How to breed locusts?

[Calypratus]

Though I do not own a chameleon anymore I would love to know how to breed locusts. I'm an avid bug collector/breeder and I would love to have a locust colony! Sorry this is kind of off topic.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

@Andee

 

[Calypratus]

?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

?

I tagged one of our resident Bug goddess’s, hopefully she’ll reply to you...

 

[Andee]

Do you know the species you have locally? And whether they are an actual swarming species or not?

Bug goddess XD @Brodybreaux25

 

[Calypratus]

I’m not sure but I’ll check what species we have locally. From what I know they are definitely not the swarming type

 

[Calypratus]

According to the internet the only locust species where I live is the Carolina locust

 

[Brodybreaux25]

According to the internet the only locust species where I live is the Carolina locust

Picture? Of your locust, not one from the net...

 

[Calypratus]

It died this morning, but I can probably find another soon since it’s finally staring to get warm in NC

 

[Brodybreaux25]

They look like this
View attachment 224821

That’s the pic from the net, I recognize it. Got one of yours?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Only asking because I wasn’t able to identify the ones I was catching as easily as I thought i could due to all the instar stages. May not be a problem for you...

 

[Calypratus]

You can sometimes tell what species by the sounds they make and the patterns on the wings

 

[Andee]

The problem is if it's not a swarming locust it will be considered a grasshopper if I am correct. Grasshoppers are much more complicated to breed than swarming locusts though it's possible. I've done it before.

 

[Bigsky]

Though I do not own a chameleon anymore I would love to know how to breed locusts. I'm an avid bug collector/breeder and I would love to have a locust colony! Sorry this is kind of off topic.

I assume you are talking about grasshoppers. In temperate regions, they have obligatory diapause, so there is only one generation per year.
When nymphs are crowded, they develop extra large wings, a migratory phase when they are adults.
The seventeen year locusts underground as nymphs and adjults appear at 17 year intervals. They are entirely different than grasshoppers.

 

[Andee]

They are species of locusts/swarming grasshoppers that do not require diapause

 

[SauceGandhi]

I assume you are talking about grasshoppers. In temperate regions, they have obligatory diapause, so there is only one generation per year.
When nymphs are crowded, they develop extra large wings, a migratory phase when they are adults.
The seventeen year locusts underground as nymphs and adjults appear at 17 year intervals. They are entirely different than grasshoppers.

You're thinking of cicadas. Locusts are just grasshoppers with a gregarious swarming phase. Schistocerca gregaria, Locusta migratoria, etc.

 

[SauceGandhi]

If you have any pictures of the grasshopper species you're talking about then I can help you. There are many species of grasshoppers in the US that are easy to breed. None of these guys pictured below had a diapause. All eggs hatched in 4 weeks or less.

 

[Rst_Cham]

I'm interested in this as well. Did you find info online or how did you figure out how to do it?

 

[SauceGandhi]

I'm interested in this as well. Did you find info online or how did you figure out how to do it?

I just started with a basic cricket breeding setup and learned from there.

 

[Longhorn1234]

I remembered reading about a guy who was breeding differential grasshoppers and he was able to reduce the diapause time after every generation. Could be worth a try if you have a specie that needs a diapause