Quote Originally Posted by badflash
They are available from a lot of sellers that cater to lizzards. They are known as Phoenix worms in the trade. They ship will in cool weather.
Phoenix Worms is a trademarked name by Dr. Shephard, an entymologist who has studied BSF and developed BSF as pet food - catering primarily to the reptile owners market. But that is merely a trade name for one supplier of BSF larvae (there are many others). BSF larvae do not ship well in ANY climate extreme, cool or warm.

The best time to establish a colony is late springtime or early summer - definitely not in the fall. If you do not have an endemic population in your area, it is unlikely you can establish a colony without considerable effort and expense at maintaining a climate and light controlled indoor environment for them - particularly at this time of year. Even then, it is difficult to induce mating to sustain a population (though it IS possible). If you DO have a native population, a starter kit is really not needed.

BSF are rarely found above USDA ag zone 6b. They tend to not be found generally in dry, desert areas or above 2500 foot elevation.

I do currently provide eggs and larvae to a few large commercial accounts, but several bad experiences dealing with dead beat individuals persuaded me to not mess with starter kits any more. Perhaps I might rethink that philosophy come spring, but currently, virtually all of my egg and hatchling production is spoken for.