Minute Mystery Beetles, Pretty Woods Roaches & New Isopods!

I recently noticed some small beetles popping up in some of my roach enclosures. After catching a few and searching through bugguide for a bit, I've come to the conclusion that they are Litargus balteatus, a species of Hairy Fungus Beetle. They apparently feed on damp grain products and/or the fungi that grow on them. They're proliferating in several of my enclosures now, so they seem to be a new, easy to culture "grain pet". 😆 Though they seem to like semi-humid setups, not drier or completely moist ones.

Another species to add to my collection, and I didn't even have to work for them, they just spontaneously appeared in my cultures. 😆 

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I won some Cubaris sp. "Happy Nun" from Kyle at his last big "Bugapalooza" auction, which I've set up in my Dorylaea orini bin. They are doing quite well, and are a cute and chunky species, though I've no idea what's going on with that strain name... 🤣

Anyways their enclosure is a well ventilated 5 gallon bin with an inch or so of coco fiber substrate, topped in coconut coir chunks, palm bark, a couple small logs and some eggcrates for hides. I'm keeping them humid and at around 80-85F°. 

They have been breeding quite well, and I imagine should make for a decent CUC for the Dorylaea without being overly voracious.

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Also from Kyle I received a group of Parcoblatta fulvescens "Apalachicola, FL". These are an unusually variable and brightly colored strain of fulvescens, with females ranging in patterning from mostly black abdomens with red spots going along their margins, to completely red abdomens, and many combinations in between. 

I have them set up in a moderately ventilated container with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped with eggcrate and cardboard roll hides. I'm keeping them humid, and at around 75F°. I'm feeding dog food and fruits as the staple diet.

I'm a big fan of this locality, and I'm happy to say they are already breeding quite well. 😁

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Lastly, I traded Satchell Watts-Kerr for some Papuaphiloscia laevis "New Orleans, LA". These are a weird looking species, quite slender and pale, with very small eyes. They seem to prefer a very organically rich substrate mix, preferably a little loose and chunky so they can retreat to lower layers of detritus (they are not superb burrowers, so heavily compacted substrate isn't great). 

I've got them in a minimally ventilated container with a couple inches of a coco fiber, flake soil, and leaf litter mix, which I'm keeping moist and at around 75F°. I'm feeding them dog/fish food as the supplemental diet.

Another neat, obscure isopod species to add to my collection, that is rarely kept, but pretty easy to breed. 😊

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