Looking for leaf litter!

S

Smoclers

L1
Hey everyone!  I'm looking for a bunch of oak/beach leaf litter.  I live in a scrub desert, and there really isn't anything even remotely close by!  I've got some G.Thula, and E.Fulgida, and while they are ok for now, I'd like to get prepared for the long term.  Thanks for reading!

 
Flake soil is all that's needed for these two species - I've been rearing them very successfully on that for years, without any leaf litter at all.

 
Goliathus said:
Flake soil is all that's needed for these two species - I've been rearing them very successfully on that for years, without any leaf litter at all.
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That is great to know!  Everything I've been reading, has said flower beetle larvae need leaf litter to thrive.  Flake soil is much easier to deal with than constantly searching for leaves heh.

 
I used plenty of leaves as a substrate component years ago, but stopped because they have a tendency to cause fungus gnat outbreaks even more readily than flake soil alone.  Flake soil can certainly lead to fungus gnats too of course, but I found that it's only sometimes, while with leaves, there is usually a guarantee of an outbreak, eventually.  I think that leaves might actually be more important in getting flower beetles to lay eggs, than for rearing the larvae.  Leaves only seem to be of significance to promoting egg-laying in some species, however.  They're definitely not needed to stimulate reproduction in thula and fulgida though, the larvae of which are very generalist feeders on plant detritus.

 
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