Thoptera Growth

Thoptera, the only US commercial grasshopper breeding operation (as far as we know) is ramping up....

The first generation of hatched Melanoplus differentialis (Differential) grasshopper nymphs are reaching maturity. Several are now starting to lay egg pods.

Differential Grasshoppers basking in an incandescent heat bulb. Some are attached to the outer wall screen. Others are perched on a wire basking frame inside the growth chamber. Romaine lettuce can be seen in the foreground, which presently serves at the primary grasshopper food source.

Learning & Experimentation

Much has been learned over the last few months. Initially LED "daylight" light bars were being utilized for 14 hours per day in each grow chamber. A ceramic heat emitter (no light source) was being used to provide heat for the grasshoppers 24 hours per day. The first group that was hatched in captivity was undersized and the color of the grasshoppers was very pale, almost translucent white. 

Recently, the ceramic heat emitters were replaced with incandescent bulbs (75 to 100 Watt) to provide heat and UVA basking. These are left on 24 hours per day currently. In addition, a UVB bulb has been added to each growth chamber. These are programmed to remain on for about 14 hours per day, mimicking natural daylight hours.

This change immediately resulted in larger and more naturally colored grasshopper.

Differential Grasshopper laying egg pods.

There are still several American Grasshoppers (Schistocerca americana) still alive from when they were caught in the wild in the late summer months. They have been living in captivity for nearly 6 months. They have laid egg pods, but to date, none have successfully hatched. 

American Grasshopper attempting to lay eggs in sand tray inside growth chamber.

 One grasshopper has been repeatedly drilling egg pod holes in the sand trays located inside the growing chamber.

American Grasshopper loitering around inside the growth chamber.

What's next?

Several batches of egg pods are in the incubation queue. Many will be hatching in the coming weeks. This is where exponential population growth should occur.

In addition, more will be wild caught during the next few months as well. 

Thoptera

It's official.... Thoptera now has a website. www.thoptera.com Thanks to my business partner for setting that up and also for the cool new email address: john@grasshopper.farm How cool is that?!?!

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. 

Thoptera Grasshopper Operation Ramping Up

Progress with the Thoptera grasshopper growing operation is ramping up. I posted in the fall about my interest in starting an alternative protein business focused on mass rearing of grasshoppers here in the U.S. In my research, I have yet to find a company in America that is involved in commercial grasshopper production. If you know one, please post in the comments. My aim is to continue working to optimize year round production of grasshoppers for human consumption and for agricultural feed purposes (poultry and aquaculture). Earlier posts contained pictures of grasshoppers that had been captured in the wild and then caged to breed. After some research and lots of trial and error to getting them to hatch I successfully hatched out a few dozen in December (obviously not within the normal seasonal hatching in North America). If all goes well, the next generation with yield several hundred, and the generation after that will be in the thousands by summer. This would allow for direct to consumer sales initially with a more commercial type operation to follow. I am sure there will be several more things to learn over the next few months, especially as the quantity increases. The goal is to have a commercial, year-round production system in place by next fall that can be scaled for growth as demand increases.
Check out this video of one group of itty-bitty grasshoppers emerging from their eggs in my "desktop hatcher."

Here is a photo of the same grasshoppers a few weeks later in the growth chamber.

The following photo shows the grasshoppers that were caught in the wild about 6 months ago.

 

Swarms of grasshoppers

This year there was a swarm of grasshoppers in Las Vegas.

They were piled high there. It shows just how densely they can be congregated. These folks even rounded up a few to cook up and eat (although the newscasters didn't like the idea):

This next video really explains the swarming phenomenon well. It has really great video footage as well. Can we say Biblical?!!!?? The ability for them to be in close quarters may be beneficial in raising them in a closed environment on a large "industrial scale."

People around the world consume grasshoppers/locusts. The problem is that many of these "wild" grasshoppers are likely contaminated with pesticides/insecticides and other agricultural chemicals.

Central Americans especially love grasshoppers, called Chapulines! Many are imported to the U.S.! This silly video does a good job describing the basics of it....

One guy said "they taste like bacon bits." 😎😀😀

These videos help support the idea that I believe there is a market in the U.S. for commercially grown grasshoppers. I am still waiting for my little "swarm" of grasshoppers, which include several types, to multiply. They have been mating and laying eggs, which are now nearing week 2 in the incubator. I will provide an update on when/if there is success in hatching out baby grasshoppers!

In the meantime, here is a pic of one that sadly reached end of life while in captivity. It gives you a good idea of the size.

Insect agriculture

I have been researching and tinkering with an idea that is new to me, but has apparently been a "thing" for several years: insect agriculture. There a good number of players in the space, most focusing on mealworms or black soldier fly larvae as protein sources. This article helped to spark my interest in the farming of insects: https://agfundernews.com/funding-insect-startups-slow-start-despite-demand.html. This article was a good one as well: https://agfundernews.com/inside-insect-farming.html.  It speaks to the need for automation in the space and how it drives growth. This is what has peaked my interest in the space. After some research on the topic (what I enjoy doing) and looking at the latest news and trends I took the plunge and started my own grasshopper "farm". My family and I have been rounding up grasshoppers from our small plot of land.
Here are a few photos and a video of our first grasshopper box....

We have captured several types of grasshoppers and have now begun the incubation process, attempting to hatch out new grasshoppers in captivity.

So why grasshoppers? I came across an Israeli company, Hargol, that happens to be the world's first and only commercial scale grasshopper producer. After reading up on grasshoppers, it was apparent that they would be a good challenge. Plus, they are also in demand. In Mexico, grasshoppers are a sought after critter. When prepared for human consumption they are know as Chapulines. I anticipate that there will be a sufficient demand in the southern US given that there is a large Hispanic population. Granted, the grasshoppers we are growing are not the native variety found in Mexico and Central America, but maybe these will be a good substitute  as "American Chapulines." Beyond direct human consumption they can also be made into protein powder/meal for use in both human, animal, and fish feed. Think tilapia, shrimp, and chickens. They could even be dried and feed whole to poultry.

So that is a rundown of a new adventure here at Mt. Pelia Innovative Solutions. Plans are already in the works related to how to scale up. I love to come up with company names. One that I like for this business is "THOPTER". This is derived from the insect order Orthoptera which includes locusts, crickets, and grasshopper.

What do you think of this new venture? Would you try a roasted grasshopper? How about a smoothie made with insect protein powder? Let me know in the comments section.

-John

Product Ideas & Inventions

Mt. Pelia Innovative Solutions LLC would be pleased to partner with you in the design and development of your product or idea.

We have experience in machine and product design as well as manufacturing in the U.S. and overseas. Company owner, John Cole, is a licensed professional Mechanical Engineer with graduate degrees in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering from the University of Kentucky. We have high-tech 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) software and also own a 3D printer which can be used to produce small scale parts and prototypes using plastic.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding your idea. Please drop us a note via our Contact Us page. Include a short description of your product or idea.

We want to work with you to see if your product can be turned into a marketable product. We can provide a Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect both parties, if desired, before we hear about your idea.

Bird Control Robots

We are still working on commercializing the patented technology we licensed from LSU AgCenter a few years ago. In fact, a good amount of progress has been made in the programming portion of the program over the last few weeks. We hope to have a system, which will be tethered, not autonomous, out for some tests runs in the next few weeks.

From there we will see what interest develops and proceed to work on the fully autonomous and/or remote controlled versions. We already have computer hardware and software lined up for autonomous navigation, which will be Arduino based. We have a hardware (motors, remote controller) platform on the drawing board.

I ran across a interesting article covering the South Korean bird scaring robot that has been in development by their military.