Sitophilus zeamais
Starter culture with enclosure (~50 mixed): $30
Detailed Species Stats -Click- Adult Size: 6 mm. Care Level: Easy. Temperature Requirements: 60-90 degrees Fahrenheit. Air Humidity: Not picky. Substrate Humidity: Dry. Favorite Foods: Rice. Locality: Being researched.
**This strain has been re-examined by a Coleoptera expert and has been determined to be the similar Sitophilus zeamais and not oryzae.
Pantry pests are, to the bug enthusiast, the epitome of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. They are easy to propagate on readily available materials and can provide inexpensive feeders or captivation with little to no work. Rice weevils fill the niche of being the easiest to culture member of the Curcullionidae, or weevils. Despite being one of (if not the most) speciose animal groups on the planet, many have specialized life cycles that make continued propagation difficult. For rice weevils, it is as simple as mixing the beetles with rice and forgetting about them. These are long-lived, tough-bodied insects that may do well as feed for tiny predators, though their value as feeders has yet to be rigorously tested.