Lots of Darkling Beetle Updates!

First off, I thought I'd just let you all know that I have released most of my Eleodes hispilabris, on account of me losing interest in breeding them. I still have three CB adults that are housed in various other Tenebrionid or cockroach enclosures, but I have stopped breeding them for now.

---

Secondly, after adding a bit more sand to my Eleodes osculans enclosure, I have finally found some larvae in there! They are short, stubby little things, very cute IMO! 😊 (Just like the adults!).

Here are some pictures of them:

---

Most of my Coniontis sp. "CA" adults have died off now, presumably due to old age. The larvae have proven to be hard to pupate, however I was pleased to see that at least one of the larvae I've isolated has created a pupal cell and is in the pre-pupal stage now! 😁 Seems like the more cramped the pupation enclosure, the better. Hopefully the others will follow suite soon, there are a LOT of larvae that have reached maturity now, I want to rear up as many as I can before they expire!

---

The larger Eleodes sp. larvae I received from Brandon Woo several months ago have proven to be extremely difficult to rear, with the majority of them dying before or while entering the pre-pupal stage. This is likely due to improper humidity levels, the pre-pupae don't seem to like it quite as moist as most of the other Eleodes species I've bred.

I DID get two larvae to pupate successfully though, and two more are still in the pre-pupal stage, so hopefully I can get at least one pair to mature successfully and breed! Anyway, one of the pupae has finally eclosed, and I can finally announce the identity of these larvae!

Here she is, introducing Eleodes acuticaudus!!!:

Will let you all know if I can rear the rest of them to maturity!

---

Now, here are a couple sad announcements...

I am sad to say that the one Alobates larva I was able to save died, it did not seem to be able to ingest the wood I fed it, and refused to feed on any chick feed or dead mealworms I offered it. All but one of my adults have died off as well, probably due to old age, so it looks like I've completely failed at breeding this species. 😢

Also, most of my Edrotes ventricosus adults are showing signs of old age, and a few have died off already. Doesn't look like they've given me ANY offspring at all, so this was also a big bust.

---

Now let's end on a high note! My Eleodes tribulus have been breeding very prolifically for me, and the larvae are very easy to rear as well. I've got a couple dozen adults now, which are producing even more larvae!

Here are a few pictures of some adults:

Well, that's going to do it for this post everyone, thanks for reading, will see you all next time! 😉

UGH, MITES!!!! & an Alobates pensylvanica Update

My collection is experiencing a small mite crisis, there is this small, round, red mite species that seems similar to grain mites in habits, but more damaging to my small Ectobiid species than any mite I have previously encountered. 😩 I am not exactly sure where they came from, I'm thinking they came in with my Dorylaea orini though, as I saw them in their enclosure first.

So, I've had to carefully re-house the infested species, and throw out their old enclosures too, as the mites seem pretty resistant to my sterilization methods. Luckily, I think I've nipped this problem in the bud, they aren't in many of my enclosures, and only seem to do well when there is a buildup of leftover food and/or a lack of a thriving springtail colony. Hopefully once I've finished cleaning out the last enclosures, the mites will be gone for good.

The species that were infested with these mites are Dorylaea orini, (which I've moved to a larger enclosure now), Cariblatta minima, Alobates pensylvanicus, Therea olegrandjeani, Balta notulata, and a pair of Oniscus asellus. The only cultures I still have to de-mite are my T.olegrandjeani, and B.notulata.

---

Speaking of Alobates pensylvanica, I suppose I may as well give you all an update on them. A couple of months ago I rehoused them to a larger enclosure, thinking the larvae would appreciate it, and the adults would lay more eggs, (all of the egg clutches they produced had started to mold over in their old setup). However, the new enclosure had a lot more ventilation than their previous one, and I underestimated how fast the substrate would dry out.

So, within a few days the enclosure got really dry, and most of the larvae died off. I re-hydrated the substrate, but that didn't seem to help all that much, and the adults didn't seem inclined to lay any more eggs either. So, I moved the adults back to a smaller enclosure, with moist substrate and less ventilation. I dug through the big enclosure and only found one larva unfortunately, which I moved to a small deli cup with crushed rotten wood as the substrate.

The adults are looking pretty ragged now, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to successfully rear the larva up to adulthood, so it looks like I've failed at breeding this species. 😢 Oh well, maybe I'll try again one day, we'll see! At least now I know that this species hates dryness, at least as larvae, and adults like to lay eggs in crevices, like in between bark pieces, or in between the enclosure walls and the substrate.

Well, that's going to do it for today, I hope everyone enjoyed this post, will see you all next time! 😉

Alobates Larvae & Some New Darkling Beetles!

So, my Alobates pensylvanicus eggs hatched over a month ago into lots of tiny grubby larvae, (June 13th to be exact), I never really announced it! They were too small to get good pictures of or handle, and they soon dispersed into the substrate. I dug around the enclosure the other day and found a few of the larvae, most of them were near one corner of the enclosure, and there were less than I was expecting there to be. Granted, I didn't actually dig around the entire cage, and there are lots of bigger chunks of rotten wood that they could have bored into and hid in.

