Roach colony advise

[Tony Romano]

Hi Everyone,

I found these little guys in my roach colony enclosure, within the food container. They were mixed in with the "roach chow" along with a dead mature male dubia. Does anyone know what these are and if I have a potential infestation harmful to the colony?

Thanks in advance,

Tony

 

[baconwrappedpikachu]

They might be dermestid beetle larvae, but I'm not sure at all, so I wouldn't count on that.. but they look like what I get sometimes as hitchhikers when I buy crickets from the pet store. I don't know about the safety of them in a roach colony, I know they eat waste but I thoguht I heard something about them eating eggs/larvae as well. But again I don't know if that's even what these are lol - just things that come to mind, that I would advise you look into once you get a solid ID.

Anyways, you might be better off posting (or searching) this in the Insects section of the forums since it isn't technically about tarantulas. Lots of dubia colony advice in there.

 

[Tony Romano]

They might be dermestid beetle larvae, but I'm not sure at all, so I wouldn't count on that.. but they look like what I get sometimes as hitchhikers when I buy crickets from the pet store. I don't know about the safety of them in a roach colony, I know they eat waste but I thoguht I heard something about them eating eggs/larvae as well. But again I don't know if that's even what these are lol - just things that come to mind, that I would advise you look into once you get a solid ID.

Anyways, you might be better off posting (or searching) this in the Insects section of the forums since it isn't technically about tarantulas. Lots of dubia colony advice in there.

Thanks.

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

Dermestes larvae. I consider them a must in roach colonies specifically for the prevention of a phorid fly infestation. Unless they’re severely starving the beetles won’t fly nor will any stage attack oothecae/freshly molted individuals.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Dermestid beetle larvae, they're used in livefood farms as clean up crew as they'll eat pretty much any non-living organic matter (although they will attack your feeders/eggs if numbers get out of control and food is scarce), I feed them off to my tarantulas, they might be great as a clean up crew but they're also household pests

 

[Tony Romano]

Dermestes larvae. I consider them a must in roach colonies specifically for the prevention of a phorid fly infestation. Unless they’re severely starving the beetles won’t fly nor will any stage attack oothecae/freshly molted individuals.

Thanks

 

[Tony Romano]

Dermestid beetle larvae, they're used in livefood farms as clean up crew as they'll eat pretty much any non-living organic matter (although they will attack your feeders/eggs if numbers get out of control and food is scarce), I feed them off to my tarantulas, they might be great as a clean up crew but they're also household pests

So, the consensus seems to be, useful but in moderation. Thanks guys for the quick responses.

 

[baconwrappedpikachu]

@zuckuss what did my comment do to earn a dislike? Lol

 

[Tony Romano]

@zuckuss what did my comment do to earn a dislike? Lol

I didn't dislike you. I appreciated your response.

 

[Tony Romano]

They might be dermestid beetle larvae, but I'm not sure at all, so I wouldn't count on that.. but they look like what I get sometimes as hitchhikers when I buy crickets from the pet store. I don't know about the safety of them in a roach colony, I know they eat waste but I thoguht I heard something about them eating eggs/larvae as well. But again I don't know if that's even what these are lol - just things that come to mind, that I would advise you look into once you get a solid ID.

Anyways, you might be better off posting (or searching) this in the Insects section of the forums since it isn't technically about tarantulas. Lots of dubia colony advice in there.

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[baconwrappedpikachu]

I didn't dislike you. I appreciated your response.

View attachment 315151

No worries, I know you weren't the one who disliked it, I tagged the other user mostly because I was puzzled. I can think of plenty of comments I've made that could warrant a dislike but I didn't think there was anything controversial about my advice

I'm glad to have learned something, too, because I wasn't sure but it sounds like I should definitely get some dermestids once I get my colony going.

 

[Gnarled Gnome]

@zuckuss what did my comment do to earn a dislike? Lol

I know I'm constantly hitting the dislike or some other unintended button cuz they're so small and close together on my phone.