Fermented wood flakes (2013-10-3 ~ 2013-10-14)

Date : 2013-10-3

Applied technology :  aerobic fermentation

The weight of the decayed wood flakes : about 3920 gram

The weight of the additives : about 1680 gram

The weight ratio of the additives and total weight  : 30/100

C/N ratio : about 35

The weight of the water : about 3932 gram (cold water)

The volume of the decayed wood flakes : about 25 liter

Container : A 50 ~ 60 liter plastic container with a lid

Room temperature : 28 degrees Celsius

Record :

                                                 RT (degrees Celsius)             Measurement value (degrees Celsius)

2013-10-3 15:14                      28                                         28.6
                  16:35                      28                                         28.7
                  18:02                      28                                         28.6
                  20:24                      27.5                                      29.1
                  20:46                      28                                         29.3
                  21:21                      28                                         29.7
                  21:30                      28                                         29.9
                  21:40                      28                                         30.1
                  22:00                      28                                         30.5
                  22:44                      28                                         32
2013-10-4 08:30                      27.5                                      49.1
                  09:44                      27.5                                      51.3
                  10:20                      28                                         51.8
                  12:40                      28                                         52.7
                  13:40                      28.5                                      52.8
                  14:28                      28.5                                      52.8
                  16:40                      28.5                                      53.8
                  18:30                      28.5                                      54.6
                  19:39                      28.5                                      55
                  20:32                      28.5                                      55.4
                  21:56                      28.5                                      56
2013-10-5 07:43                      27.5                                      57.6
                  08:14                      27.5                                      57.6
                  11:11                      28.5                                      55.9
                  13:09                      29                                         55.5
                  15:00                      29.5                                      56.1
                  16:58                      30                                         55.7
                  17:58                      29.5                                      55.4
                  19:31                      29.5                                      54.4
                  20:08                      29.5                                      53.7
                  20:40                      29.5                                      53.3
                  22:10                      29.5                                      52.3
2013-10-6 08:10                      29                                         49.3
                  08:46                      29                                         49.1
                 
                  To stir the substrate
                   
                  11:34                      29                                         37.3
                  14:58                      29.5                                      36.4
                  16:10                      29.5                                      36
                  18:16                      29                                         35
                  20:44                      29                                         34.8
2013-10-7 07:39                      29                                         43.4
                  09:43                      28.5                                      45.3
                  11:03                      29                                         46.1
                  12:12                      29                                         46.3
                  14:08                      29                                         45.9
                  15:09                      29                                         45.7
                  17:08                      29                                         44.8

                  To stir the substrate

I stirred the substrate when the measurement temperature started to decrease , after stirring the substrate , it would ferment again and cause the substrate temperature to increase , i repeated the procedure until the substrate temperature did not increase any more .

During fermentation , when i stood near the container , i could smell winy scent , if you do not like this scent , you can place the container outside the house .

2013-10-10 , the substrate temperature was close to room temperature , i smelled light ammonia scent , so i stirred the substrate once a day , 2013-10-14 , i put the fermented decayed wood flakes into plastic bags and poked some ventilation holes on the bags .  

To compare the colors of the original wood flakes and fermented decayed wood flakes , you can clearly see the difference of them , the color of the original wood flakes is light yellow , the fermented decayed wood flakes is brown in color .

Related picture :

                

                 
                           

Former rearing results

In the early period of my rearing career , i reared many species at room temperature , such as Dynastes hercules lichyi , Dorcus titanus palawanicus ....... etc .

Some rearing results were shown as below :

Dynastes hercules lichyi :

2006-5-9 , when i was an undergraduate , my friend gave me 2 L1 D. h. l. larvae whose father was a 150 mm wild

individual .

At that time , i did not have my own refrigerator , so i reared the larvae at room temperature .

Their mainly food was high decayed wood flakes , in order to ensure the ventilation of the two containers , i only added little water to wet the substrate , i didn't hope to see water drop stuffing ventilation holes on the lids .

2007-2-24 , i weighed the L3 male larva , the weight was 105.4 grams .

2007-6-3 , the weight was 134.4 grams .

2007-12-28 , the weight achieved up to 138.3 grams , at that moment , his color was yellow , so i decided to leave him alone after changing the substrate .

2008-3-15 , the male larva had pupated , but his thoracic horn was bent seriously , that might be caused by the small pupal cell , i could see compressed traces on the base of his thoracic horn .

Finally , he hatched on April 5th 2008 .

Dorcus titanus palawanicus :

I reared D. t. p. larvae in 2005 and 2006 .

Kinshi bottles were the food which i used to feed the larvae , the capacity of the bottles is around 1100 c. c. , moreover , i also bought some special covers to replace the original cotton balls which were used to stuff the bottle mouth of the kinshi bottle , i worried about that the cotton balls would absorb damp and made the larvae hard breathe .  

The larvae were full-grown in March 2006 .

