Dermestes Atar[{locked}]

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I have started a colony of Black Larder Beetles(Dermestes Atar)(I will check the spelling) that consists of 5 beetles and 10 or so larvae at different stages of development. For anyone that wants to know these are the little hairy things that you find in the pots of crickets you can get at a pet store for live food. They are tucking into a dead locust that I found in a tub of them that I give to my bearded dragons. Today alone I have seen 2 larvae develop into larger larvae by them shedding, I didn't actually see it happen but I saw 2 white larvae crawling about.

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I will be posting pictures soon and anyone who knows something about these please tell me because I know hardly anything about these.

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Can't wait for the pictures! Sounds like your off to the races my friend. I know quite a lot about Dermestes lardarius, or the Common Larder Beetle, which is pretty much the same as yours only a little different colouring. Have you noticed any larger beetles? Or are they all the same size? If there are some bigger ones then those are females, and will lay about 200 to 800 eggs in her life time which is a lot if you ask me! They also have a stripe down the back of the larvae, which mine lack. Their lifecycle is about the same taking about 45-50 days for an entire cycle[although don't expect it to be that fast, it usually takes a bit longer then that.] Eggs hatch out in 5-7 days where-as Dermestes lardarius takes about 12 days to hatch, so you will notice larvae in about 10 or so days. If not then don't freak out can take a bit longer sometimes.

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I think there are 2 larger beetles and 3 smaller ones.
Is it possible that they laid the eggs in the locust because it wouldn't last until the eggs hatched because it would have rotted.

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They could've laid them there, usually they lay them around the food though, on the floor of the enclosure. Then when the larvae hatch they search for food. If you can try feeding them dog food or cat food, as it lasts them longer [well when the colony is small it lasts them awhile, not when they get big like mine!} Then they will have enough time to develop if they are laid on them.

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Hey Dermy, weren't you on the ant nest forum until he shut it down.

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We aren't supposed to talk about that here, but yes I was.

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Quick Update
I've moved them into a larger container, its a red box with a lid that's about twice as large. There are actually 11 larvae and 5 beetles.

[TenebrousNova]

Aug 3, 2014 23:52:22 GMT @joshjw said:

For anyone that wants to know these are the little hairy things that you find in the pots of crickets you can get at a pet store for live food.

That explains a lot, always wondered what those were! Good luck with them.

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Thanks

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They have all died off so I will lock this thread.