Help! So tiny!

[Entomo-logic]

I transfer Springtails using an Insect Aspirator it works like a charm. Just be sure to check the screen or you will be the one eating Springtails.

 

[meaganelise9]

Hahaha good idea

 

[meaganelise9]

Oy vey. This requires a macro lens. We'll have to deal with my point and shoot. So there's a (blurry) nymph on this coffee stir. Below is the hatched ooth next to forceps for size comparison.

 

[lunarstorm]

Wow. Unless those are the World's Biggest Blue-Plastic Forceps, that's a *tiny* ooth.

 

[meaganelise9]

Indeed. Thinking it must be Oxyothespis dumonti. Hopefully they survive. If they do, I may be sharing at some point as my bug room is getting a bit cluttered. It was obviously a small hatch- only 11 and I have yet to see any die.

 

[gripen]

good luck!

 

[meaganelise9]

No deaths yet, and some have started eating. So far so good! They're pretty cute. It's like Where's Waldo trying to find them..

 

[gripen]

thats great! keep us updated!

 

[Precarious]

Wish I'd seen this sooner...

Keep your nymphs in a cup with a very moist, loose substrate or moss. Then all you do is pour some of the water from the springtail culture into the substrate. They will then populate the cup. Just be sure to keep the substrate moist at all times because springtails require 100% humidity. Those that wander up out of the substrate will get chomped. Drop a grain of rice in the substrate now and then to grow mold that the springtails eat. They will likely also feed on other waste.

Hope this helps!

I have no babies yet so I hope yours make it.

 

[yen_saw]

Congrats! Looks like O. dumonti nymphs. They are tiny the size of mosquito but will grow longer with each molt. All the best with the mantis.

 

[meaganelise9]

Thanks! At least the hatch size is quite manageable. And it looks like we have several people with ooths now (and more for sale I see). It'll be fun to move forward with them (hopefully).

 

[gripen]

keep up the good work! have you had any fatality's?

 

[meaganelise9]

Nope. Still 11.

 

[gripen]

wow good job!

 

[sinensispsyched]

Keep up the good work!

 

[meaganelise9]

well, thanks. no news (which is good news).