Shizzurp

I found this guy crawling around on the street outside of our house in West Tokyo. He struggled mightily when I plucked him from certain doom by footstep, apparently unaware of our fine tradition of bringing large insects into the house and feeding them before setting them free. 

Kabuto-mushi (rhinocerous beetles) like this love tree sap, particularly that of the kunugi, or sawtooth oak. In fact, the places they and other bugs accumulate on oak trees in summer are colloquially referred to as konchu no sakaba, or "bug bars." Perhaps that's where Hiroko hit on the idea of drizzling maple syrup on gauze as a little treat for him: "It'll be the beetle equivalent of single malt!"

She was right. The minute we put him near the gauze, he took two steps, halted, and plopped his face into the syrup, totally unmoving. As I suppose I would if after being captured by enormous beetle-creatures I was presented with a tub of Glenfiddich. 

An hour and a half later, we checked and he was still happily sucking away. So we built a little house for him out of a plastic bottle. When I woke up this morning, he was still in there, apparently sound asleep, clutching the gauze to his chest like a baby blanket. Looks like we made a new friend.

Comments

[Alexander Smith]

Seeing as how he was found on what is, technically, my deck, I'm going to claim prima nocta rights when I visit you next.

[Joe]

Poor little bugger must have been hungover! I typically get grossed out by insects and the like, but I find this story refreshingly adorable.

[MattAlt]

>>claim prima nocta rights

I've captured him in a "pokeball" and demand a duel next time you visit. Winner takes all.

[ChrisM]

Cool! I would much rather feed gigantic rhinoceros beetles then rain chemical death on the roaches that run amok here in DC!

[MattAlt]

It's been 12+ hours, and he's still in there, with the syrup-soaked rag in a deathgrip. I feel like an enabler...

[Tim Eldred]

Keep it up, Matt! Eventually one of these will turn out to be some kind of magic Brahman or Yogi and you'll lift the curse and get to make three wishes.

Just make sure that one of the wishes is "I wish no harm or discomfort to fall upon me or anyone else as a result of these wishes," otherwise the fallout can be a mofo.

Or if he turns out to be the Dalai Lama, ask for total consciousness at the moment of your death, so you'll have that going for you.

On the other hand, it might just turn out to be Captain Kirk turned into a bug by some dumbass thing.

[EAJ...]

Considering how concentrated maple syrup is compared to the original sap, it's no wonder the poor critter ODed. Maybe consider watering his next dose down a bit?

[Kitanne]

AHHHH! Oooooh! It's very odd being both entomophobic and always interested in cool animals. Are they heavy? I know that those big beetles can fly but they always look too heavy! I both want to touch one and also hide in the next room sneaking a peek around the door frame at it.

[MattAlt]

They are heavier than the average insect, but the thing you really notice about them is their grip strength. They can really wrap themselves around a finger and squeeze, and thanks to the spurs/spikes can be a little prickly to pull off. (They don't bite or anything like that, though.)

Incidentally, the trick to getting them to let go of something is to pull gently but firmly on the spur right on top of their heads (not the "rhinoceros horn," but the smaller one). That's a trick I learned from the kids they paired me with on the bug-collecting episode of Tokyo Eye a few years back:

http://altjapan.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/09/meet-the-beetle.html

[shm]

Can you post a pic of him with his blankie?

By the way, I'm behind the door with EAJ . .

[nfl jerseys]

Considering how concentrated maple syrup is compared to the original sap, it's no wonder the poor critter ODed. Maybe consider watering his next dose down a bit?

[hillsy]

Aw. You gonna keep him? Keep feeding him that syrup, and he's going to grow to 100x his normal size and crush Kichijoji....

[MattAlt]

We did a night-hike up Mount Takao and released him there yesterday. I was initially worried he would get his ass kicked by the "wild" kabuto-mushi, but he's a bruiser and worked his way right up to a nice drinking spot on a tree we found for him.

[Chris]

I've not read all the comments, but can say these are cool pets! I recently went out at night with my nephew (7 years old) and caught some. Good fun, but not for the squeamish ... as we both were at the beginning.

[coach bags outlet]

It might take 10 minutes or 20, but that mess won’t be there for the next person to have to deal with.