# once locusts become adults, how quickly do they start getting it on?



## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

ive got my locust "farm" setup. i bought a couple of tubs of sub-adults, and a few days later they have all started shedding and becoming adults with wings. i havent seen any of them going at it yet though making babies, just wondering how quickly they get down to business once they become adults?

obviously i am prepared that maybe none of them will, but ive got my temperatures at 27-28, good amounts of daylight supplemented by a bulb, they are well fed, have a laying box, etc. i am following the previous experiences of others who have had success as closely as i can.

so just wondering how long it has taken for other people to get results once their locusts become adults?


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

surely someone has an idea? anyone who has bred locusts ever made any observations?


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## $dean (Jan 19, 2009)

i havent tried breeding locust b4 but if all else fails try breeding crix they are quite easy to get baby crix from


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

crickets are so cheap id rather just buy them. im breeding locusts so that i dont have to use crickets. but locusts are too expensive to feed every day, so im hoping that if i can get some breeding i wont have to buy them anymore


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

in case anyone else wants to know, i found a website about locusts and their every detail that says once they shed and become adults they are immature adults. if then takes upto 30 days for them to mature. males mature first generally, and once the first male matures he gives off a scent that alerts the females, and then all the other adult locusts tend to mature at the same time because of the scent. then they live for approximately 30 days more during which they do their mating and egg laying, and then they die.


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## Anna89 (Sep 18, 2008)

Thats really interesting! Thank you!

Anna.


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## ex0tics (Jun 9, 2009)

Takes mine about two weeks.
Also if you need any adults let me know, I don't breed anymore but when my locusts turn to adults I end up having to freeze them and bin them so if you want them for like half the price of online stores+postage pm me :2thumb: I got about 15+ at the moment.


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## acker123 (Jun 3, 2009)

good day for my locust!
recieved XL locusts this morning and 4 have already moulted into adults:2thumb:
ive got another 2 moulting now!
only 44 left to moult now and then am hoping for some eggs.:mf_dribble:


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

its worrying really how fast the XL's shed once they arrive. they must sit in boxes for at least a week before you receive them. if you buy fully grown adults il bet the chances are that half of them die before they even have time to mate!!

ive got 19 adults now, 12 5th instars, and 4 3rd instars in the tank now (the 4 smaller ones got too big for my water dragons to eat so i threw them into the breeding tub).

so far no mature adults (there probably will be in a week or 2), 2 unexplaned deaths, 2 trapped behind a heatmat that i didnt tape up enough and 2 dead during sheds. my farm/colony is only about 11 days old though


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## acker123 (Jun 3, 2009)

one of my died in shedding so i through it to the beardie. it appeared that when he was stretching the skin it ripped both of his legs and part of his back off. YUK!
i have read though that they only spend about 8 days in the 5th instar so it could be one of their older batches.
im still sorting out my incubator atm as it is getting too hot and i dont have the money for a mat stat. o well!


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## acker123 (Jun 3, 2009)

just found this brill info bout eggs and maturity

"When the eggs are laid they are yellow in colour but in the soil they turn brown. They absorb water from the soil, about their own weight of water 'in the first 5 days if it is available at that time, and this is enough to allow them to develop successfully. If they do not get this quantity of water they will not hatch. If, however, there is not sufficient water in the soil during the first few days, they can absorb as much as the supply permits and then wait for several days before taking in the remainder, after more rain has fallen."

this shows that not a lot of water is trluey needed throughout
And now

"Desert Locusts may become sexually mature in a few weeks or a few months, according to environmental circumstances. In unfavourable weather and food conditions, as for instance when they are subjected to low temperatures and drought, maturation may take as long as 6 months. If they have the right kind of food and weather, maturation can take place rapidly in 2 to 4 weeks."

So high temps and loadz of food!:2thumb:


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## cathandtam (Jan 8, 2009)

ours usually take about 3 weeks.the males go bright yellow and the females a sort of browny pink. we give them deep tubs of damp play sand to lay eggs in and change it every 2 weeks. we seal the tub and place it on top of our beardie viv over the heat lamp side and they hatch about a week later. they will keep hatching for another fortnight and boy but the babies are tiny. but not for long.
they will only lay eggs if there is plenty to eat. if you miss a feed they will stop laying altogether so be careful.
and of course good luck.


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## Barndogstellaboo (Apr 5, 2009)

*delay tactics*

Looking into breeding locust myself, been reading everything, hurts the head after a while.
But one scientific paper on the life cycle of Schistocerca gregaria, stated, that the presence of 5th instars delay adult maturation significantly!
intresting point IMO.
Although the info gleaned of this site is infinately more practical than trolling the web.
thanks.


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

acker123 said:


> just found this brill info bout eggs and maturity
> 
> "When the eggs are laid they are yellow in colour but in the soil they turn brown. They absorb water from the soil, about their own weight of water 'in the first 5 days if it is available at that time, and this is enough to allow them to develop successfully. If they do not get this quantity of water they will not hatch. If, however, there is not sufficient water in the soil during the first few days, they can absorb as much as the supply permits and then wait for several days before taking in the remainder, after more rain has fallen."
> 
> ...


ive read somewhere else that in the absence of sufficient moisture in the soil the eggs can sit there for almost a YEAR before hatching, whilst waiting for a rainfall to provide the water they require. pretty amazing stuff, and explains why locusts are so prolific in the wild. ive got probably 25 adults, and they are producing hundreds, probably thousands of eggs by the time they are done. imagine a swarm of upto a million locusts in one place... scary stuff if youre a farmer in the tropics.


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