Sun Beetle

Pachnoda marginata

The sun beetle, Pachnoda marginata, is an African flower chafer kept by many invertebrate hobbyists under names such as sunburst beetle or marginated sun beetle. Adults are chunky scarab beetles, usually tan to yellow with darker brown or black edging and variable markings depending on locality and line. Like other cetoniine beetles, they spend much of life as C-shaped grubs feeding in decaying organic material before pupating in a compact cell and emerging as short-lived, active adults.

Captive care is based on a warm, well-ventilated terrarium with a deep substrate of rotted leaf litter and decayed hardwood for the larvae. Adults feed readily on ripe banana, apple, beetle jelly, and other soft fruit, but wet leftovers should be removed before mold and mites build up. Breeding is straightforward when larvae are not kept too dry and the substrate is replaced before it turns foul. They can be handled briefly, though adults fly readily and larvae are easy to injure if squeezed or dug out roughly.