Searching for Black soldier fly

E-mago · #1 (**permalink**) 11th March 2010, 21:20

Hi everybody,
I'm looking for Hermetia illucens larvae to buy. Do you know where I can find some? Does anybody tried to breed this species? It seems very interesting used for mantids food (and other things) even if mating is said difficult to obtain.

andy bailey · #2 (**permalink**) 11th March 2010, 21:36

can`t say I`ve come across these before but I`ve just done a quick search....they look like an interesting alternative food source! Perhaps some of the reptile keepers on here know more about them?

shep1979 · #3 (**permalink**) 11th March 2010, 22:32

i have been selling these they are pheonix worms/nutri grubs , not a easy fly to breed as they need rotting fruit and warm coniditions

noobsauce · #4 (**permalink**) 12th March 2010, 07:16

if I can stick my input in, these are an incredibly easy species to breed - outdoors. In the USA lots of people grow them in a thing called the bio pod, its just a super fact no waste compost bin, these larva consume vast amounts of food. I looked into the situation to see if the fly was natalie to england, but I believe england is one of the only places in the world where they arnt around

.

andy bailey · #5 (**permalink**) 12th March 2010, 17:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by shep1979

i have been selling these they are pheonix worms/nutri grubs , not a easy fly to breed as they need rotting fruit and warm coniditions

Hmmm? a bit like how I keep fruitflies then? lol. They do seem easy from the stuff I`ve read so far though....How much are they selling for, Simon?

hot*stuff · #6 (**permalink**) 12th March 2010, 19:16

**NEW** Nutri-Grubs
Phoenix Worms?

any good...

andy bailey · #7 (**permalink**) 12th March 2010, 19:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by hot*stuff

**NEW** Nutri-Grubs
Phoenix Worms?

any good...

Cheers Lynne...I`ll be giving these a go when the `kids` are bigger. The previous gen. liked waxworms.and waxmoths.... E-mago....?

E-mago · #8 (**permalink**) 12th March 2010, 19:34

Thanks a lot for your quick answers and for your link hot*stuff

What I have seen is that they are easy to breed... during larval stage. The difficulty is to obatin a mating as adults need a lot of space or better being outdoor... Nethertheless I want to try as I have a greenhouse in the garden.
They are certainly good for mantids. Taking apart reproduction, they have only 2 defaults: larva fears the light and buries in the substrate, adult lives less than 10 days as they don't eat.