This is the next installment of the discovery of the previously unknown larvae of Eleates depressus in a Fomitopsis pinicola conk.

A few days after finding the first larva Sept. 8 I undertook to find more so that I could afford to preserve a specimen (and hopefully a pupa also) for description purposes while rearing one to adulthood for species confirmation. Searching for these larvae is hard work as these conks are very tough and care must be taken not to maim any larvae in the process.

I found three larvae and suppose this one may be the original one I found. If it is, it has put on an amazing growth spurt. (One of the three is way too small and the other was in a fairly isolated chamber in a portion of the conk removed from where I found the original one.) I was surprised to also find two more adults in the conk, leading me to wonder whether they were the matured offspring of my original pair of beetles that I found May 12 and introduced to this conk, or whether another female had laid her eggs in this conk before I collected it on May 5.

My guess is that, in view of its size, the larva in this image won't eat much longer before pupating.

I placed the three larvae in separate containers along with some conk scraps in order to watch for pupation.

Meanwhile, the adult beetles were placed back in the sealed container of conk scraps where they will hopefully continue to propagate, producing more larvae and pupae for study. The adults are three in number since one of the original pair died some time back and is now preserved in alcohol. When the first larva matures I will have four for propagation purposes.