Question: collecting midge larvae

[madeve]

When hubby mowed the lawn last he put the kiddie pool down and rainwater collected in it and I have found a lot of midge larvae in the water which is kind of green-ish. I don't put any chemicals in the pool, just a good rinse and scrub after every use.

I was wondering how safe it would be to collect the midge larvae in preparation to feed the axie larvae I will be getting in a couple of weeks. Do I need to quarantine them? Should I keep them in the fridge?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I didn't find a very conclusive answer when I did a forum search.

Thanks

 

[Greatwtehunter]

They should be fine to use. I don't see how quarantining them would be worth it since half of them would transfer to adults before the quarantine period was over with.

Are you sure they are midge larvae and not mosquitos?

 

[SludgeMunkey]

Do it at night time! Use a bright flashlight or lantern hung over the water for about ten minutes or so and the critters will swim to the light, then net them out! If you notice that after a while you are running low on free swimming midges, stir the water up really well with a broom handle, wait ten minutes and repeat.

 

[madeve]

I was under the impression that midge larvae and mosquito larvae were close to the same. If not they are most likely mosquito larvae, they look an awful lot like the bloodworms I buy frozen in cubes, just smaller.