# Bean Beetle questions..again



## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

i kno we have questions like this come up all the time but i cant find the answer i want when i search sooo...

how do i kno if the bean beetle culture i just got at the hamburg reptile show (so 2 days ago) is dead or if theres eggs about to hatch.

yesterday theyre were 4 visible beetles, today, 9
should i just leave it go for alil while?


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## frogger44 (Jun 8, 2005)

They can be a bit odd. Sometimes I'll have like 10 beetles in the culture walking around and then it seems like they are all dead. If I come back like a week later there can be like 200 beetles in there. I find they grow best when I keep them on the top shelf near a light where it is a bit warmer though. Like most things I guess they reproduce fastest when it is warmer.


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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

Keep them warm. They probably have eggs on the beans or larvae inside. It takes 1 to 2 months from when the culture was set up till they emerge. Often people put a date on the side of the container to keep track of when they were set up. 

If the beans have lots of holes in them it might mean the culture is almost spent. Set up a new culture to cover your butt.


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Freshly laid eggs appear as translucent dots on the beans (1mm or so). When the eggs have hatched into larvae they turn opaque white. And when the beetles are about to morph out, you can see a black area developing under the skin of the bean. Otherwise, all you can do is wait.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Michael Shrom said:


> *If the beans have lots of holes in them it might mean the culture is almost spent*. Set up a new culture to cover your butt.


Like Mike said.....look for the holes. You should still have a lot of fresh beans in the culture - without holes.

You can easily buy a small bag of navy beans at the grocery store and add a small handfull just to be safe.


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

Phil,
Did you really mean navy beans? I've only heard of people having success with mung, adzuki, and black eyed peas.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

pl259 said:


> Phil,
> Did you really mean navy beans? I've only heard of people having success with mung, adzuki, and black eyed peas.


Yeah...now that you mention it....I meant those little* black eyed peas*.

but I wouldn't be suprised if the little devils would bore right into most beans with gusto.

At Hamburg, some vendor had a multi colored bean beetle culture for sale.


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## Suzanne (Dec 28, 2008)

I've tried it with brown beans, but that didn't work at all. So I just stick to the black eyed peas to be safe. I've heard that how bigger the bean, the bigger the beetles. So for most darts small beans would be best to get the right size.


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## salix (Mar 28, 2008)

I had read that mung beans worked best, then adzuki beans and lastly, black-eyed peas.

So I set up a (fairly) controlled experiment. I measured the beans (by volume) and counted the number of beetles I added to each culture. I set them up side by side and waited for the bloom. Visually, the results were identical.

Just my observation.

Now I just buy what's cheapest (the peas) and use that.

Deb


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

Very good observation, Deb. I have been wanting to try and culture bean beetles like HunterB but was reluctant. However, when Jason had his dendrobaord meeting/get-to-together at his house a week or so, he had several cultures that he feeds with. May I ask, what is the difference between the flightless fruit flies and bean beetles? They sure look the same to me Do they climb like the heidi flies? Colleen


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

I've also been using black eyed peas. They work just fine and I get huge booms.


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## jewrigh1 (May 1, 2009)

anybody ever try pinto beans? Ihave a bag I was going to throw away but figured I might try them in the beetle cultures.

Thanks


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

Colleen53 said:


> May I ask, what is the difference between the flightless fruit flies and bean beetles? They sure look the same to me Do they climb like the heidi flies? Colleen


Yeah, they climb for sure. They are also very good at cramming their bodies through tight gaps in the lid of a viv that FF can't get through. I try not to feed much more than the frogs can eat at any one time. The first time I fed I dumped a ton in there and was vacuuming beetles of the walls for a week.

On the upside, the frogs gorge themselves and rain record batches of eggs afterward.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I agree with all of the advice here, especially the part about them getting out of the viv.
You definately need to keep them warm (like 80 degrees - I kept mine in a sunny window). Add fresh dry blackeyed peas every so often and be patient, I have had some cultures take up to 3 weeks to bloom.

-Beth


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

Boondoggle said:


> Yeah, they climb for sure. They are also very good at cramming their bodies through tight gaps in the lid of a viv that FF can't get through. I try not to feed much more than the frogs can eat at any one time. The first time I fed I dumped a ton in there and was vacuuming beetles of the walls for a week.
> 
> On the upside, the frogs gorge themselves and rain record batches of eggs afterward.


Thank you for that info and advice!! I want to add to my frogs diet for sure


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## somecanadianguy (Jan 9, 2007)

salix said:


> I had read that mung beans worked best, then adzuki beans and lastly, black-eyed peas.
> 
> So I set up a (fairly) controlled experiment. I measured the beans (by volume) and counted the number of beetles I added to each culture. I set them up side by side and waited for the bloom. Visually, the results were identical.
> 
> ...


for me hands down black eyed pea produced the most the fastest, wonder if temps play a big role as well as humidity with bean choice
craig


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Temps do for sure...

80-82F seems to be really good for production, for me.


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