It's quite simple... There is more than one way to raise the larvae (and this goes for many dynastids):
50:50 leaves and wood sounds great! There are, however, other mixes. Here is one that I am using right now:
1- fungi infested flakes found inside the hollow cavities of a white oak
2- white heartwood of white oak and water oak
3- Rich dark soil collected from the woods and osmoderma cages
4- White oak dried heartwood powder (from logs found in the wild)
5- Oak leaves
6- crushed bark bits from white oak and water oak
(BESS BEETLE FECES CAN BE ADDED TO THE MIX SOMETIMES FOR WOOD FLAKE CONTENT!)
Now this is the ratio (in order of ingredients listed)
30:5:35:5:10:5
Now... the fungi wood flakes were disinfected etc and didnt cause any mold problems in the end.
So far the larvae are big L2 and are quite chubby
. So I guess it works. I know that it's not a high leaf ratio, but a lot of the times, reallyyyy decayed wood works just as good (like the kind used for cyclommatus).
Oh and processed wood (from odontotaenius or osmoderma feces) is a QUITE good additive.
I hope this helps.
No need to follow this RELIGIOUSLY, as everyone makes their's differently. Some people use no leaves at all. Some use many leaves. Overall though, avoid something that isn't natural (from the wild) unless it has been experimented with and works quite well. I believe the organic miracle grow works somewhat... but there are better options (Osmoderma feces are far richer).
OH... and Orin. Good point! Compost works! I guess my mix is much like compost in the end anyways
.