The red stuff is just wheat or cornmeal cereal with some red food coloring added to make the tiny larvae easier to see.

The 115º forecast is pretty scary, but my guess is that your mature larvae have transformed into pupae and will emerge as adults in a few weeks. I’ve read that the mature larvae seek relatively dry locations to pupate, but if you’re having extremely dry conditions you might want to sprinkle a small amount of water in the bucket. I assume that in nature the larvae could have burrowed into the soil where it’s cooler and moister. I would leave the sawdust dry enough that it doesn’t clump together, but not completely dry in your case. It IS possible to dehydrate larvae/pupae and a little water should provide a little insurance against that.

I’ve also seen a dramatic drop in adult BSF activity here is SW Georgia. I assume it’s a micro cycle on my property but I have noticed that BSF become scarce whenever it gets rainy. Each year that I’ve raised BSF I’ve seen cycles of egg laying that I can’t explain at this time.

They are tiny! Maybe 1/5th or less the size of a grain of rice (short grain). Good thing my camera has a super macro setting. The lens is practically touching the cardboard. I got as close as I could without casting a shadow on the eggs.

I’m pumped! I’m pretty sure individual eggs have been laid on a banana peel and probably other dryish material on top of the food pile. Now I’ll try not to disturb the stuff too much for a week or two to give the tiny babies time to hatch out and grow a little.

I’m guessing these are BSF that hatched out from last year’s starter kit. They’re “wild” now, but they were born from captive Georgian BSFL. I just this minute checked the bin and watched a BSF “lay” a drop of a milky substance on a dry banana peel. I also think I saw some eggs nearby, but I didn’t want to disturb the fly in case she’s actually laying eggs.

The old residue wasn’t so wet that it smelled bad. It was pungent but not offensive. There was a small group (a handful) of grubs churning part of the the residue. The stuff at the very bottom was compacted and had to be scraped out.

Ok, so I checked the bin again and the fly was gone. It sure looks like eggs. I shot a quick video, but they’re so small I’m not sure you can get a good look. I’ll post the video later today.

The weather is finally warming up around here and the bin temp just now was 90F. I think I’ll move the bin to partial shade instead of full sun.

I remember seeing a liquid discharge from one adult BSF, but I don’t remember the circumstances. Are the BSF that are doing this wild or captive?

The old residue is probably a bit anaerobic since you haven’t had an a dense colony to churn it. It should work to attract some females, but be careful if it becomes more stinky, BSF aren’t attracted to anaerobic waste. If I were you I wouldn’t add more rotting food, I would ferment corn or maybe cabbage in water to create a nice sour smell. I’ve had better results with that than with using table scraps.

http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/2010/04/28/attracting-black-soldier-flies-with-corn/