The imagines emerged in May 2006 .

Comparing to the specimens which recorded on the magazines , i found that my male imagines had shorter mandibles even if their bodies were as big as the specimens .  

I had ever read that using different rearing ways will yield some variations on the appearances of captive individuals , in the article , the experiment was accomplished by rearing Dorcus hopei binodulosus larvae , the author thought that  the rearing temperature would affect pupae developing , lower rearing temperature helped pupal mandibles to develop the length .

I did not know that the theory was or not applied to other species , but i recognized that lower rearing temperature was good for larvae to grow , after all , most of stag beetles grow in the mountain .

Megasoma pachecoi :

I bought 4 L3 M. p. larvae from the internet in July 2007 .

In Taiwan , M. p. had been imported in the years before 2007 , some hobbyists began to sell M. p. larvae in 2007 , so i seized the chance to buy the larvae .

At that time , i didn't know how to care for the larvae , hence , i treated them like Allomyrina dichotoma larvae .

2007-9-27 , the larvae weight was 20 grams , 18.7 grams , 15.3 grams and 15.4 grams , they were 2 males and 2 females .

2007-12-16 , i found that the male larvae had pupated .

2008-1-2 , the pupae turned into the imagines , the female adults emerged earlier than the males , but i have forgot the date .

I set up a breeding container on August 11th 2008 , the oviposition medium was humus , i compressed the bottom layer of the container , the depth of the layer was at least 5 cm .

2008-8-30 , i set up the second breeding container .  

2008-9-4 , i saw L1 larvae at the bottom of the first container .

2008-9-14 , i started to retrieve the larvae , finally , i got 45 L1 larvae and 1 egg .

I found that M. p. eggs only needed 2 weeks to hatch , so i decided to excavate the second container on the same day , eventually , i got 34 eggs .

The velocity of the embryo development was not synchronous , because the laying order was different , the eggs were pale red in color when they were close to hatch , i did not know that the color was or not caused by the substrate .

2008-9-20 , i retrieved the larvae again from the second container and end up with 8 eggs .

Counting it all up , there were 45 L1 larvae and 42 eggs .
            
The hatching rate of the eggs was high , if the environment was okay , the hatching rate might reach 100 % .

I chose some larvae to raise , the spare larvae were given away to my friend .

I put them together and fed them on fermented decayed wood flakes .      

Those larvae started to pupate in June 2009 .

2009-7-18 , i saw some new adults in the container , so i excavated the container and gained 5 male adults , 7 female adults and 2 male pupae , one of the male pupae pupated directly on the substrate surface , i thought that he might lack for space to construct his pupal cell .

Related pictures :

D. h. l. L3 male larva , 2007-9-27

D. h. l. male pupa , 2008-3-30

D. h. l. male adult

The same individual

D. t. p. male pupa

The mandibles of the individual were short

M. p. pre-pupae

M. p. male pupa

Phalacrognathus muelleri (Rainbow stag beetle)

I bought four P. muelleri L3 larvae on October 16th 2010 .

The weight of the larvae was 3 grams , 6 grams , 6 grams and 7 grams .

I had fermented some decayed wood flakes before buying them , so i employed the wood flakes to feed them .

The larvae were put in plastic containers , the volume of the containers is about 1 liter .

Through the transparent containers i could observe the larvae clearly .

2010-11-19 , i found that the larvae consumed the wood flakes very fast , so i decided to change the wood flakes .

2010-11-20 , i changed the wood flakes and weighed the larvae at the same time , their weight was 11 gram , 13 grams , 9 grams and 13 grams respectively .

At that time ,  the larve had started to store fat , the fat inside their bodies was white in the beginning , as time goes on , much fat would be stored in their bodies , when they approached to build pupal cells , they were opaque and yellow in color , signifying that they achieved maximum weight , at that moment , the weight would not increase quickly .  

2010-12-11 , One of the larvae was dead , the weight of the rest larvae was 14 gram , 16 gram , X , 16 gram .

2011-1-21 , Their weight was 16 grams , 18 grams and 19 grams .

2011-2-28 , i discovered a pre-pupa .

2011-3-16 , the individual became a pupa .

2011-3-19 , i discovered the second pupa .

2011-3-21 , the last larva was in the pre-pupal period .

2011-3-23 , the last individual had pupated .

The larvae were males , their pupae all had obvious mandibles .

The first pupa turned into an adult on April 16th 2011 , i let him stay in the original pupal cell , because the conditions of the cell was well .

Another two pupae had been taken out of the pupal cells , i put them in artificial cells , finally , they turned into the adults on April 21st 2011 and April 23rd 2011 respectively .

This time , i had used fermented decayed wood flakes to raise the larvae at the room temperature , i found that the wood flakes decayed quickly when the rearing temperature was high , once the rearing humidity was also high , the wood flakes would become dirt quickly .

