Are super low prices on dermestid beetle larvae a good deal?
Buying a starter colony of dermestids that are all larvae may be a good deal but if you need a growing colony that is producing larvae you will be waiting for quite a while. First, you must wait for the immature larvae to age to the pupa stage. This can take from 5 to 8 weeks depending on conditions. Then the pupa has to have time to transform...another 14 to 35 days ...again depending on conditions. Then the new adult has to reach the age of reproduction up to another 20 days or so.
We are talking about 2 to 4 months before your larvae start
making bugs.
....that is a long time to wait. If you have all the time in the world it is good, if you want to clean skulls it sucks.
There may be another issue with some of these companies. They are raising these insects as feeder bugs not as specific insects for breeding.
It appears that there might be a much higher potential for infestation of other unwelcome insects. Most of these companies do not specialize in just one type of dinner bug and in many cases some of the other types can be a huge problem for a colony of dermestids.
I am betting that species contamination is much higher than in a business raising just dermestids for resale or users that are selling over flow.......Personally, I would be willing to pay more for a clean batch of bugs than take the chance......
