Superworms

T

ThischickLovesBugs

First Instar
Hello! :rolleyes:

I just started breeding superworms. The problem is that when they turn to beetles, the majority of them are deformed and die within a couple of days. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. :( Any ideas?

Thank You!

 
ThischickLovesBugs said:
Hello! :rolleyes: I just started breeding superworms. The problem is that when they turn to beetles, the majority of them are deformed and die within a couple of days. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. :( Any ideas?

Thank You!
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You would have to better describe how you are raising the 'worm' stage and what you are doing to pupate them for someone to give a suggestion or diagnosis. Photos help alot too. If you just leave it at "the are deformed and die" we can only guess.....

;)

 
I'd guess either you aren't separating them and they're getting chewed on or your humidity is extremely low (they can usually eclose at pretty low humidity however).

 
good question, and good answer Orin. i had to come to that on my own with mealies after id moved and my critter room is apparently to dry even for them (sucks as killed of most of production of handfuls of beetles, and only starting to see a few babies). didnt ever know they could get to dry if given daily potato and/or carrot. any details on breeding supers differant from mealies?

 
Give them lots of moisture. A lot more than mealies.

Sometimes when I find mis-molted roaches I'll euthanize them and give my superworms the bodies; they clean out every single piece of meat the can get to.

 
is there anything to what i heard about needing to isolate the larva in complete darkness for a long time, to get them to pupate? whats the general rundown for supers so as if anything is different? i hear differant things, so while im on here i thought id ask some experts who have had much success with them. thanks

 
Once the larvae get comparatively big (usually as big as or bigger than the ones you see for sale, or +/- 2.2 inches) they should be isolated into a small container to pupate. I generally put a small piece of carrot in with them and check them every week to see if some of them aren't quite ready to pupate. (in which case I add some more carrot)

They need the isolation (the stress/stimulation from it) to pupate.

As far as the need for darkness, one of my classmates might be doing an experiment on how the hours of light received while pupating effects the eclosure date.

For the larvae, I leave them in with their parents and make sure there's plenty of moisture sources available.

 
Zephyr said:
They look fatter; some of them will start resting in a "C" shape. If you see any in a "C" shape it's definitely time to separate them.
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ok so the same as mealies, ok. thanks agaain. might have to try them some time if i can get some cheap some where(theyre having shortiges around here).

 
I've got a culture going.

The adults are incredibly long lived (at least, compared to what I've heard.)

 
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