NEW LIVEFOOD!!!

[infinity]

ok, amongst other cool reasons for studying entomology at uni, I have just found the perfect live food for mantids... It is a small moth - so perfect for orchid, flower and gongys and it's called the Angoumois grain moth, (Sitotroga cerealella) - it's about 7mm long with a wing length close to a cm and here's the best part- as you can imagine, it feeds on grain! So this moth is so easy to keep on *popping corn*, wheat, barley... and probably (although not tried by me yet) - on cricket chow!

Just thought you lot would like the heads-up... It just seems a very easy and healthy alternative to small crix and rearing curly winged flies...

 

[Ian]

Nice one Jon.

Got any of these going spare?

 

[padkison]

If that's the moth I think it is, you don't want escapees to get near your pantry unless all your grain type food is sealed up tight.

 

[infinity]

Yeah, these are a real grain pest- multiply like crazy... that's why they're good... but also why as u say, you REALLY don't want these getting out... I have loads of these but want my cultures to get bigger before I sell - I'll keep u posted

 

[yen_saw]

That's interesting. It would be great if this species also feed on honey or pollen which is added nutrition for the mantis.

 

[infinity]

Well, I've done some research and it seems that artificial media is suitable for these - which is good obviously! - the other bonus with an artificial media is that the larvae will be free in the media and hence can probably be harvested themselves!

http://www.springerlink.com/content/g6h468...31/fulltext.pdf

The link above has all the details for the *original* media used by Shorey and Hale in 1965 - but if you can't get in (possibly due to needing an institiutional login) - the ingredients consist of (ratios) 30g kidney beans, 15g corn plant powder, 5 carrot powder, 10 yeast, 1 casein 0.5 acorbic acid, and various other fungicides etc...

sounds complicated but all in all, sounds like a sort of cross between a fruit fly media that i used in the lab and the cricket chow. I would presume that cricket chow would be good on its own though- and that would be gut loading them anyway!

The only thing I read that MIGHT be a problem is fecundity at different humidity levels - the highest is at 80%... which might explain why this media has a lot of fungicidal chemicals. But hey, if in doubt, use the original food of this species- wheat or various other grass species...

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks for the info infinity.

 

[Orin]

I use/rear three different kinds of grain moth for feeding but they'll never replace any other feeder. The turnaround time is too long and much more importantly, they are hard to catch.

 

[Jay]

I second what Orin has said. I have tried meal moths, waxmoths, and other moths. Unless it has at least the bulk of a housefly and can go through a whole generation (from egg to adult and back to egg) in under a month it is not worth raising. So, does this moth measure up to such criteria?

 

[critterguy]

Jay: why don't lesser waxmoths make the cut?

 

[infinity]

I'll have to see - it's supposed to take just over a month to complete it's lifecycle - from egg to egg - I think like all cultures it would have to be left a while for the moths to gather sufficient numbers though - seems less fatty than the waxmoths so if we can use them , why not this!

I'll keep u posted - I'll try different media to see what it grows well on and then hey, who knows...

 

[Jay]

Critterguy- Even kept at 80 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter I was never able to get my lesser waxworms to go through a life cycle within a month.

Infinity- I am excited to see what comes of this moth. After looking at the pictures on the web- I don't think it has a lot of bulk though.

 

[Fisherman_Brazil]

Be caution using these moth. Those are not easy to handle.

 

[hibiscusmile]

They could probably be fed dry dog food. Just smash it up a bit, it has protein and fat and grain and some meat in it. (so they say), only be careful, right now their all being poisoned by something. But really dog food is a good source of food for a log of animals and insects, I feed it to the fish in the lake sometimes too! They've not barked at me yet either! :lol: