Still been feeding grasshoppers everyday and hatching some new ones. Things should explode exponentially in the coming months. Still much experimentation, with more to come in the months ahead. The initial batch that was hatched in December is now beginning to breed and lay eggs. Here are a few photos of those.
I believe they are Melanoplus differentialis (Differential grasshoppers). I think I have a few Schistocerca americana as well in captivity. Some of the nymphs may be of that type as well. As they grow, it will be easier for a non-entomologist (like me) to identify them.
I have noticed that these have not gotten as large as their parents, who were caught wild in the Fall (2019). I suspect that the diet and lighting may be the culprits. I will need to tinker more with lighting to see if that helps. I hope to have a greenhouse type structure, at least a building is many windows on the South side of the structure, to give them plenty of natural light year round. Light in the wintertime will need to be supplumented.
There is a major locust outbreak in Africa going on currently.
