Moths, mainly

[Vys]

Am thinking of getting a colony moths for my Avic, partly because she hasn't touched food for ~2.5 months now, and partly because I feel like something different and silent. (Can I say it like this without actaully referring to something I want to try and eat ?)
So what I am wondering is: How long do these wax-worms take to become moths?
I guess I'll get a jar of worms and some scraps of food, so I wouldn't appreciate if they started becoming moths sometime in July.
Also, this cheap dealer I found has what he calls 'Egyptian desert crickets' ..I have no idea what that is, but he tells me they keep fairly quiet, i.e don't play. Are mroe fun than ordinary, angry, hysterical black crickos? Anyone got a latin name ?

 

[Mojo Jojo]

I tried raising wax worms for about a week. They all just died on me and boy do they ever stink when they die. Augh! :8o

I might try again sometime, but I will probably order their food/substrate online instead of making my own. That was a mess in and of itself.

Jon

 

[Vys]

hhmmm, I thought of them mostly like zoophobas alot, meaning pretty hardy, just place them somewhere they cant escape from, see to it that they have air, and they pupate after a few weeks or so.
They instead require special food and/or substrate?? :/ Do you know how long it is supposed to take for them to turn from wiggly worms to moths?

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Hey. Check out this thread:

http://www.arachnopets.com/arachnoboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2765&highlight=waxworms

I think if I do it in the future, that I will get the stuff from wormman.

Good Luck

Jon

 

[Vys]

Ah, K, thanks, so preferrably real moth-food if I'm gonna keep a cycle going and a'goin' ? Hmm, I'm gonna see if any of that is available. Otherwise I'll just order a batch and see how many make it to rockstardom(moths), and not try to get a second generation.
But how long does it take for medium sized worms to become moths ?

 

[Mojo Jojo]

I never got that far.

Jon

 

[Mad Scientist]

How long do these wax-worms take to become moths?

I believe I read that typically there are 7-8 larval instars before pupation in those with a complete metamorphisis. I could be wrong but I hope this helps. As for a time frame, I suppose it's different from individual to individual. Becuase genetics/environment/ etc. dictates when a caterpillar knows to undergo its changes. So the variation in (G) & (E) would produce different times. Maybe not by much, but it would