How to Make Homemade Beetle Jelly
Beetle jellies are a great source of sugar and protein, both necessary for healthy activity and reproduction.
Ingredients (to make 500 ml):
2-3x bananas (blended)
200 ml water
100 ml apple juice
100 g brown sugar
1 tsp agar/kanten powder
1 tbs honey
Optional special additives to experiment with for advanced breeders:
Glucose
Frucose
Galactose
Trehalose
Soy protein powder
Skimmed milk powder
Essential amino acids (Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine)
Steps:
Peel and chop up the bananas into small pieces.
Place the banana pieces in a blender along with 250ml of water and blend until smooth.
Add the rest of the ingredients (brown sugar + optional extras) into the blender until everything is mixed thoroughly.
Pour the resulting ‘fruit smoothie’ into a pan and slowly bring to boil on a medium heat setting.
After boiling for 1 minute, turn off the heat and pour into pots/jars in which you'll use to set and store the jelly in.
Allow the pots/jars to cool before letting them set fully in the fridge.
Beetle jellies are also thoroughly enjoyed by a wide range of other insects and invertebrates, such as ants, cockroaches, millipedes and isopods.
Special additives breakdown:
These are already present in varying amounts in the base ingredients so not necessary, but some breeders may wish to add these for their own desired effect.
1. Glucose:
required as respiratory substrate for muscles and organs of the beetle
2. Fructose (fruit sugar):
a monosaccharide found primarily in fruits
3. Galactose (brain sugar):
forms glycoproteins in the body of the beetle
a monosaccharide which is a highly nutritious substrate
if there is limited galactose intake, activity and reprduction is stunted, meaning the weight of adults can drop faster than usual, affecting the recovery rate of females post egg-laying, resulting in a lower number of eggs laid overall
galactose deficiency can also lead to lazy males that are not excited by females, resulting in the failure of mating and breeding
4. Trehalose (insect blood sugar):
a natural energy souce for beetles
a monosaccharide that prevents the alteration/degradation of proteins during periods of osmotic and thermal stress
the principle sugar circulating in the haemolymph of insects, so can extend the lifespan
if trehalose intake is too high however, it can cause the beetle to exhibit abnormal behaviour so the amount should be carefully regulated to not contain too much
5. Soy protein powder:
using animal protein for beetles has various detrimental effects
soy protein is a plant based protein which has a high nutritional value and is completely safe for beetles
protein affects the behaviour of beetles, such as activity and reproduction, so similarly to galactose, it can cause abnormalities if there is limited availability
despite higher levels of protein being more beneficial, an excess of protein can cause some probems such as increased aggression and refusal to feed on other types of food
6. Essential amino acids:
as with humans, essential amino acids have the same effect in beetles where reduces the effect of fatigue/improves recovery rate from fatigue
essential amino acids cannot be manufactured by the body of animals, so must be obtained from foods
A bunch of homemade beetle jellies. They can be made to set in moulds of whatever shape you desire.
