Sunday, August 7, 2022

New Darklings from Kyle!

Got some cool new species of Tenebs from Kyle of Roachcrossing, which I'll be covering in today's post! 😁

First off, he sent me a couple dozen adult Neatus tenebrioides "Livonia, MI", a forest dwelling darkling that is closely related to and looks pretty similar to the commonly cultured Tenebrio. Similar to Tenebrio, they are easy to rear and breed in captivity, and prolific to boot.

I've got mine in a well ventilated deli cup with an inch or so of coconut fiber, which I'll maintain a 50/50 humidity gradient with (I think the larvae of this species might like more humidity than those of Tenebrio). They've got a couple wood and bark hides, and I'm feeding them dog/cat food. I'll be keeping them at room temperature.

Here are some pictures of the adults:








For being such a widespread species, very few people culture them, and I feel like they have great feeder potential personally. Not sure if a diapause is required for this locality, but I don't think so.

Next up, Kyle also sent me a (mated) female Eleodes subnitens, from a strain that Orin McMonigle has been breeding since 2007. Such dedication to a single stock is very impressive, and I hope I can keep them going in my collection for years to come! 😁

I've got her set up in a well ventilated container, with an inch of coconut fiber substrate. I'm keeping a third of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and am keeping her at around 75F°. I've given her a bit of eggcrate for a hide, and I'll be feeding her dog/cat food.

Here are some pictures of her:










The body shape of this species is rather unusual, quite rotund, with a weird little pucker at the end of the elytra. Hopefully this female lays lots of eggs for me! 🤞

Lastly, Kyle sent me a (mated) adult female Eleodes spinipes ventricosa, also from stock maintained by Orin McMonigle, since 2006! This is the only other, far more finicky subspecies of E.spinipes in the US, differing from E.s.macrura in having deeper, more noticeable elytral punctation (also seems a bit skinnier than macrura).
I think Kyle mentioned getting pairs of both these and the subnitens off of Orin in a show months ago, but didn't have the time/space to set them up properly for optimal breeding, so he just sent the females to me to breed them instead. 😅

I've got this gal in a well ventilated setup with a coco fiber/sand mix. I've given her a toilet paper roll for a hide, and am keeping a third of the substrate humid, the rest dry. I'm keeping her at around 75F°, and will be offering dog/cat food as the staple diet.

Here are some pics of her:










Quite a large darkling, may actually be a bit longer than macrura (not as bulky though). I think I've seen her ovipositing already, which is fantastic! Adults of this species are quite prolific and produce many many offspring, however, getting the larvae to pupate correctly and emerge as healthy adults is the main hassle with this subspecies. Hopefully I can do it! 😅

Well, that's gonna do it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉

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