Ok, I'm warning you. This post is disgusting! Proceed with caution.
I've been able to culture Soldier fly larvae...aka phoenix worm.
This IS gross, and it DOES require more space than normal feeder insects. Having said that, it is very EASY! The main thing that it really requires is patience and a strong stomach.
Housing - I started out with a frame of wood about 6 feet high and 2 feet wide and deep. I left the bottom open, but covered the rest with window screening. I placed a metal reflector on top and put the whole contraption in my utility closet. I put the light on a normal daylength timer.
Feeding - I purchased some laying mash at a feed store (pictured below). This is used to raise young chickens. It is also called layola, chicken mash, chicken feed, crackles, crumbles...depending on where you live. Basically, it is pelleted corn meal. Mix in just enough water to make it the consistency of cooked rice. This is the only food that I've managed to get the adults to lay on.
Lighting and heat - When I first placed everything in the cage and added the flies...the flies stayed directly under and around the light at all times. They seem to love heat! So, I cut a small hole in the screen, fed the light cord through, and sealed it with duct tape. I then placed some 1/4 inch chicken wire over the rubbermaid sweater box that was holding the food. I put the light directly over the food and the flies loved it! The food needs to be misted daily due to drying out. Don't keep it too wet though!
My experiences - I never saw any mating activity. Frankly, I didn't even think that this was working until I finally saw some females dipping their posteriors into the food. Other than that, they didn't exhibit any activity. I can only assume that mating takes place away from the food. Most of the time, they would just be chilling under the light. It took ONE FULL MONTH of having adult flies in the cage before I saw any larvae!
In that month, fruit flies took over. I had no way of keeping them out, so I just kept adding more food as they consumed it. Now that I have soldier fly larvae, I am seeing less fruit flies. I think that the soldier fly larvae may be eating the fruit fly eggs or larvae.
The laying mash went from smelling like corn bread, to a distillery, to just plain funk! The more it stunk, the more the soldier flies seemed to like it. Somehow, houseflies broke into the cage. I had housefly maggots. It was hard to tell the maggots and soldier fly larvae apart at first. The maggots liked the wettest parts, while the soldier fly larvae preferred it dryer. I keep the food fairly dry now...it cuts down on the smell. I haven't had anymore housefly maggots.
Basically, all I do is mist the food daily, add about two cups of food per week, and wait. Then, the larger larvae come to the surface. I think that they are trying to escape to find a good place to pupate. That is when I pick them out, place them in deli cups, and feed them to my turtles. If any do pupate in the meantime, they go out to the cage. I leave them in a deli cup with sphagnum moss. Shortly after, they emerge as adults. When the food container begins to become too full, I replace it with a new container. I try to excavate any baby soldier fly larvae before disposing of the old food.
This is frustrating to get going, but once you do it is easy. You will have a rotating crop of larvae. The best aspect is that the larvae come to the surface when they are full grown. It's worth the effort to pick them out. It can be tricky to pick up the cage and slide out the food bin without all of the flies escaping, but it's possible. Some inevitably do escape.
If you can deal with the horrid smell and the idea of reaching your hands into a cage filled with flies, anybody can do this. It's not as easy as mealworms, superworms, or crickets. However, the pure volume of larvae produced is amazing! It would take years to yeild that many mealworms.
Please let me know if anyone else has had any luck!
I have some pics below...my first batch of young larvae being moved from an old food bin to the new food bin (fruit fly papae are all around), the moistened chicken mash, and the bag of chicken mash purchased from the feed store.
