# Love Bug Larvae



## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

Naturalist Guy - nature guy, naturalist, nature, nature information, nature news
What do you suppose the chances are these would make a suitable addition for frog food?
I fed a couple adults to my terribs the other day. They seemed to relish them. I figured they'ld spit them right back out.
Looks like the larvae feed on grass thatch and leaf litter. Living in the ground they might have decent calcium levels and they don't look nearly as fatty as FF larvae.
The eggs are suppose to take about ten days to hatch. I think I'll collect a few pairs and put them in with some leaf litter and see how long they take to reach a suitable size for feeding.
My only concern is if they would create any havoc in the substrate of a viv if they weren't eaten. Might just make a decent janitor if there weren't too many.

Any thoughts? Pathogens perhaps???


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Well, they are non toxic. The adults supposedly have a fairly acidic body chemistry, but the pupae have a neutral ph of 6.5. 
I dont know how you would culture them, grass clippings maybe? 
Your frogs seem to like them, so thats the lithmus test for suitability beyond culturability.


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## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

The acid content really isn't much of an issue. As you say, their Ph is ~ 6.5. They become more acidic and can cause damage to paint finish when their body fats oxydize or decompose on the paint. 
I wouldn't culture them a whole life cycle which looks to be 4 - 6 months or so.
Just hatch out the eggs and rear the larvae to a suitable feeder size.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

they are a beneficial for lawns, aerating the thatch. I really don't know how the best method of culturability would be.


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## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

Since the adults would be "from the wild"; I wonder if they can pass on any pathogens thru their eggs.
I'll have to PM Ed K. to pick his humongous brain.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

he might have a better idea of how to culture them as well


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

How much space do you have for a mating flight? The males hover over the areas in swarms waiting for the females to emerge. Outside of that, the little I could find makes it seem like the larva should be okay with being kept in moist substrate and greens added to the surface with them being replaced as the greens were consumed. 

I wouldn't jump on culturing them until you see if the larva are digested or not.. a number of different larva with this sort of life history are reported being passed alive as they can resist the conditions in the gut (examples of this are a number of maggots...)


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