Help! Flying foodstuff (Banana Roaches?)

[ColeopteraC]

Hi all,

I really need a reliable culture of flying creatures for my larger mantids.

Right now, I use gbb/bb flies hatched out of fly pupae. But these take a while to hatch and have short lifespans (they drop like flies) Also, the only way I could think of culturing these involves a dead carcass.

This is especially problematic for my mantis species that only stalk flying prey (e.g. Empusids etc.) and need lots of it.

I'm wondering if anyone could suggest a reliable culture of flying insects? I was thinking Banana roaches (Panchlora nivea), who I remember being right little aeronauts when I used to keep them. Would they flap around enough to entice the mantids however ? I suppose there are also black soldier flies, but could I culture these quick enough?

Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

 

[fcat]

Have you tried wax worms yet?

 

[ColeopteraC]

Have you tried wax worms yet?

Would you suggest the adult moths? That's a good idea, my only concern is the 1-2 week wait for the pupae to hatch. My gongylus are hungry

 

[Kada]

Black soldier flies will be slightly slower but they are super easy. One advantage i suppose is their "self harvesting" habit of leaving their food media and climbing up to mature. Makes things super easy. their adult eating habit, or lack of, are perhaps easier to make and maontain clean cultures. Their food can get pretty punky though.


Certain moths sound like a good idea.

Edit. Flies will be the fastest. But species like black soldier flies only live up to a weekish as adults. So it might be easy to run out. At least various moths can live a fair bit longer, even if they are somewhat slower. Speed doesn't really matter much except for in the beginning when establishing the colonies. Once they are producing, you have food forever.

one thing i notice with our native little flying roaches is they don't really fly much. They fly to escape and sometimes to move about. I wouldn't expect too much flying movement inside a relatively small enclosure as they can just as easily walk.

 

[fcat]

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is today. Or something. Get some, set them on a shelf and forget about them while you figure out another solution. You'll have moths in no time. Very low maintenance.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I’ve never kept any flying roaches but once you get a colony going you should have hundreds. I don’t know how long banana roaches take to grow.