.

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stutangg t1_jd1z7fb wrote

I just went to add my name to the list and it literally says “Peace Tower flag (wait time: exceeds 100 years)” same time estimate for other parliament hill flags lmao

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