Click Beetles & Roaches (Kinda Picture Heavy, Not Sure if That's a Bad Thing or Not...)

So, after checking all my click beetle larva I have a few updates to give.

First off, my 4 Ampedus larva have dwindled down to 3, and one of the remaining larvae has matured! I have put an image up on Bugguide, hopefully the experts there will be able to identify it down to species. 

Here is a picture of the adult:

Also, my Melanotus cf. castanipes larva has matured, and apparently it is probably not M.castanipes, what species it is exactly has yet to be determined. 

Here are some pictures of the adult:

Also, all of my Aeolus livens and A.mellillus adults have died off without laying any eggs, all I have are three wild caught larva, presumably of A.livens.

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Now to my roach updates!

The biggest and most exciting development in my collection since I have last posted is that my female Paranauphoeta discoidalis has given birth! I've been waiting quite a while for her to give birth, and was beginning to wonder if the male she mated with was too old to fertilize her, (he died a few weeks after she matured). Luckily he was still virile enough for her, and there are now a few babies crawling around in the enclosure. It seems this species has rather small litters, which typically only contain four to six hatchlings according to "For the Love of Cockroaches".

Here are some pictures of the babies:

Really glad these have bred for me, hopefully the female will give birth to more litters soon!

My Blaberus sp. "Venezuela" male has matured, and he is a beauty! My female is not too far behind, I'm pretty sure she is a pre-sub adult. He has a back pronotum spot, though some individuals of this species can have a more reddish pronotum spot.

Here are some pictures of him:

I really like this genus, particularly the smaller, stouter ones like these and B.atropos. Hopefully my female matures soon, would love it if she had an reddish pronotum spot!

Unfortunately, it seems one of my Byrsotria fumigata females has a prolapse, which is when the inner walls of her bowels basically turn inside out and are visible outside her, which is pretty gross sounding and is definitely not a good thing. It usually happens when females try to give birth or defecate, and something goes wrong or is blocking the way. I had a female Gromphadorhina sp. "Hybrid" who prolapsed, it dried up and fell off after a couple of weeks, she is still alive today I believe. Hopefully the same will happen to this Byrsotria, would be a shame if she passed away.

Here are some pictures of her, (viewer discretion is advised):

And now, here are some random photos of a couple of roaches that I have taken in the past few days, not much has changed with them but I wanted to photograph them anyway:

Hemiblabera tenebricosa mating, (A rare sight, these guys are pretty shy!)

Polyphaga saussurei nymphs

Well, that's going to be it for today, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you all next post! :)

Darkling & Click Beetle Stuff

My Embaphion muricatum larva are doing great, and a few of them have pupated! A couple of them sat on top of the substrate in their enclosure and got in the pre-pupa position, I removed them and put them in their own little deli cups, each filled with a thin layer of moist coconut fiber. Another tried to make a pupal cell at the bottom of the larva enclosure, I moved that one as well.

Here are some pictures:

Pre-pupa

Pupa

The pupa are so unique looking, and have very large pronotums. Hopefully in a few weeks they will start to eclose!

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Now that the weather is getting warmer, many insects are coming out. One common critter that can be found in many areas here in Idaho are a small species of darkling beetle, Blapstinus sp. These are commonly found on sidewalks, and around ant colonies. Just how they are associated with ants in nature, I do not know.

I have bred these in the past, they are not too finicky but the females do not lay many eggs, and the larva seem to require a moist substrate to survive. I am not currently keeping these, but I took some photos of on a while ago and thought I would share the pictures with you!

And that's the end of the darkling beetle discussions for today, let's move on to some of my new click beetles.

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A while ago I was walking down a trail, and while looking under some bark under a willow tree I found four large click beetles. Now I say large, but these are half the size of, say, an Alaus melanops. Still, they are larger than most of the click beetle species I have seen here in Idaho, so they seem large to me. According to the experts on bugguide, they are a species of Melanotus.

I have them housed in a deli cup filled with rotten wood, dead leaves, and a little bit of coconut fiber. I am keeping them moist, and am feeding them banana slices. I will probably try some apple slices this week. I am hoping some of them are gravid females, as I would like to breed them.

Here are a couple pictures of one:

Hopefully I will see some sign of oviposition soon!

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Now, I have been finding these small click beetles in my neighborhood, mostly under rocks and other debris. They would appear to all be the same species, but many of them have different coloration, so perhaps not. I currently have about seven of them.

I am keeping them in a small container filled with moist sand and coconut fiber, there are pieces of wood and dead leaves as hides. I am feeding them carrots and fruits. So far there are no signs of any oviposition.

Here are some pictures of a few individuals:

Hopefully I can get them identified, and breed them as well. EDIT: It would appear that these are all Aeolus livens, a variable species of click beetle in which melanistic forms are common.

Well that's it for today, I hope you guys enjoyed, next week I will be getting some really cool, really rare roaches, so stay tuned! :)