Axolotl Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 I'm doing my semi-annual roach bin cleaning, moving & sorting extravaganza, and I've noticed that the A. diaperinus and collembola are very dense in some enclosures. For example, a small bin with a footprint of 8" x 12" housing hisser nymphs on shaved aspen and oak leaves might have 200-300 beetles and too many larvae to count. Should I be concerned? It seems like that might be too many as I see adult G. portentosa flicking them off of their legs. Is there an easy way to cull the herd, so to speak? The enclosures with collembola... it's hard to guesstimate how many their might be, but there are enough to look like a swarm if that makes sense. I can't get a good photo with my cell. Again, how many are too many, and how do I easily shrink the population when they get out of hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatsKreations Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 replace the substrate and just put a small amount of it back in to provide a small culture from the container to start again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axolotl Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 I figured that might be what I'd have to do. I did just that for my B. lateralis and froze the remaining substrate, but I feel bad about sending all those little ones to their doom. I did skim off the bulk of the beetles and put them in my beetle bin, so at least there's that. I had hoped there might be an easy way to remove excess larvae as well, but oh well. Rather have happy roaches than lots of little worms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovebugfarm Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 If you really want to collect them you can take a small smooth container (think shot glass) put it into the substrate where the top of the container to is flush or slightly lower than the surface of the soil. This technique is called a pit fall trap. Just place something yummy in the container and the larvae/beetles will collect themselves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axolotl Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Oh that's genius! I just set up a pitfall trap in the roach room to try and catch a few escapee nymphs (no luck), but that will definitely work on the beetles. And I have plenty of shot glasses. Thanks for the idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovebugfarm Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 For sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannaking22 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 You can also put a bunch of extras into enclosures of their own and sell them. People are always looking for good clean up crews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovebugfarm Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Its true also they make good feeders I use them for my arboreal tarantula slings just toss on in the web and done lol also good for small geckos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannaking22 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Collembola can also make good feeders for tiny scorpions and amblypygids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepenthe Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 If you need to thin out the collembola just let your substrate dry out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axolotl Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 On 2/17/2017 at 9:38 AM, lovebugfarm said: Its true also they make good feeders I use them for my arboreal tarantula slings just toss on in the web and done lol also good for small geckos. On 2/17/2017 at 0:17 PM, pannaking22 said: Collembola can also make good feeders for tiny scorpions and amblypygids. I did not know that! I will start moving extras to their own bin. Great idea! Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.