Watering Dermestid Beetles - is it necessary?

Dermestid Beetles and their need for water.

I thought it would be a good thing if I did a follow up on beetles and water. If you do not provide free water your skulls or other products that are fed need to have a moderate to high water content. I do not mean the flesh you are providing should be dripping wet but soft and moist is important.

Preventing mites by water denial can be counter productive.

I know a lot of dermestid owners do not provide water when the humidity is high in fear of mites and other problems in the colony. Yes, humidity over 50 percent can be an issue but if you know what you are doing and WHY these problems happen then it is not likely that you will have an infestation of mites.

So, what happens when you try to keep the humidity down by feeding your bugs dry meats and not providing water? First, the bugs will not do a good job of skull cleaning because they do not like mummys. They will consume everything that is easy and then leave the skull, or they turn to eating the most vulnerable in your colony......the pupating larvae and eggs. If that goes on for too long your replacement adult numbers drop and your colony growth stops or even worse it shrinks.

Lack of water can also cause a slow down of dermestid egg production. 

With no extra water than is needed for survival the bugs economize and save their body fluids for themselves...not a lot of eggs will be produced.

If you treat these insects as livestock and an important part of the processing of skulls and bones, you need to consider how to avoid problems. You need to invest in maintaining an environment that they will be safe and healthy so they can do the job you ask them to do..

BUYING FEEDER DERMESTID LARVAE

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......

REVIEWS FOR DERMESTID BEETLE BOOK

I love that Amazon provides a place for readers to review books that they have purchased.

 I have been very happy with the reviews of my DERMESTID BEETLES book.
They have given me reassurance that it will help others understand what the problems and provide the reasons why things happen..

If you are considering buying my book check out the reviews on my authors page> amazon.com/author/jalong

DERMESTID BEETLES DO NEED WATER

Do You Water Your Dermestid Colony?

Water and the bugs...there seems to be a lot of confusion on whether dermestids need water and if they do how often. Some say they get all the water that is needed from their food while others dutifully water them at various rates.

One thing, most seem to understand is that these little crawlies are living creatures and they do need some hydration ...beyond that there is a "they are doing great with what I am doing" attitude.

However, no one seems to know how to find out if they are thirsty. 

Guess what, it doesn't take a genius to find that out, 

All you need to do is water them by spritzing a paper towel and then come back in 10 minutes or so......If you find lots of bugs drinking then they need more water. 

One last point, if the colony is water shorted you will have less eggs laid and more eggs and pupae cannibalized.

There is always more room for improvement. If you raise these critters as if they were livestock and you will do much better.

 

DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR COLONY A TOOL?

Dermestids are tools that need care to do their jobs

It makes no difference why you are raising derrmestids but you do have to consider them a tool. They are providing you a way to clean skulls and bones. For some people having beetles it is a hobby for others it is a way to actually make a living. 

However, many people never seem to think that the critters need to have a modified environment. No dehumidifiers, no AC and bare bone basics with heat.   It seems remarkable that no more colonies are lost due to living in these types of conditions.

If they were not just 'bugs' but a real tool that required constant up keep and care to provide the owner a continuous service …the ‘’tool’ BUGS should be properly cared for. I find this attitude in caring for a dermestid colony remarkable. If the bugs were cattle, horses, or most any other livestock they would be worth taking the time and putting in the effort and money to enable the livestock to live healthy and productive lives but not derrmestids as it seems the basics is all they need. 

Too bad those with this attitude will never know what a truly productive colony is about.

HUNTING WILD DERMESTIDS - Good Idea?

The internet is full of inaccurate information about dermestid beetles.

Hi, by any chance do you remember my last blog post and the comments I made on poor information that is so prevalent on the internet regarding dermestid beetles. There is an article out that talks about starting a colony a colony of dermestid beetles from found wild bugs. The writer goes into the fact that dermestid beetles are pretty much everywhere in this country and you can generally find a few on most older carcasses that might be found in the wild.

Hunting wild dermestids that may have mites is not a good idea.

Those points are true then the article then goes on saying that sometimes dermestid beetles will be carrying mites and you should check inspect them to find out if they do have mites. It is also said that you shouldn’t keep those but if you can’t find any you might be able to remove the critters from the beetles. Good luck with that.

Now, let’s get to reality. First I really doubt you can hold a small bug while you lift its hard wings and then his soft wings and look for TINY little mites way back close to the joints. The fact is - about the only way to do this in the field is kill the beetle and hope your big old magnifying glass can let you see what you are looking for. That beetle you just killed will not do you any good even if it didn’t have mites because you killed it while looking.

This procedure can be done by professionals but they do it in a laboratory and anesthetize the bug then look at it under a good microscope.  You ask why a microscope, because all mites are not the same size! Some mite instars are so small that they look like a very small piece of dust. You can’t see legs or any identifying features with a small hand held magnifying glass on these sub adults.

After reading this the first time I laughed because it is not practical and would be a total waste of time. In other words, it just isn’t good information but it sounds great! I’m not saying that there isn’t a bug or two around that doesn’t have mites but those two types of animals live on the same food sources at the same times. So what are chances that you are going to find mite free bugs?

 It is way better to buy a started colony than chase around looking for something you are not going to be able to know for sure isn’t carrying a big problem.

It is best to purchase dermestid beetles form a reputable source.

The internet is full of this type of information so take what is written and what other people tell you with a grain of salt…or maybe two grains. In a lot of cases even so called experts and longtime uses don’t have a clue but they do have suppositions and opinions. 

Till next time, Happy bugging!

COUNTING DERMESTIDS - WAY TO MANY!

How Many Dermestids in a Colony?

Today I started cleaning large colony #2. In the past two days I have transferred about 600 ml of dermestids from old home to new, clean digs. I have been curious as to how many bugs that represented....

I measured out 50 ml of mixed sized insects and commenced to count.

To my surprise that was at a minimum of 650 larvae and adults. Considering, I did not count the very small bug kids, which there were lots, I must have a bunch of critters in that container.

 Right now that makes this colony about 7700 bugs. 

I am a long ways from having this transfer complete. The last colony I cleaned ended up providing me with almost a thousand young adults that were in pupation when the transfer of active insects was finished.  Not to bad for keeping a box around for a month before emptying it out. If you tried to buy adults only it would cost a pretty penny and these guys are YOUNG, at the start of their egg laying period.

I'm hoping for another bonus crop of these adults to start showing up in about a month. Maybe I'll sell a batch or two of adults only.