I love bugs...

[BCollie]

Seriously, ever since I was little I've loved bugs. I used to watch my mom gardening so that I could wait for a worm to be dug up for me to play with for a while before "releasing" it again back to the dirt.
I fell in love with Dwarf White Isopods...oh my gosh, can you seriously tell me that they aren't just adorable?
I can't wait to get colonies of Dwarf White Ispods, Sprintails, and Fruit Flies....I'll probably end up getting them MONTHS before I get my frogs(Just waiting on some money before I can order my plants for my viv, which is already set up, then I'll be saving for my frogs)
I'm really excited for Dwarf White Ispods...wish I could get them now but I have no money to buy them haha!
Which bugs are your favorite?

[MatthewM1]

Roaches are mine, I've got 5 species currently. Unless your counting arachnids as well I've got quite a few tarantulas and scorpions.

[JeffreH]

I love bugs, too. Especially insects =) And isopods are super cute!

To culture: I enjoy culturing cockroaches like Matthew. I've thinned the collection down to 6 species. Always enjoyed breeding other feeder insects, especially those that require a little effot (i.e. Hornworm/Sphinx Moths, and Chinese Silkworms). At one point I was spending more money and time caring for and rearing feeder insects than I was on the herps!

From an educational and research perspective, insects are truly awesome. You could literally spend your entire life studying the insects in your backyard...I'm particularly interested in the evolution of parasitic wasps and their influence on driving ecological community structure. It's amazing how strong the effects of tiny, unnoticeable wasp species can be on the phytophagous insect composition and consequently the plant species composition in different environments.

[deranged chipmunk]

Beetles. The Volkswagen kind


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[JeffreH]

For you, Bill (found randomly on the interwebs):


Vroom Vroom!

[deranged chipmunk]

Hahahaha hahahaha!!! I love it!! Good one Jeff!!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[Heatheranne]

Ha ha! Cute!

I'd have to pick butterflies . So pretty. And shiny, metallic beetles... Except when they eat your outdoor plants. I think the fuzzy bumble bees are cute too, so long as they don't sting me .

[LisaGarcia]

Mine would have to be dragon flies. I love how they are so different from one another. Like snowflakes. They love to fly from one stop to another and don't seem to really fear anything. They also really love the top of my car and keep the mosquitos away when they are out!

[Heatheranne]

Ooh, yes! Dragon flies have very pretty colors also . And I do love snowflakes .

[BCollie]

Heather, do you mean these beautiful guys?


I love them. They're so cool, and very curious. Sometimes when I'm photographing them, they will just hover and watch me before going back to their flowers.

[BCollie]

Just found out I can get 100 Dwarf White Isopods for $27 shipped from Roach Crossing...now I need to find a way to make $30. Ugh, I wish I was able to get a job.

[JeffreH]

Kyle is a great guy - you won't be disappointed with your order from him! Maybe a relative or friend can loan some funds... or there's the ol' lemonade stand approach (or classics like babysitting, dogsitting/walking, etc).

Heather, I think you'd like these guys. They're called "Bee Flies" and are totally harmless, bee-mimics in the family Bombyliidae.
Does reddit accept cute little bee flies? : pikdit

But the big fuzzy bumblebees and kin are also pretty awesomely cute :3 Dragonflies are wicked cool, too.

[LisaGarcia]

Ok, the bee flies are pretty darn cute! I wonder if they are good for wtf's? Can we breed them? They are WAY cuter than crickets! I bet they smell better too

[JeffreH]

You wouldn't be able to culture bee flies, unfortunately. The larvae are parasitoids of other insects, that is, they are parasites that ultimately kill their host. You'd need to rear the specific host species that the larvae parasitize to rear them... And the hosts are quite often particular bees and wasps. I think the adult bee flies lay their eggs directly on or near the nests of their host so that their larvae can emerge, find a host, penetrate the host and begin feeding on them from the inside out.

[LisaGarcia]

Umm yea.. not so cute anymore...

[BCollie]

Wow! How can something so cute be so scary!?

I made $40 today working at home for my parents! Woohoo! I'm placing an order for 100 Dwarf White Isopods from someone with good reviews who will give me 100 for $18 shipped...now I'm on the hunt for springtails ...any tips on where a poor person like me could get a ton of springtails(want to culture AND seed my 100 gallon tank) for a good price? I'm also going to post a wanted ad

[BCollie]

Quick question...what kind of springtails do I want for my vivarium? Which kind reproduce the fastest but will still do good in a humid environment such as one for dart frogs?

[Strider18]

My favorite insect is a 3 way tie between dragonflies, Stagmomantis californica (California mantis), and the giant stag beetle

I would get the tropical kind, sorry but don't know the specifics!

[DigitalPunk]

Quick question...what kind of springtails do I want for my vivarium? Which kind reproduce the fastest but will still do good in a humid environment such as one for dart frogs?

Thats not really an easy question to answer. Some people will swear by tropical springtails and others see the same success with Temperate. What I have seen in my limited experience is that Temperate end up being just fine, especially if you are culturing them outside the tank. They will thrive in a breeding box probably more then they will in the vivarium. Not to say they won't breed in the vivarium it may just be slower than outside the tank which isn't a bad thing over all.

In short I use temperate springtails

Paul

[BCollie]

Thanks, Paul. I did end up placing an order through Josh's Frogs for a 32oz culture of Springtails. Shipping costs more than the culture, but for $20 it's not that bad. It was all my money lol!
However we seem to have a problem...I chose Priority Mail 1-3 day shipping for a couple reasons...one, because it was cheapest and the bugs should still arrive alive with no problem. Two, most importantly, because it was all I could afford. If I had chosen anything faster I would be paying $30+ for Springtails. The package was accepted at their local facility at 11:45pm on Monday. My expected delivery day? Friday!! That is FIVE days that my Springtails will be spending in a box, NOT the 1-3 days that I chose at checkout. I looked online and apparently USPS doesn't guarantee their 1-3 day delivery service.
I'm not happy. Are my bugs most likely going to arrive dead?