Suspending bloodworms / mosquitoes ?

[tritus]

Summer time in England offers plenty of bloodwoms and mosquitoes eggs and young larvae, which, once of descent size, I feed to my newts. Come winter and the supply runs out.
Any knowledge out there on freezing or refrigerating eggs or hatchling bloodwoms / mosquitoes to be re-started in cultures for the cold season?
Thanks
Dewy

 

[John]

Bloodworms can be found in the winter too. They just don't reproduce very well then (or at all?). I don't recall ever seeing midge/mosquito larvae in the winter in the British Isles. There's no way you could refridgerate the eggs of either - particularly bloodworm eggs since these are suspended in jelly "tubes" that are held in place by a very thin "string".

 

[tritus]

Thanks for replying, John.
How do bloodworms and mosquitoes over winter in the British Isles?
In summer time I collect bloodworm jelly egg packs and mosquitoes egg aggregations from the outdoors, plunk them in a jar of water, they then hatch and grow.
Surely it should be possible to keep them suspended in refrigeration in their natural winter phase, shouldn’t it?
Dewy

 

[John]

How do bloodworms and mosquitoes over winter in the British Isles?

As far as I'm aware they do so as larvae. Bloodworms definitely still reproduce in the winter, albeit slowly, but I think mosquitoes go into a sort of "wait for spring" phase.

Surely it should be possible to keep them suspended in refrigeration in their natural winter phase, shouldn’t it?

I'm failing to see the point here. Even if you kept the eggs near freezing they would still hatch in a few weeks I think.

 

[tritus]

I’ll explain myself:
I assume the eggs/larvae suspended in refrigeration will resume normal rate of growth once returned to normal temperatures.
The benefit would be prolonged supply of starters to the cultures, perhaps lasting beyond the season of plenty.
Can you see my point?

 

[John]

Yes but if they won't/can't reproduce in the winter then it's an extremely limited supply.