Still, I am a little paranoid about cannibalism, since larvae of this species are supposedly carnivorous, and the larvae seemed to be growing at rather staggered rates, (which suggests that some larvae could have eaten each other and grown bigger, while others hid instead and were just preying on small prey like fungus gnat maggots), so I separated the largest larva I could find and put it in it's own deli cup, and offered it live and pre-killed tiny mealworms. 

Surprisingly, it didn't eat either the live or dead mealworms, and just burrowed into one of the large pieces of rotten wood in the deli cup. It didn't even go for any of the chick feed I offered it, and it doesn't seem like the larvae in my main enclosure like that stuff much either, so far the only thing they really seem to eat is rotten wood.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the large larva I found:

Also, the adults have laid two more clutches of eggs, both are in between the sides of the enclosure and the substrate, and are right up against the enclosure in plain view. So it seems they are not as specific in their egg laying habits as I once thought. 😕

---

A couple days ago I went out on a little collecting trip to a little stretch of scrubland near me, something I rarely do nowadays. I collected three species of darkling beetles, two of which I've never seen in person before! 😁

I collected three of these medium sized Eleodes, one was walking across a dirt path, and the other two were under large clods of dug up, dead grass. They look very similar to E.subnites, however I'm not sure that species ranges this far north, these are definitely something in the subgenus Promus though, I'm sure of it. Pretty sure all three of mine are females, so with any luck I'll get larvae from them soon!

I have them housed in a gallon sized plastic container with some coconut fiber as the substrate and some dead leaf litter on top. I will be keeping the enclosure dry with one moist corner. I am currently feeding them chick feed. 

Here are some pictures of one of the adults:

I'm surprised I've never seen this species alive before, the area I collected them was very close to an area I camped at frequently in 2014, I found lots of Tenebrionid species at that time, but never saw any of these. I did find a dead Eleodes there that looked a lot like one of these, it was a lot smaller and thinner though, must have been a male, (or a different species).

I also found this small Tenebrionid under a dirt clod, I'm thinking it's something along the lines of Metoponium, but I could be wrong. I've never seen one of these before, I submitted some photos of it (and the above Eleodes) to Bugguide, hopefully one of the experts there will be able to identify them! 😃

I am keeping it in a small plastic container with some coconut fiber as the substrate, and some dead leaf litter on top. I will be keeping the substrate dry with a moist corner. For the diet I will use mostly chick feed, in addition to the dead leaves. 

Here are a couple pictures of the little thing:

I am really hoping it just happens to be a gravid female, I seem to have incredible luck with finding gravid female Tenebrionids where I live, so we'll see! 

I also caught two adult Coniontis sp, one was found by my mom walking across a dirt path, the other I found under a grass clod. They seem to be the same species I've bred in the past, (which I collected in an area very close to where I caught these two), happy to have some again! 🙂 They are quite a bit smaller than the species I have from CA, still a very welcome addition to my collection though! I have them in the same container as the unknown Teneb above, with any luck one of them will be a female, and I'll get eggs soon! 

Well, that's gonna do it for today, I hope everyone enjoyed, will see you all next post! 😉

Meracantha & Alobates Eggs!!!

Well, I was checking up on my Meracantha contracta enclosure last week, and I went to take out the old cat food in there that had started to mold, and when I lifted it up off the substrate, I ended pulling some coconut fiber up along with the food, and I noticed some small, white, spherical objects in it... YUP, eggs, nice, healthy Tenebrionid eggs! 😁

I looked around the enclosure and found many others in different areas, some have even been laid up against the enclosure wall, my female has been a busy girl! Now I just gotta hope they'll hatch and that the larvae won't be too hard to rear!

I didn't get any pictures of them, didn't want to dig any up and disturb them, but will keep you guys updated on their development, and will try to get some pictures of the larvae if/when the eggs hatch!

---

A few days ago I went to go do enclosure maintenance on my Alobates pensylvanicus cage, take out their old food and replace it, (they only seem to like cat food BTW, they haven't touched the mealworm pupae I offered them), mist them, and check up on the beetles themselves. So I went and lifted up the largest bark slab in the enclosure, which was placed on top of the substrate and a patch of sphagnum moss, and was very surprised to find a good sized cluster of eggs had been laid on the underside of the bark, as well as on top of the moss the bark was resting on! 😄

I was definitely not expecting them to lay their eggs directly on the bark, I thought they would lay them inside of the actual substrate, but really, it makes way more sense that they would lay them on the bark. This species is normally found under bark on dead trees, in between the bark and the actual wood, so that has to be where they lay their eggs in the wild, instead of chewing into the wood and depositing the eggs there. Once the larvae hatch, then they burrow into the wood. So that's probably why they didn't lay the eggs in the substrate, like most other darkling beetles I've kept.

