Sand Roaches, Isopod Updates & Discoids!

I have successfully isolated pure cultures of both species in the Arenivaga spp. "Sahuarita, AZ" stock that Kyle from Roachcrossing sent me. The smaller of the two stocks appears to be A.genitalis, whereas the larger ones I'll be talking about in this post should be A.erratica. 

These cf. erratica are quite similar to the "DOT Rest Area" erratica I have (which were also found sympatrically with a smaller Arenivaga species, namely A.apacha), though they seem to have less dark spotting on them.

Female

Male

Pair

A hardy and easy to breed species, definitely something I could recommend to a beginner for their first Arenivaga.

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Several month back I recieved a small group of Arenivaga cf. investigata from Borrego Springs, CA. This strain looks different than the cf. investigata I already have from the Imperial Dunes, namely the nymphs are a darker color, and the pronotum markings on the adult males seems to be quite a bit darker. Females look rather similar, though a bit less rotund than the Imperial Dunes stock as well.

I have them set up in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch or so of sand substrate, topped with crushed leaf litter. I am keeping a third of the substrate moist, the rest dry, and am keeping them at around 80-85F°. I'm feeding them dog food as the staple diet.

Male

Female

Here's hoping they'll breed for me as well as the Imperial Dunes stock does! 🙏

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My Armadillo officinalis "OG Hobby Stock" colony is doing phenomenal, and while topping their leaf litter off, I got some pictures of 'em.

This colony has been throwing out Orange individuals (you can see one in that last pic), which I have successfully isolating a true breeding colony of as well! Need to show those off at some point for sure...

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It took them a while, but my Armadillidae sp. "Miyako, Japan" colony is finally popping off! They seem to like consistently humid conditions, and lots of leaf litter. When I kept them on a humidity gradient they barely did anything, but once I started keeping the entire enclosure humid they really started doing well.

These are also throwing out solid orange individuals, which I should probably try and isolate... yet another project for future me to work on. 😅

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Finally, I acquired a colony last year of Blaberus discoidalis "Banana Bay, FL" from Brandon Maines. This stock was collected by Brandon himself back in 2018, and thus technically probably has different genetics than Roachcrossing's "Banana Bay" stock (which was collected circa 2015).

So for all those nuts out there who insist on adding "new blood" to their colonies (an entirely unnecessary and potentially harmful endeavor that can lead to accidental hybridization), this specific stock has value as a pure line you can outcross your Roachcrossing "Banana Bay" stock to without compromising your colony purity. And you can actually potentially increase genetic diversity in your colony in doing so (which isn't possible for most hobby roach lines that came from a single import, and are thus all very related anyways).

Anyways I have my colony in a well ventilated enclosure with a couple inches of a coco fiber and coco coir chunk substrate mix, topped with eggcrates. I'm keeping a quarter of the substrate moist, the rest dry, and am keeping them at around 80-85F° (previously I had them closer to room temps, and they were hardly breeding at all, bumping the temps up REALLY helped with productivity). I'm feeding them dog food and fruits as the staple diet.

It took them a while but they are finally starting to pop off for me, they seem to like drier and warmer conditions than I'd initially thought.

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

Cute Eleodes, Snow Bees, & More!

This Summer, during a hike up to Lucky Peak here in Idaho, I caught a female Eleodes cf. wakelandi. I've cultured this species in the past with success, but haven't seen them in a while since I last got rid of my colony. So I decided to start a culture up again, and have done so quite successfully. 😀

I put the females in a well ventilated enclosure with a few inches of a coco fiber and sand mixture, probably 80% coco fiber, 20% sand. I keep one third of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 75-80F°. I am feeding them dog food as the staple diet. 

I've already reached F2, the F1 larvae pupated communally in their setup and those resulting adults have produced more larvae. An easy species for sure, and very cute too!

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I got a group of Cubaris sp. "Snow Bee" from Joe Loma of Reptiform earlier this year, and they've done quite well for me thus far! This kinda surprised me, since they are supposedly a different morph/locality of sp. "Emperor Bee", which I absolutely bombed the one time I tried keeping them (however I think that was due to an immediate and severe overwatering incident).

I've got them set up in a moderately ventilated container with an inch or so of coco fiber substrate, topped with leaf litter and bark hides. I'm keeping the entire enclosure humid, but not too moist, and have them at around 75F°. I'm feeding them dog food as their supplemental diet.

Looking forward to watching the colony grow! Joe noted that his stock was throwing out some pink and whiteout looking individuals, so I'm interested to see if any of that genetic variability will carry over to my colony.

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My Cylisticus convexus "Ukraine - Pied" have been doing phenomenal, however due to some Proporcellio vulkanius getting into their bin I've had to rehouse them recently. They seem to be adapting to their new home quite well though, and I managed to snag some pics of them in the process.

Their new setup has micromesh ventilation, so now there's no possible way other isopod species could get in. I'm going through the process of switching all my enclosures over to mesh ventilation instead of my usual method of poking small holes with the tip of a soldering iron. These are just one of many I've swapped over to the new ventilation, there's a LOT more to go though... 😅

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Speaking of isopods I recently rehoused and switched to micromesh ventilation, the same goes for my Porcellio sp. "Canary Islands, Spain - Spikey". I almost lost these last year, still not 100% why, but a few stragglers survived what must have been an overwatering incident or something of that ilk. From there they built up slowly but steadily in numbers, and eventually were back in the dozens! Then someone randomly sent me a booster starter culture as a freebie a couple months back, so I'd say I now have a established culture at the moment. 

