A question I've been wondering myself is why are my larvae, even very small just-hatched ones escaping the bin. Why there is good food, good space inside but they still want to escape out?
Let's find out some idea why:
#1. The Heat
Probably one of the common reason for BSF larvae escaping is the heat. May be it's too hot inside. This could either be created by an over-population of larvae inside. Or sometimes the box design is too hot.
In my case, because I put the lid on I think this is why it created the heat–as there is little air flow. This can be visible by the water droplets condensed on the top of the lid.
So what I did is replace them with breathable cloth, or specifically those fabric bags that they use to wrap fruits to avoid fruit flies or insects. This gives them good air flow and makes the inside cooler. You could also divide the larvae out to other boxes.
Another possible reason is:
#2. The Inside Bin Is Too Wet
The wetness could be created by the foods, especially fruits when left for some days. For example, jackfruit will create some puddles of water after about 2-3 days. The wetness drives away oxygen, which could make it hard for the larvae to breathe. So as the environment becomes unfavorable, they would like say goodbye and move out.
What I found in this case is you could mix 1 dry + 1 wet food. That is, 1 kind of food that runs dry after some days and 1 type of food that turns runny after some days. This way, the dry food could act as some sort of absorbent to suck up extra moisture by the wet food to create a sort of balance.
A specific example is bread and jackfruit. Bread will turn quite hard and dry after some days in warm/hot climate whereas jackfruit will get runny. The juice then could be sucked up by the bread, making the bread also softer. This is a little idea of mine, I haven't experimented with it. I'll try. Hopefully this gives back a good moisture balance.
Finally:
#3. It Could Be the Food
May be the larvae don't like the foods they are having. If you've seen the video where they feed larvae with a hamburger, they eat everything except for the meat part. These guys sure know what is good food. Anything that is not that organic may not attract them. And in this sense, they may go out in search of a better food source to eat.
Also the texture of the food may turn them 'ugh', especially with more dry foods. This again relates back to the heat issue. That's why it is better to keep the foods moist (about 60%).
Side note observation: Sometimes the larvae get the color of the foods they eat. Red from shrimp or yellow from fruits. Just like when a kid eating ice cream or chocolate and having some on their mouth.
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