New Inverts & Updates!

So last year I got some Stygnomma from Carlos at Tropical Isopods, under the impression they were a darker, possibly undescribed species from Flamingo, Everglades, FL. However, the range of that darker species and S.s.spiniferum overlap, and through some miscommunication he sent me a culture of what are evidently S. s. spiniferum from the same locality. 

So while I was little disappointed by this, as I already have spiniferum from Big Pine Key, FL, I have come to like this locality, as the mature males have noticeably larger palps on average than the BPK line. The color is a bit more muted in this locality, but other than these small differences that they're pretty much the same as the BPK locale. Care has been the same as well, and they are breeding well for me.

I've got them in a minimally ventilated enclosure with an inch of coco fiber substrate, topped in sphagnum moss, bark and styrofoam hides. Keeping them quite moist, at around 75-80F°, and am feeding them fish food, micro-roaches, springtails and fruits.

Here are some pictures of a few individuals:

Thankfully I'll also be getting those darker harvestmen from Carlos here soon, so stay tuned for a post about those. 😉 

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One of my Rhabdoblatta imperatrix males has matured, and OH BOY is he big! It's crazy to think these are in the same genus as R.rustica. 😆 

Here are some pictures of the stud:

Male R.imperatrix vs female R.rustica

One of my females attempted to mature as well, though sadly mismolted and died. 😩 However I have two other subadult females, so hopefully they'll both have better luck molting to adulthood, and hopefully produce lots of offspring. It's crazy how large this male is, yet the sub females are larger than him, so seeing adult females will be crazy. 😳 

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Recently I traded fellow hobbyist Gary Ge for a culture of an unidentified Salganea species from Hezhou, Guangxi, China.  These are new to culture and I believe I'm one of only two people in the US keeping them. Hopefully they will breed in my care so I can aid in establishing them in the hobby here. 🤞 

In typical Panesthiinae fashion I've got these set up in a minimally ventilated enclosure, with several inches of flake soil substrate, with some larger white rot wood chunks mixed in. Salganea only seem to do well for me when they have white rot wood present. I'm also offering dog food and fruits as supplemental food, and am keeping them quite moist, at around 75F°.

Here are some pictures of a young adult:

I've no idea what species this is, Panesthiinae are difficult for me to ID, Salganea especially, but whatever it is, it's definitely new to the US hobby, so I'm excited to be working with them! 😁

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My Gromphadorhina portentosa "1972 Cleveland Aquarium" colony has been doing well, though it's been a while since they last produced any offspring, which has me a bit worried. I recently redid their enclosure, so hopefully that'll get them breeding again.

Anyways, I've gotten some seriously large major males this generation, so here are some pics of the largest one in my culture ATM:

It's so hard to accurately capture their orange coloration with flash photography, these are truly one of the prettiest G.portentosa lines out there IMO. But at least these photos help to show how large and beefy major males of this strain can get.

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My colony of Porcellio succinctus from Alan Jeon have not only been doing well, but they threw out some solid white individuals. I isolated several of those specimens to breed for that morph, for which Alan has coined the name "MPROI", which stands for "My Printer Ran Out of Ink". 🤣 They've bred for me now, and it seems to be a simple recessive trait, as all their offspring are solid white as well.

Here are some pictures of a few mature specimens:

A neat morph to have in such a stunning and large species, hopefully they will become popular in the hobby! 😁

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Lastly, I recently obtained a large culture of Gyna caffrorum, AKA the "Chrome Roach" from Kyle at Roachcrossing. I'm happy to have this hardy and pretty species in my collection once again, and they've been proliferating well in my care already.

I was rather unimpressed with pictures I have taken of this species in years prior, so here are some better photos of an adult female that more accurately capture the coloration of this species:

If anyone's interested, I do have these available now. 😄

Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉 

A Trade with Orin McMonigle!

Last year I traded with the one and only Orin McMonigle, famed invertebrate husbandry book author and one of the pioneers of the US pet invertebrate hobby. Several months later, let's finally show off what I got. 😁 

The main species I was looking to get was his Porcellio expansus "Orange Skirt - Witch's Potion". This is the "Dalmatian" morph expression in the Orange Skirted locality of Porcellio expansus. Orin was the first to isolate this morph, and they are still exceedingly rare in the hobby ATM. Partially due to this being a finicky strain of this species, and the often long process of isolating morphs like this.

Thankfully Orin was kind enough to trade me a group, however the first group he sent seemed to all be females... either that or the few deaths I had while they acclimated to their new setup were the only males in the group. However he subsequently sent me another group, with one definite male and some other mixed immatures as well. 😁 

I've got them housed in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coconut fiber as the substrate, topped with lots of bark hides and leaf litter. I am keeping one third of the setup humid, the rest dry. They are at around 80F°, and I'm offering dog food and calcium carbonate as supplemental nutrition.

Here are some photos of these stunners:

An absolutely beautiful morph, hopefully these will take off for me!

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Next up, we got Orthomorpha subkarschi, the "Yellow Dragon Millipede". These beauties are pretty large for a flatback, and are apparently easier to breed than most as well. 

I've had mine housed in a minimally ventilated enclosure with a few inches of flake soil substrate, topped with some larger chunks of rotten wood and leaf litter. I'm offering fruits and dog food as supplemental food. Keeping them moist, and at around 75F°.

Here are some photos of them:

I'm on my second generation of adults atm, I'll need to rehouse them soon to help them boost their numbers (and need to toss in more leaf litter and wood as well). Overall probably the easiest millipede I've kept!

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Last but not least, I got a pair of his Eleodes spinipes ventricosa stock, which has been in culture since 2006. They have laid very prolifically for me, and I've already started rearing up new adults! They're actually pretty easy, at least they seem to be as easy to breed as E.s.macrura. 

I have mine in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch of coconut fiber substrate, topped with cardboard rolls for hides. I'm keeping one third of the substrate humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 80F°. Feeding them dog food as the staple diet. The adults seem to oviposit just fine in straight coir, which is interesting since my E.s.macrura seem to prefer a bit of sand in their substrate to trigger oviposition. 🤔 

Here are some pictures of a pair:

Male

Female

So glad to finally have this old stock in my collection, seems like they're doing quite well for me! 😁 

Well, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