Bean beetles (Callosobrochus maculatus)

[michael]

Do any of you use bean beetles for salamander food? I picked some up at the Mid Atlantic Reptile show and figured I'd give them a try.

 

[Daniel]

I use them now and then and you can find some threads on this food when you search for "bean weevils".
Some of my smaller species take them (f.i. Neurergus) when they got used to them. The beetles have a rather hard shell.
To breed these bean weevils you should look for black eye beans (over here we get then on asia shops), in my experience they prefer warm temperatures over 20 °C and some light.

 

[coendeurloo]

I breed them too. They need only the beans, and rather high temps - I'd say more like 25 degrees if you want the lifecycle to go faster. Light is not neccesary, as this is a pest specie that thrives on stored beans.

 

[taherman]

I use them on many pleth species. Aneides, Plethodon, Eurycea seem to like them.

 

[Mark]

I’ve used both bean weevils and grain weevils which are much smaller but essentially have the same lifecycle, although in grain rather than beans. I agree with Tim, my eurycea like them and I’d image anything with a good tongue flick would take them.

You need 25C to get a good cycle speed and by cooling some cultures down temporarily you can get them out of sync giving you an almost endless supply.

http://www.beanbeetles.org/

 

[ajc]

They tend to climb! Be prepared for weevils wandering around your house ;-)