More Arenivaga Stuff

Got a few random Arenivaga updates to cover, so let's start with a new addition from Alan Jeon, Arenivaga floridensis "Tampa, FL". 😃 This is one of the darker phenotypes of this species, though unlike the "Ocala" locality, females of this species have some cream colored borders along their abdominal segments. This is my first time working with this locality, and I really love how they look!

Alan sent me a bunch of mature females, and a subadult male, which I've housed in a moderately ventilated container filled with sand, one third of which I'm keeping humid, the rest dry. I'm offering dog food and artificial pollen for food, and am keeping them at around 75-80F°.

Here is an adult pair:

Female

Male

IDK why, but the male reminds me of a little mouse. 😄 My females have been hard at work pumping out ooths, and I've already started to find hatchlings in the enclosure, so things are looking good for me establishing a colony!

---

Next up, one of my Arenivaga sp. "DOT Rest Area, AZ - Light" males matured, in time to mate a bunch of females that already matured a month or two ago. After seeing an adult male in person, this strain looks closest to A.erratica to me. So I'll give them a tentative ID of Arenivaga cf. erratica "DOT Rest Area, AZ".

Anyways, here is the male in all his winged glory:

Definitely a pretty strain of this species, hopefully they'll breed well for me, the females have already started laying lots of ooths. 🤞

---

Speaking of males maturing, my next generation of Arenivaga sp. "Phoenix" have started maturing, and after seeing a couple males in person, I am also giving these the tentative ID of Arenivaga cf. erratica. This is the prettiest cf. erratica strain in culture IMO, very bright red highlights on the males' pronotums, and the females are vibrantly colored as well.

Here are some pictures of one of the males:

Glad these have been doing well for me, hopefully I'll be able to make them publicly available by Spring!

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

More Corydiid Updates!

Well, good news! Not only have my three Euthyrrhapha pacifica females matured since last time I posted about this species (with plenty of mature males still alive to fertilize them), but they've been laying lots of ooths, and I got my first babies last week! 😃

It's so cool, the nymphs really do chew their way out of their ooths, they don't hatch from the oothecae seam like every other egg-laying cockroach does. This may be an adaptation for particularly arid conditions, as I assume the ooth seam is actually fused completely shut, and so wouldn't even let miniscule amounts of moisture be released from the ootheca. It also begs the question, does one nymph hatch first, then chew the hole out on it's own? Or do they hatch at the same time and chew the hole out together? Do they hatch with any specialized mouthparts made specifically for chewing through the thick ooth wall, like how lots of reptiles have a special tooth that they use to break through their eggs, that falls off after use? These are questions that keep me up at night, that may never be answered LOL. 🤣 

Anyways, here are some pics of an adult female, an unhatched ooth, and a hatched ooth:

Female

Unhatched ootheca

Hatched ootheca with exit hole

Such a cool little species, and pretty easy to keep and breed to boot! I see these becoming fairly popular in the hobby soon. 😊 

---

Now for some Eucorydia updates!

First off, several of my E.linglong have matured over the past few months, and I got some hatchlings from them already. I'm not sure why, but they haven't been as prolific for me as some of my other Eucorydia have been, but regardless, my next generation has been secured. 😁 

Here are a few "meh" quality pictures of adults:

Love this species, hopefully more babies will be produced soon as I get more females maturing.

My E.westwoodi on the other hand have been ooth laying machines, and I've got lots of offspring from them now. 😊 Been spreading them around a bit in the US hobby, so hopefully they'll stay firmly established here.

Here is a picture I got of some of the ooths:

Absolutely love this species, definitely my favorite Corydiid in my collection ATM.

Lastly, I've gotten several more Eucorydia forceps to mature, including another female, so hopefully I can finally get some breeding action from them. 🤞 

Here are some pictures of a particularly striking male:

Really hoping for some babies from these beauties soon!

---

Lastly, some Arenivaga updates!

My Arenivaga sp. "Phoenix, AZ" female has produced lots of fertile ooths, which have been hatching like crazy, so I've got a pretty robust population of this pretty species already.

My sole Arenivaga sp. "Rodeo, NM" female has also been absolutely pumping out ooths, and those have also been hatching like mad. The nymphs are also growing pretty quickly, which is nice to see!

Lastly, I did get some babies from my Arenivaga bolliana "San Antonio, TX" females. Sadly I do think the strain got infected with Serratia or something, as in addition to the odd coloration on the adult females, the majority of their ooths have been either deformed or just straight up duds. Thankfully a handful of nymphs still hatched, which I've isolated to their own setup separate from the adults, so as to hopefully prevent them from contracting whatever the adults have.

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