Crickets and their 'friends'

[cyberdyne]

I buy tubs of brown crickets for my trantula from an online company.

Would anyone know what the small caterpillar-like, black bugs are that are often crawling around the tub ?

Also, is it possible that these bugs hatch into some sort of small fly?

Many thanks

 

[teamster6]

Ive seen those also but they turn into what looks like some kind of roach or beetle.

t6

 

[cyberdyne]

Well, yes, I have seen the odd beetle in the tub too but I was wondering if they're put in for a reason. They're not the most pleasant thing to see crawling around and I'm sure some of them are small enough to crawl through the air holes, hence the worry about flies.

 

[purebloodaddict]

Sounds like they are dermestid beetles.

 

[cyberdyne]

Do they provide a function or are they there by accident?

 

[Harlock]

They are dermestid beetles. Most cricket suppliers keep them with crickets as a cleaning crew, and they they don't do any damage. Larva are decent food for some true spiders, or atleast that's was I do with them.

 

[teamster6]

They are dermestid beetles. Most cricket suppliers keep them with crickets as a cleaning crew, and they they don't do any damage. Larva are decent food for some true spiders, or atleast that's was I do with them.

I thought about saving them to feed also but I also wondered if they would burrow into the substrate.

t6

 

[cyberdyne]

Are these non-flying beetles or could they possibly resemble small flies after hatching IF they get out of the tub?

Thanks

This is an interesting read:
Varied Carpet Beetle

HABITS: Varied carpet beetle larvae feed on a wide variety of animal and plant products. Animal-origin materials include woolens, carpets, furs, hides, feathers, horns, bones, hair, silk, fish meal, insect pupae, and dead insects. Plant-origin materials include rye meal, corn, red pepper, cacao, cereals, etc. Their favored foods are insects and spiders which makes them a major pest of museum collections and buildings with cluster fly, box elder bug, etc. problems.

http://www.critterridders.com/beetles.htm

 

[catfishrod69]

yeah i have been getting alot of these too...never really thought about it til now...then it hit me....i do taxidermy sometimes, and dermestid beetles are what taxidermists use to clean skulls....like if you want a coyote skull.....they will have like a old deep freezer(not plugged in), full of thousands of dermestid beetles, and they toss the skull in there and the little carion eaters eat everything off the skull til its as beautiful as a fake plastic one...i actually almost bought some of these for that purpose, but ended up getting some sal soda, that you mix and boil the skulls in and it turns everything to gel, then you clean them and glue all the teeth and everything back in place....getting back on subject.....the beetles are probably there to eat the dead crix, that way problems dont arise.....and i dont know but i wonder if it would be ok to keep these guys in with T's, scorps, pedes, and everything else...cause they only eat dead flesh....

 

[Harlock]

I'd advise against keeping them with with other insects. I've tried it, and you would need a large number to really notice something. Plus crickets always seem to die in the most obnoxious places. Combing that with dealing with the adults when they start flying, and it just isn't worth the hassle. If you do try, the adults tend to fly sideways and then down, which is why few escape the large deep bins most places keep crickets in.

 

[ZephAmp]

Some species of dermestid don't fly readily, like Dermestes maculatus.
The ones used in cricket bins, Dermestes ater, love to.

 

[ZergFront]

I had these for a short while. I couldn't get the females to lay eggs though..