questions about locusts

[nympho]

hi. looking for advice from someone who keeps locusts. my colony of 25 adult desert locusts have matured at last and theres been quite a bit of mating going on, but the mated females are showing no interested in the big vase of damp sand i provided. i thought they were supposed to lay their eggs straight after mating but they are all still crowding at the top of the cage by the lamp and not going near the sand. it is very hot in the cage -at least 30 c (with a 60w lamp and big heat mat - the sand is resting against the hm so should be warm too) and they have plenty of fresh grass and cabbage which they are eating well. arnt they supposed to go and look for somewhere to lay eggs now or do you have to force them to stay on the sand by putting a container over them, or even direct a lamp on the sand to surface warm it (its currently pointing sideways not downwards)

also what temp does incubation have to be at. does it HAVE to be 25c plus or will development happen at lower temps (but slower) or just stop completely

btw do locusts stridulate like other grasshoppers. i read they dont but some of them occasionally rapidly beat their wings for one second and then imediately rub one tibia against the end of the wing a few times. doesnt seem to have a purpose otherwise but no females respond as far as i can tell and they dont try and mate after doing it. cheers

 

[Orin]

Hi,

I've bred some of our different grasshoppers but not your locusts. It can take two months after maturity for the females to start laying eggs so you may just be worrying prematurely. Egg development slows down at lower temperatures and can force them into a cycle that's hard to break the ova back out of (not dead but difficult to hatch).

 

[nympho]

hi thanks for replying; guess you are right, they just needed time. i saw 3 females laying eggs (hopefully) last night which suprised me as i thought they were diurnal.

now i just hope the temps are high enough for development as its a bit low, low down where it is

now, if i can move the jar up to the top of the cage where it is hottest somehow. the improvisations you have to do in this hobby!

 

[nympho]

check this pic out. one started tunneling next to the glass on the my side so i could see what was happening. you can see how much her abdomen extends its got a sort of opening tunneling device on the tip which rasps away at the sand, and compacts it the side as it moves down the tunnel it makes. it doesnt just push down by force. then it lays its eggs carefully in layers at the bottom encased in white foam. they are yellow at first but turned sand colour later.thats why i thought they wernt laying eggs in the bottom of the holes they made on the other side of the jar next to the heat mat.

the males like to hang on. maybe the females become receptive again after egg laying

 

[macro junkie]

amazing thread,,keep us updated..

 

[nympho]

sure will. hope to get some hoppers soon, which i will try to document.

 

[nympho]

first batch of babies are emerging now

heres a pic with adult for size comparison. cute little thing isnt he. hope the get lots more

they are similar to mantises, they wriggle to the surface all together as a little worm things with non function in legs and immediately shed their skin, after which they can hop about

update.

since then theres been a bit of an explosion of babies; at least 100 -200 hatching in batches of - lots! and theres who knows how many batches left and they are still laying like mad too. they seem to come to the surface at night. they are green at first and some go blackish after a day or so. not much of a problem rearing them from there, although they are very time consuming. the fact they hop is tricky as they could get everywhere if your not careful but it can work in your favour as you can easily persuade them to hop into a tub by prodding them with a paintbrush! older ones you can pick up by hand but these are too tiny and squishy. the adults i dont handle i just vac the poo out with a mini vac. when moving these babies from the sand container i put it in a white plastic baby bath before lifting the lid to stop them from jumping everywhere. dont want my own mini locust plague! :lol: saying that id love to see a real one; putting apart the human aspect a locust swarm has got to be one of the greatest spectacles in nature. one of the few animals that can really ###### humans over, although they are mostly contained with massive pesticide usage these days (at whatever cost), causing more damage to the world, to foster the real menace - the never questioned humans plague. ho hum.