Is this a "cleaner" bug?

[Sapphire]

I found one of these in my roaches once but it was teeny tiny, and now I found this bigger one in my crickets... I managed to separate it but it died, or so I thought... I just saw one crawling up out of the garbage can that I'd dumped the dead one into. Not sure if it's the dead one or another one.

Anyway are these the cleaner beetles everyone talks about?

 

[spyder79]

yep thats it exactly.

 

[Sapphire]

Okay, good. So they're completely harmless right? I can just leave them in w/ my crickets and roaches without worrying about them doing damage?

 

[luvanimals]

Yep, he'll help clean up the poo as well as any dead crickets.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

I also agree. :wink:

 

[gatorboy1392]

to me he looks like a mealworm beetle :/ thats what the beetles i have in my mealworm farm look like!

 

[Sapphire]

I just searched mealworm beetles on google, they do look very similar.

Does anyone know the actual name of the "cleaner beetles"? I tried searching "cleaner beetle" on google and got pictures of Volkswagons and vacuum cleaners that look like ladybugs......

 

[spyder79]

The bug that is referred to as a cleaner bug is in the same family as mealworms/superworms so they will look very similar. The difference is that the worm is significantly smaller than the mealworm is and the beetle form is smaller as well,

 

[gatorboy1392]

so how can you tell the difference between the cleaner bugs and the mealworm/superworm beetles??

 

[spyder79]

so how can you tell the difference between the cleaner bugs and the mealworm/superworm beetles??

There is a pretty deffinate size difference between the two (mealie beetle is bigger).

 

[LilStinkpot]

No one asked the best question yet: "Where can you get them?"

Is there a real benefit?