Here are a couple pictures of the main egg cluster:

Really can't wait until the eggs hatch, hopefully the larvae aren't too difficult to rear! If they are truly predatory, I may end up having to separate them and keep them each in their own deli cups, would be nice if they just ate wood and cat food though, and not each other.

Well, that's gonna do it for today folks, I hope you enjoyed this post, will see you all next time! 😉

Some New Beetles!!

The other day I received a package from Tyler Hedlund, (known as Pannaking22 on the forums and owner of this blog), as part of a trade we are doing! Received lots of cool beetle species, that I will hopefully be successful in breeding!

First, let's start off with the Tenebrionids!

I got 4 Alobates pensylvanicus from Tyler, a semi-predatory species of darkling beetle closely related to Coelocnemis, one of my favorite Tenebrionid genera. These guys are commonly found under bark on dead logs in the Eastern US, and both the adults and larvae are supposedly carnivorous on other invertebrates in the wild, however, the few people who have kept this species have had no problems getting them to eat dog/cat food in captivity.

I have them in a medium sized plastic container with rotten hardwood chunks, dead leaves, and fermented Traeger sawdust as the substrate, and have bark and wood pieces in there for hides. I will be feeding them dog food, and will also offer mealworm pupae for them as well, and maybe other soft bodied prey, if they like the pupae that is.

Here are some pictures of them:

Really hope I can get mine to breed and lay eggs, I don't think anyone has ever gotten this species to oviposit in captivity!

He also sent an adult of the small, but beautiful species, Platydema ellipticum! It probably isn't a gravid female, and this species is associated with shelf fungi as larvae I believe, so I almost certainly won't be breeding this species. The best I can do is keep it in a enclosure with decent ventilation, moist substrate with bark and leaf litter, feed it dog food and hope it lives a nice, normal life in my care. 🙂

Here are a few pictures of it:

Really nice little species, pretty colorful for a darkling beetle!

Speaking of colorful Tenebs, while they may look black at first, Meracantha contracta have a beautiful copper sheen that makes them one of the prettiest species native to the US! 😁 Tyler sent me a sexed pair of this beautiful species, I am very happy to finally have some, and I really hope I can breed them!

Unfortunately, they were shipped in the same container as the Alobates, and while Tyler had kept Alobates with other Tenebrionid species before with no problems, apparently their predatory side really comes out when being shipped. Since they were in such close quarters with these beauties, without any other source of protein available, they chewed off most of the Meracantha's legs. 😢 Luckily, they weren't killed, but they are sort of crippled now, which sucks.

I once had an Eleodes male that had every single leg bitten down to small nubs, but he still was able to hobble over to the food and water I offered him, and lived for quite a while in that condition! Meracantha seem to stress out more easily than Eleodes though, so I'm not sure how well they'll adapt to this situation.

The male has his left front and hind legs fully intact, but his left middle leg and all of his right legs have been bitten down to nubs. Luckily the female is a lot less damaged than the male, both her hind legs are intact, and one of her middle legs only has the tibia missing, but the other middle leg has been bitten in half, one of her front legs is missing and the other has is a little over half intact. The main thing I'm worried about is that many female Tenebrionids like to burrow before ovipositing, however this female will probably not be able to burrow much since she's lost proper use of her front legs, so unless she is content with just ovipositing directly into the upper layers of the substrate, she may not produce any offspring at all.

I am keeping them in a small plastic container with moist coconut fiber and crumbled up dead leaves as the substrate, and have bark pieces and dead leaves on top for hides. I will be keeping them fairly humid, and will feed them mostly dog food.

Here are some pictures of them:

So far they seem fairly active and are eating, so that's great, hopefully the female will lay some eggs for me and I can get some larvae of this amazing species! 😊

---

Now, let's get to the misc larvae he sent!

First, we have this one Elaterid larva, that almost looks like a small Alaus grub, but definitely isn't. I have it in a small deli cup with rotten wood chunks, dead leaves, and fermented Traeger sawdust as the substrate, in addition to the wood I will also be feeding it dog food.

Here are a couple pictures of it:

I also received two of these other Elaterid larvae, which look more like your typical wireworms. I have them in their own deli cups as well, with rotten wood chunks, dead leaves and fermented Traeger sawdust as the substrate, and in addition to the wood I will be feeding them dog food.

Here are a couple pics of one of them:

Would be pretty cool if I ended up having a sexed pair of this species, love how the larvae look!

Lastly, he sent this one really weird looking beetle larva, I honestly have no idea what it is beyond that, but I do know it's neither a Tenebrionid or an Elaterid. I have it in it's own deli cup with rotten wood chunks, dead leaves and fermented sawdust as the substrate, and will offer it dog food as well, have no idea if it will eat any though.

Here are some pictures of it:

Really interested to see what it ends up maturing into, hopefully it'll do well in my care and pupate!

Anyway, that's gonna be it for today guys, I hope you all enjoyed this post, will see you soon! 🙂