Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Are these the same as confused flour beetles?

How do I get their larvae out of the flour to feed to my frogs? When I use the little sifter, the larvae and the adult beetles work their way through the holes. If I hang the sifter over top of the flour after i have sifted out the flour, the same thing happens.

I am currently feeding them fruit flies, of course, and using small 1/8" crickets to fill in the gaps. But I would like to expand their diet. Can I use waxworms or tiny mealworms? I would like to avoid springtails, aphids, termites, ants, and spiders, if at all possible.

I currently have several auratus and one azureus. These babies were all hatched (if that is the right word) from January to April of 2004.

Thanks for any help.

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sue

You need to find a smaller strainer or set up more cultures for the flour beetles. I set up new cultures every two weeks. I will take out all the adults and put them into fresh flour. Then let the sifted flour sit for 4 weeks and sift it again. The tiny eggs that easily went through the first sifting will have grown by now to full size larvae.

You can feed tiny waxworms, but if you aren't careful they can get to unusable size in a day. Mini mealworms are supposed to work well too, but treat them just like the flour beetles. Lastly, don't discount springtails or termites. Springtails are easily cultured and are a great addition to your frogs diet as well as your tank for that matter. Termites are probably the best food, but hard to culture and an escape could be disasterous.
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2.4.0 D. azureus
0.0.8 P. bicolor
0.0.7 D. auratus (polka-dot)
0.0.3 D. auratus (blue)
0.0.4 D. auratus (kahlua and cream)
0.0.3 D. auratus (El Cope aka Giant Turquoise)
0.0.5 D. tinctorius (Interalanis)

Shannon

I agree--don't discount springtails. They are very easy to culture and the frogs love them. They are not plant pests. The frogs also truly go for aphids. Aphids you collect outdoors are plant species specific in general and will not infect your terrarium plants even if they get the chance. My frogs regard them as a decadent dessert and lap them up before they get a chance to go anywhere. I just find an infected leaf outdoors and toss it in. (Insecticide free, of course.)
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis (new froglets)

I have never been a plant person, so this stuff is kind of confusing. thanks for the help.

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sue

They are small, fat green sucking insects that attach in droves to the leaves of their choice, usually the underside. They don'[t move much in this stage. Sometimes they are attended by ants, that tend them like a herd of cows, stroke and "milk" them for their sweet honeydew exudate, and may even transfer them from plant to plant to change pastures. There are hundreds of species with other different habits, varied life cycles, including a flying stage. But if you live near anyone who has outdoor begonias, hanging baskets of fuchsias, a vegetable garden with peas and cabbage in particular, or fruit trees, there are going to be aphids on something. The only problem is to collect leaves of plants that have not been sprayed with insecticides or treated with a systemic insect poison.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis (new froglets)