They really seem to like a humidity gradient and good ventilation, similar to other Spanish Porcellio. They really seem to like the area where the moist substrate meets the dry substrate the best, so for them I keep the furthest quarter of each end of the enclosure moist, the middle half dry. There are bark hides that cover most of the length of the setup, so they can all hide and cluster right in the semi-humid areas. 

A very cute and heavily textured species, definitely one of the more underappreciated small Spanish Porcellio spp.!

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Back in late Summer, a local keeper gave me their entire colony of Dermestes maculatus, a commonly cultured and easy to breed Dermestid species that I had yet to acquire myself. These are the species of beetle most commonly used to clean skeletons of flesh for taxidermy and research purposes. 

I've got them in the 3-4 gallon tank they came to me in, with a screen mesh lid with some cloth underneath to make it escape-proof (or rather to keep other Dermestids from getting in). The substrate seems to be some sort of animal bedding but I'm not sure what kind. I spray down one of the corners every now and then, but keep things mostly dry. I've been feeding them dog food and dead roaches, and the occasional dried herring. I keep them at around 75-80F°.

These are definitely one of the easiest Dermestes species to keep. I'm growing tired of the more finicky members of the genus; D.friischi, lardarius and marmoratus all crashed on me over the Summer and Fall, and I'm honestly not so sure I want to try them again. D.ater, maculatus and undulatus are all far easier and more consistent breeders.

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

Bolivian Blaberus, Pretty Roly-Polies & More!

Last year I acquired some Blaberus boliviensis from Kyle at Roachcrossing, a nice bulky member of the atropos species group. They almost always have a sort of "hammerhead" looking black spot on their pronotum, often with two red spots inside. 

I've got mine housed in a well ventilated enclosure with a couple inches of coco fiber and coco coir chunks as the substrate, topped with eggcrates. I'm keeping a quarter of the substrate moist, the rest dry, and have them at around 80-85F°. I'm feeding them dog food and fruits as their staple diet.

Here are some photos of a couple adults:

They have been breeding quite well for me so far, definitely seems to be a relatively hardy species. Unfortunately as with many Blaberus spp., finding pure stock of these can be difficult on account of their ability to hybridize with other members of the atropos species group (atropos, discoidalis, etc.), so be wary of where you source your Blaberus!

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The Parcoblatta divisa "Park Crossing, AL" I received from Alan Jeon have been absolutely thriving in my care, I may need to start using them as feeders here soon. 🤣 They really just seem to need good ventilation and a 50/50 humidity gradient, and they thrive!

Here are a couple pics of em:

A very attractive strain with lots of high red individuals, definitely can't recommend these enough to the avid roach hobbyist!

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Last year I got Armadillidium frontetriangulum "Corfu" from Laura at Smugbug. This is the more common of the two frontetriangulum localities in culture, the other less common one being from Albania. These are relatively large for an Armadillidium, and seem to do well with good ventilation and a 50/50 humidity gradient. If things get too stagnant then they can start having issues with die offs and lack of reproduction.

I have mine in a well ventilated shoebox with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate topped in coco coir chunks, leaf litter, and bark hides. I am keeping half the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 80-85F. I am feeding them dog food as their supplemental diet.

A lovely species, I know there is an orange morph of this locality available now, but I honestly just prefer the wild type. They have some really nice contrast between the dark grey base coloration and the white and yellow spots on their backs, and I feel like that contrast is lost in the orange morph. Though I am sure I will get them one day anyways... 😅

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Back in Summer I got some Lobopterella dimidiatipes from my buddy Brandon Maines, a small species that's been in culture for a while now, but that I never bothered to keep before, until now. They are quite similar to Loboptera decipiens, but they seem a little faster to start breeding. They also are brachypterous, with short but quite visible wings, whereas L.decipiens are micropterous.

I have them set up in a deli cup with a mesh lid, and a thin layer of coco fiber substrate topped in cardboard hides. I am keeping them humid, but not very moist, and have their enclosure at around 80-85F. I am feeding them dog food and fruits.

Here are some pics of an adult female:

Definitely a cute little species, and they seem rather hardy and prolific as well! I am surprised I never kept them before, but hey, better late than never!

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Speaking of species that have been around in the hobby for a while that I've never kept before (unless you count a single stowaway nymph), I got some Rhyparobia maderae from Brandon last year! They are seriously cool, and while they took a little bit to get established, are absolutely popping off now! These used to be a hobby staple, but alas they have fallen to the wayside in favor of more colorful and unusual species that have entered culture since. Which is truly a shame, since they are a nice medium-large roach species, that's easy to culture and while not super colorful, are unique in their own right!

I have mine set up in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped with lots of cardboard rolls and eggcrates for hides. I keep them pretty dry, and at around 75-80F. I feed them dog food and fruits as their staple diet (the latter is their main source of moisture as well, though I occasionally spray one corner of their setup). I have Alphitobius diaperinus in their enclosure as a CUC, which they don't seem to mind at all. 

I hope to see these more commonly cultured one day, they are a neat pet species and have use as feeders too, especially for other invertebrates (adults can produce a nasty smelling defensive fluid that I suspect would taste bad to vertebrates, nymphs would probably be fine to feed to verts though).

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