In order to prevent the condition , i would decrease the rearing humidity or keep the containers in cool places .

In Taiwan , the beetle breeders usually use  kinshi bottles to raise rainbow stag beetles and have gained many good efforts .

Once choosing kinshi bottles to rear P. muelleri larvae , the temperature control is necessary , because the temperature inside the bottle was higher than the room temperature , when the fungi decompose the lignin , the temperature would rise within 1 ~ 5 degrees Celsius .        

P. muelleri larvae and adults all have amazing look , i personally suggest you to experience the species in person .

Related pictures :      

The larva ate the wood flakes alone with his excrement pellets 

 P. muelleri L3 larva , 9 grams , 2010-11-20

P. muelleri L3 larva , 13 grams , 2010-11-20

The larva started to store fat , 2010-11-20

P. muelleri old L3 larva , 18 grams , 2011-1-21

P. muelleri old L3 larva , 19 grams , 2011-1-21

P. muelleri old L3 larva , 16 grams , 2011-1-21

P. muelleri pre-pupa , 2011-2-28

P. muelleri male pupa , 2011-3-16 

P. muelleri pre-pupa , it would pupate in two days later , 2011-3-21

Above individual had pupated , 2011-3-23 

P. muelleri male pupa

It was time to start eclosion

Starting to spin his body , 2011-4-16

To dry out his inner wings

Starting to stretch his mandibles

The eclosion was over  

Another individual :

  

Making kinshi bottles from fungi bags

In Taiwan , beetle breeders use kinshi bottles , fungi bags and fungi bricks to feed stag beetles and even rhinoceros beetles .

The contents of the three products all consist of wood flakes and fungi mycelium , the major difference of them is the volumes , other differences such as fungi species , wood kinds , additives , humidity and grain sizes may be caused by different brands and manufacturers .

In general , kinshi bottles have higher decayed degrees than fermented wood flakes , but it is not always like this , if i want it to come true , i must check something first .

In my experiences , kinshi bottles will undergo three different stages in their lifespan .

The three stages all relate to a kinshi bottle's wood flakes and mycelium status .

At the 1st stage , the fungi mycelium have not spread to all the wood flakes inside the bottle , so the kinshi bottle is not full white in color .

At this moment , the wood flakes is dark brown and hard in texture .

At the 2nd stage , the fungi mycelium colonize all the wood flakes inside the bottle , as time goes on , the decayed degree of the wood flakes will be rise gradually .

Finally , the color of the wood flakes will be changed from dark brown to pale yellow , signifying that the kinshi bottle is suitable to be used to rear larvae .

At the 3rd stage , the fungi mycelium are rotten , i can't see filaments anymore .

At this moment , the texture of the wood flakes is soft and similar to dirt .

Using the 1st or 3rd stage kinshi bottles to rear larvae is always failed , eventually , the larvae will become minor adults or die in the bottle .

For me , the manufacture date of a kinshi bottle is the most important thing which i can use to estimate that the kinshi bottle is or not worth to buy .

If the boss does not know the manufacture date either , i will try to identify that the kinshi bottle stays in which stage . Or to buy the non full white kinshi bottles as the spare .

Once the mycelium spread to all the wood flakes inside the bottle , they still need time to decompose the lignins , so i will wait for a while before using the bottle .

I prefer to use fungi bags rather than kinshi bottles , because fungi bags allow me to adjust something about rearing , if i don't want to do that , i can use the fungi bags directly .

When using fungi bags or fungi bricks , i usually tend to remake them , thus , i can put something to aid the fungi growing well and portion out the fungi lump in the prepared jars .

Besides , the water distribution of the fungi lump also can be averaged by crushing the lump and stirring the wood flakes before topping up the jars .

If the fungi bags are fresh , the mycelium will be strong and not afraid molds to compete with them , finally , all the jars will be white in a few days .

In order to ensure the successful ratio , i will disinfect my hands and tools with alcohol before touching the fungi bags , then , placing the finished jars in somewhere at 20 ~ 25 degrees Celsius . (The most of molds like the environment which is warm and moist .)

Notice that fungi growth needs oxygen especially in the expanded period , so i prefer to poke some ventilation holes on the lids and cover the jars incompletely .

For fermented wood flakes , the dark brown color means that it has higher decayed degree , that completely different from kinshi bottles , so i must choose the right substrate with the right decayed degree to rear the right larvae .

Related pictures :

The 1st stage fungi bags , 2011-11-26

 

The ends of the fungi bags were dark brown

The 2nd stage fungi bags , they were full white , 2011-12-8

The right fungi lump had pale yellow wood flakes , it was suitable for rearing

Adding additives in the wood flakes (N source)

Adding additives in the wood flakes (C source)

After stirring the wood flakes , the white color had disappear  

The finished jars , 2012-2-11

The wood flakes were whitish , 2012-2-12

The wood flakes had  been covered by mycelium , 2012-2-12