Help identifying new hitchhiker in cricket bin

[ladyratri]

My cricket bin has been home to a bunch of lesser mealworms that hitchhiked in at some point for a long time now, but yesterday I found this new resident who is clearly something else.


The only thing that goes in this bin is food, water, and big-box-pet-store crickets... Any idea what this little floof is? Safe to leave in the bin? Safe to feed to slings?

 

[viper69]

I get those at times direct from store’s cricket bin. I kill them. I don’t risk it

 

[Wolfram1]

dermestid beatle larvae, maybe a cleaner animal in larger cricked farms but more likely an unwanted interloper feeding on the dog food they get

 

[SpookySpooder]

Dermistid beetle larva. Could be Demestes ater, lardarius, or maculatus.

I keep them around to clean up frass, roach exoskeletons, and dead bodies. They do a number on keeping rotting smells down. They can become a major nuisance if your food bowl isn't well protected from them, as they will swarm and consume all protein sources and outcompete your feeders. I've fed them to slings with 0 issues.