G. caseyi losses at L1

arizonablue

arizonablue

Fresh Imago
Hoping someone has some insight on breeding these guys - I had my first batch of eggs hatch and had 11 L1 larvae that I put into a 16oz deli container with appropriate leaflitter substrate. I added some more substrate today and was only able to locate four larvae, one of which is about twice as large as the others now, although still all in L1.

I thought these guys were communal, so I wasn't expecting any to be eaten ... it's possible I missed some because they are quite small, but there are definitely no longer 11. I don't think I did anything wrong regarding care, and I don't know anything about their dieoff rate. Anyone have any idea why I'd lose so many?

 
Usually a good amount of L1 larvae from any batch die off. Cannibalism is also possible, that's why I always separate mine.

 
Ratmosphere said:
Usually a good amount of L1 larvae from any batch die off. Cannibalism is also possible, that's why I always separate mine.
Click to expand...
Well, that makes me feel a bit better, thanks! Next time I think I'll separate them into at least two groups and see if I do any better. Hopefully they just didn't make it and the fat one went around eating the remains, LOL. Seems a better option than a serial killer flower beetle grub!

 
Update: Augh. Now I'm down to two L2 grubs. I put the big one into it's own container in case it was chowing down on the others, and now the container that had 4 L1s only has one L2. Eleven wasn't great to start off with but ending up with two is a little disappointing. On the bright side, there are more eggs in the flower beetle tank so hopefully I'll have a few more soon. Maybe I'll leave them in the main tank longer this time instead of pulling them out at L1, maybe I bothered them too much. Or maybe I should just put them all in their own containers until they hit L3. It was easy to get them to breed but apparently not so easy to keep the generations going!

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top