Superworm pupae care?

[jojackson]

Guys can anyone tell me how long its supposed to take pupae to become beetles? I have about 40 pupae so far, they are warm, about 75f, still in the dark in this tub. Is there anything in particular I need to do for pupae? Do they need humidity? These seem to have got there but just stopped.
They are still alive, if you pick them up the twitch alot.

Any tips with this stage please?

 

[djfunkshowkid]

Just let them be....it takes a couple weeks for them to transform to beetle form. If they are twitching, then its fine...if they're not dead...they're transforming. For more information, I found this website really helpful.

http://www.howtobreedsuperworms.com/

 

[summoner12]

The whole process takes time.... but the outcome is... LOTS of suppers....

 

[jojackson]

Thanks Guys. Im still a little confused though. The link above suggest a moist substrate area in the breeding tub/pan for beetles to lay eggs in. How do you guys go about that?

 

[Lizardlover]

seperate them into individual containers and you will get a faste hatch time.

 

[laurie]

Jo after mine become beetles, which seems to take forever I admit, I put tmen into a double shoebox plastic bin that has very small holes drilled around the top. Fill it up several inches with a mixture of oats & bran. Add in some cut up potatoes for mosture, cut up egg boxes so they are like the individual cups that hold 1 egg and sit the box back in the closet or where ever. You might need to add a couple of potato pieces later but don't remove any as they lay eggs in the potatos. You are getting there just try to wait on the dumb slow things.

 

[jojackson]

Ok, the pic above is a 90 something liter tub with a section cut from the lid and welded screen over. Its heated from below, temp inside is 82f.

Laurie is the potato etc the only moisture they need? They should remain on the surface as shown in the pic? If the pupae get buried in the bran, will they still emerge to the surface after becoming beetles?
The eggcrate just sits on top the bran for beetles to hide in?

 

[BocaJan]

I leave mine in the cup that I pupate the worms to. When they turn into beetles I them put them in a plastic shoe box with oatmeal and a couple of pieces of potato and a chunk of egg crate (about 6 cups). If you check my blogs you will see a whole article on raising supers. I do it on a continuing basis and have excellent results. Keep them dry.

 

[jojackson]

Sweet, ok that clears that up, Thanks Jan, ill check it out!
The reason I put the pupae directly in the breeding tub is that im using a tacklebox setup to pupate them, (4 boxes) and space is at a premium. The next batch is going now. Its still dark in the tub, so is that ok?
P.s. do you guys leave the beetles in the breeding tub for their entire lifespan ? I was intending to, since Im planing on starting a new tub for the next batch.

Jan your guide says you 'turn' 12 worms a month, roughly how many worms does that work out to be? Do you get an even ratio of male/female beetles? how do you tell the difference? does it matter?

I figured 40 beetles per breeding tub might be enough?