5 replies to this topic

[antgallery]

There is this weird thing in my Dubia roach breeder I don't know if it is baby Dubia's or what as I am VERY new to keeping Dubia's. Any help would be greatly appreciated. To me it looks kind of like a small caterpillar. They're everywhere in my breeder and I don't know whether to be worried or not. The bottom is white with a small spot of black near the head and the top is black with long spikey hair.

Attached Images

• 

[Manitobant]

Dermestid beetle larva.

[TestSubjectOne]

I believe this is a Dermestid beetle larva, a common cleanup crew and feeder. They are decomposers and are often used to clean skeletons for museums of collections. You could culture them yourself or feed them off, but I would suggest separating them from your Dubias if practical so they don't compete for food. They are commonly bred so my guess is that the Dubia breeders mixed them somehow. By the way, young dubias are nymphs that look similar to adults. They do not have larvae, and instead of laying eggs the female will hatch the eggs in an "ootheca" or internal egg sack until the babies are ready to hatch and they expel the ootheca

[antgallery]

I believe this is a Dermestid beetle larva, a common cleanup crew and feeder. They are decomposers and are often used to clean skeletons for museums of collections. You could culture them yourself or feed them off, but I would suggest separating them from your Dubias if practical so they don't compete for food. They are commonly bred so my guess is that the Dubia breeders mixed them somehow. By the way, young dubias are nymphs that look similar to adults. They do not have larvae, and instead of laying eggs the female will hatch the eggs in an "ootheca" or internal egg sack until the babies are ready to hatch and they expel the ootheca

Okay, thank you very much for the answer! I will try to separate them and maybe breed them, I'm not sure yet.

[JamesJohnson]

You could culture them yourself or feed them off, but I would suggest separating them from your Dubias if practical so they don't compete for food.

Dermestid beetles usually eat dead Dubias and scraps of stuff even Dubias wouldn’t eat, so I would actually recommend keeping them in the colony.

[Kaelwizard]

 

You could culture them yourself or feed them off, but I would suggest separating them from your Dubias if practical so they don't compete for food.

Dermestid beetles usually eat dead Dubias and scraps of stuff even Dubias wouldn’t eat, so I would actually recommend keeping them in the colony.

 

Agreed.