Cricket Larvae?

ghordy

Arachnoknight
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I picked up a batch of crickets at my LPS and I noticed a couple of little squiggly black larvae in the bag. This is cricket larvae, no?
 

leoman777

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i forget what those are called but i tihnk they eat the dead crix so its like your own clean up crew :) when i bought my box of crix i had some of those too
 

whitewolf

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i forget what those are called too. They eat the nasty stuff.

No crickets lay eggs and baby crickets hatch out. They look like very tiny adults.
 

ghordy

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i forget what those are called too. They eat the nasty stuff.

No crickets lay eggs and baby crickets hatch out. They look like very tiny adults.
Oh, that's just great... now you tell me! After I pitched them! :wall:
 

Hobo

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Ugh, they're phorid fly larvae. I'd suggest scooping as many as you can out and disposing them. They can infest your home if given the right conditions (the larvae can live on almost anything), and IMO are a LOT worse/annoying than fruitflies.

Just remove dead crickets yourself.
 

whitewolf

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Ugh, they're phorid fly larvae. I'd suggest scooping as many as you can out and disposing them. They can infest your home if given the right conditions (the larvae can live on almost anything), and IMO are a LOT worse/annoying than fruitflies.

Just remove dead crickets yourself.
:wall: Little black larve looking like worms. Duhhh said small black larve.

I was thinking about the large black crawly things. Dunno how to describe them but they come in with fluckers crickets when I used to use crickets. These things have a body like a pede but no pincers about 1/2" to 1" long. What are those? I was told they were good bugs?
 

Hobo

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:wall: Little black larve looking like worms. Duhhh said small black larve.

I was thinking about the large black crawly things. Dunno how to describe them but they come in with fluckers crickets when I used to use crickets. These things have a body like a pede but no pincers about 1/2" to 1" long. What are those? I was told they were good bugs?
My mistake. For some reason my mind didn't read the word "black." The phorid fly larvae I've encountered were definitely not black. Though I guess they might appear black if they are eating gross, decaying black cricket corpses...

Also... creepy crawling 'pede like cleaner bugs? From your decription they sound like some kind of millipede. That's interesting, I've never had those in with my crickets! If they are just millipedes, I don't see how they can be harmful in any way to crickets let alone infest a home, and they DO eat decaying material...{D I'd say they are good bugs.
 

xhexdx

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They're dermestid beetle larvae. They will pupate, hatch as beetles, and infest your entire room. I've been through that before.

Get rid of them. Feed them off, flush them, kill them however you want. Just get rid of them.

--Joe
 

Hobo

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They're dermestid beetle larvae. They will pupate, hatch as beetles, and infest your entire room. I've been through that before.

Get rid of them. Feed them off, flush them, kill them however you want. Just get rid of them.

--Joe
GAWD I HATE THOSE FREAKIN THINGS!

If those are indeed what they look like, ghrody, I'd follow his advice, and quickly! Those things cost me a very nice display of pinned insects I collected on vacation. They'll eat pretty much anything. When you kill em, say hello for me.
 

Bill S

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They're dermestid beetle larvae. They will pupate, hatch as beetles, and infest your entire room. I've been through that before.

Get rid of them. Feed them off, flush them, kill them however you want. Just get rid of them.

--Joe
Joe, I'm glad you're on this board to help correct the abundant misinformation.

And for the rest of you - dermestid beetles are sometimes called museum beetles. They are great scavengers and will indeed scavenge the dead crickets. In museums (on the good side) they are often used to clean skulls and skeletons. On the bad side, they get into insect collections (dead insects) and wreak havoc. What they will do when loosed upon your home will vary with the climate you live in and what you've got around your home. They are not a big problem where I live (in the desert), so I tolerate them in the cricket cage. Joe lives in a much more humid climate and obviously has different results. Place your own bets and take your own chances.
 
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whitewolf

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Thanks guys I was wondering what they were I had seen the dermestid beetles and knew what those where after the coroner showed me them once but I never knew those were their larvae. I had wondered if it was their larvae but never looked it up after someone said they were ok to have. They went away with the crickets but every now and then I see one upstairs but none downstairs with the T's or Roaches. Sorry to thread jack ya. This was the first thing I thought of when ya said larvae. It's kind of a hairy funky looking worm.
 

ghordy

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So the cricket farms who produce crickets for the pet trade include these purposely as "clean-up" bugs in their facilities knowing full well that they may infest the home of the end user? Doesn't seem plausible.
 

xhexdx

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I don't think they're intentionally included. I've had spiders in with my crickets before, too. That puts me in a bind because usually they're a species we don't have here in Florida and they're also gravid. I usually keep them till they die and remove and destroy any sacs they produce.

Anyway...
 

Nerri1029

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When I had my Discoid colony I liked the Dermestids in with them, they helped keep the colony cleaner inbetween my overhauling.

not sure if they are a hazard to a living T or roach, Like Bill S & Hobo said, I've heard of them dessimating dried displays though.

So "evil"? my vote is no.

Something you want around? you decide, probably not.

I eventually ended up with a colony of them within my roach colony.
I rounded them up and sent them off to "Old Hag"

Like all bugs they have a purpose. ;)

As for the knee jerk answers.. well :rolleyes:
 

arachna-nono

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OP didn't include a picture of the little things, but I'm going to assume they're are the same little stinkers that are always in my 10,000/week cricket order as well as ALWAYS in my superworm container. I've been seeing them for 13 freaking years and never had a CLUE what they were! Only one of my roach colonies (b. lats.) ever get them, and no matter how often I clean the damn things out, they ALWAYS come back! Interesting enough, I always find one inside a dead adult roach... guess they DO come in handy. I was a little worried my roaches were getting their own little "Alien" parasite! This is all very good info for me to have!
 

ZergFront

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I think I just got one of these larva in with my pinheads yesterday but it's the only one. Left it be since they're scavengers and it wouldn't be able to reproduce anyway..

I'll post a pic later. Too lazy to..
 

dfourer

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I got beetles and larvae into my Blaptica dubia roach colony and they are a pain. Five-millimeter black beetles and brown striped larvae. They don't really hurt the roaches, but the colony is messy and I can't separate them. I know they came from another roach breeder.
 

Bill S

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In the time between when this thread first started and now I cleaned out my cricket cage. And unfortunately got rid of the dermestids too. I have since decided that was a mistake, and am hoping to get some more soon. The first thing I noticed with the new "clean" cge was that it stunk. I'd seen messages posted here before about how much cricket cages smelled, and thought people were just being too sensitive. But my dermestid-free cage STUNK. I think the dermestids were performing a pretty useful cleaning service.

There were probably a few other issues also contributing to the smell - like too much humidity and not enough air circulation - but I'm still hoping to come up with some dermestids again.
 

Anonymity82

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Crickets smell horrible no matter what you do. They produce those smells in their waste and maybe the dermestids will help a little you're pretty much stuck with the stink if you want a cricket colony. The dubai roaches are more nutritious and less stinky, but A: I haven't been able to find anyone who will sell me one or 2 at a time and B: You really need to start a colony of those which would only come in handy if you have many critters (which I don't). I once found a fully grown black beetle in my cricket container and now I know what it was!! Thanks for the thread! I actually just found something moving in my scorp's substrate but it wasn't anywhere near it's wastes and I could barely make it out. If I had to make a guess I would say a little black wormy thing but I mean little. I lost it the second I tried to move the substrate the tiniest bit.
 
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