Tutorial By Request[Rubra] Where can i find Dermestids???

Well thats a great question thanks rubra i've been asked this many diffrent times and well instead of answering it a million times lets just make a tutorial on where and how to find dermestids.
Carpet Beetles
These devils are found under furniture,carpets,old clothing and even in beds[mine at least] although during the spring months the adults[mainly females] may be found on windowsills trying to get outside. If you still can't find them then move onto the next dermestid beetle type.
Larder Beetles
These are found everywhere[and i mean everywhere!] I've foud them in my bedroom,kitchen,bathroom and heck even my basement has a few. They can also be found creeping up walls and on windowsills. I found a couple under the same the things as carpet beetles.
Baiting
So what if i still haven't found any? Well don't worry i have an almost fool proof plan. Just take some raw uncooked meat and leave it outside, After a few hours come back and see what you can find. Dermestes lardarius is sure to be there[Look at the pic at the top of the blog] larvae are often found as well. They are hairy and wiggle a lot[Dermestes lardarius larvae run faster] basicly any type of beetle that you find there is a dermestid[or something closely related] so if you find only a few adults don't worry they can still start a colony[i've started mine from 1 gravid female and now have 30+++]

Hope this answers your question rubra!

A blog post about Harvesting

Okay so as my colony just got cleaned a week ago i have decided to make a guide on Harvesting a colony of dermestids. There are a few steps to follow to get it done just right[well my way anyway]
Step1-Discontinue feeding
Step2-Feed a large food piece
Step3-Wait 25-45 minutes and take off all the dermestids [and any other ones you find] and place them into a new bin for now]
Step4-Continue step 2-3
Step5-After your done either get rid of the excess waste or keep it for a while and continue to harvest it[to get out some of the small babies]

Hope this helps you out on how to harvest

Burn and Bust Cycles

Okay so there are two things that a dermy colony can do throughout the year. It happpens diffrently for everyone and every colony[conditions are diffrent, food is diffrent, tempatures are diffrent ect...] anyway if youve ever noticed that when the colony has gotten a lot of larvae[This is known as a Hot colony] it will eat more. This is a burn cycle. Now if you don't see hardly any larvae[but there is a ton of beetles around and its not infested with ham beetles] then this is known as a bust cycle the colony eats less but the adults are busy making the next generation.

The burn cycles last longer at 30++ days where-as busts last around 12-20 days. These can increase/decrease depending on the tempature and the food being given to the colony.

Hope this sheds some light on why your colony isn't doing its thing!
[BTW it just so happens i'm in a bust cycle]

Day#504-Dermestid Beetle Update

Day#504- Well its been a long road to get here i've deffinately have hit my fair shair of fails and epic fails throughout this big whole project. I've done some amazing projects. Some of which i actually got good results for[Ex when i started my new colony off of 1 gravid female back in January 25th/2011] I do plan to do a lot more with this colony as summer ends[i'm busy in the summer doing wasp/ant related things] its a great thing these guys live off neglect[All i do is feeding them a huge ammount for the summer months and come back to a thriving dermestid colony!] All in all this colony has taught me a thing or two about dermestes lardarius and how they do their thing.

Anyway onto how the colony is doing up to date. So far i've actually started a new colony[No not with 1 gravid queen] of a diffrent species intirally! Its known as Attangenus unicolor. Its also commonly known as The Black Carpet Beetle. They breed really slow[Lardarius can get 2-3 cycles in before they even finish 1!] Anyway deffinatly stay tuned for a big project with them this fall!

As well the larder beetles will be doing a couple projects with me this fall of course that would mean i may have to split them at the end of the summer months up ahead anyway i'll figure that one out when the time comes. As well the lardarius colony is in a bust cycle right now :( [This is when there is a lot of beetles and next to no larvae.] It will surpase in a month or so.

Anyway hope this was a good enough update for you all

Hello Everyone

Hello to everyone out there. I am a new auther at Dermestid Files and as time goes by i will be posting questions and koolkid will be posting the answers to them. Eventually when i get a dermestid colony i will be posting up blogs as well. Anyway hope this will be a learning experince not just for me but for everyone.

-Compostguy101

Light VS Dark

Well this is a huge topic on weather or not Dermestids favor darkness or light, i hope to share some insight on both below:
Light
Advantages
You get to see them at work
They can be monitered without much disturbance
Disadvantages
In the light they seem to eat less fast[That doesn't mean they don't eat they just eat slower]

Darkness
Advantages
They work harder and faster
If your working on something gross it makes it less gross[IE your not seeing it as much as if they were kept in the light/clear bin.]
Disadvantages
The colony isn't as seeable[when you do it disturbs them lots]
The colony seems to be more flighty to light
Of course less viewing equals more worry[Ie are they eating are they done or not? ect...]

Hope this spreads some insight on light versus darkness

New Enclosure

I have a new Dermy Bug Box its a Kritter Keeper or just a KK for short. The KK has bedding unlike my other setups in the past as it seems to help boost the population up drasticly and i can still see them[They swarm like a colony of ants which is too cool! its one of those you have to witness it to belive it!] This setup is gonna be their spring through winter setup and who knows i may be able to use it next year!

Fall-Winter Diets[September-Febuary]

For a Fall to winter diet dermestid colonies should be watered only when they have adults in the population. They need high carbs and a tiny bit of protien[Up it in the case of Larvae explosions as they grow better] for carbs chocolate and some  candies work well. For protien dog/cat food and some meats are great for growth. Hope the diet section have been helpful

Summer Diet[June-September]

For summer months[at least for me] there is more larvae which means more protien and less water. Feed them cat/dog food and sometimes meat. Only water them weekly as larvae aren't big fans of water[Water + Dermestids = Dead Dermestids :( ]

Spring Diets[March-June]

For spring dermestid colonies[At least mine] are in the adult stage, thus they need more sugar[fattening agents] and more water. So during the spring months anywhere from march to june water them once every two days. Usually in the evening as this will mean they drink it more.

Lardarius Colony Update

So on
3/18/2011 I got 1 gravid female, well she[Now known as queen Doom ] has sprouted a good Dermestes lardarius colony the biggest i've had all season. Of course the season is just begging and the colony should sprout out to the thousands! The colony has 30-35 adults and so far only 1 larvae[I found him in the old enclosure which is a good sighn] anyway the colony has many females[Unlike my other colony Named Eves Empire which had all males except one and then she died :( ] so i think the colony will have a population boom/explosion in around 1-2 months if that. I have good high hopes for this little gals colony and hopefully its sucsess in the next few months will prove her worth lol. BTW in the fall i'm gonna split them and do an Over Feeding Challenge!
Anyway thats just this update
4/22/2011