Eleodes subnitens VS E.madrensis

While visiting one of my local friends, Sarah, I was shown her desert beetle tank, which had a multitude of species (most of which came from Peter at Bugsincyberspace). One beetle in particular caught my eye, because it looked awfully similar to my Eleodes subnitens from Orin McMonigle's old stock. However, the pronotum was much more angular, and overall looked a little off for that species.

Sarah kindly traded me the beetle in question, which appears to be female and since she's WC, could potentially be mated. So I immediately set her up in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch of coco fiber substrate, one third kept moist, the rest bone dry. Offering her dog food as the staple diet, and keeping her at 75-80F °. Fingers crossed she lays some fertile eggs!

Anyways, this got me thinking... and so I sent pictures of Orin's "E.subnitens" stock to darkling beetle taxonomist Andrew Johnston, and lo and behold, this is what he had to say:

"That would be Eleodes madrensis! It co-occurs with subnitens in most places but is pretty unmistakable with that pronotum"

So, it turns out Orin's line has been misidentified all this time, and they are actually Eleodes madrensis (considered a sort of sister species to E.subnitens). Whereas this new beetle that I got from Sarah is truly E.subnitens.

Here's some pictures of the true E.subnitens female:

E.subnitens

E.subnitens pronotum; relatively slender, anterior margins highly acute.

Orin's E.madrensis pronotum; more rotund, anterior margins not so acute.

Very interesting update, I really hope this lone E.subnitens female I got from Sarah reproduces, so that I can actually get that species established in culture. And nice to have taxonomist confirmation on what Orin's old line is.

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

Camel Cricket Adults & Beetle Updates!

Some of my Ceuthophilus chiricahuae have started to mature, and they look pretty neat. 😀 It seems this species gets just a tad bigger than C.agassizii, and is certainly a lot leggier. 

Here are some pictures of a mature pair:

Male

Female

Hopefully these breed well for me, happy to finally have a third species of camel cricket in my collection. 😁 As much as I love the genus Ceuthophilus, I would REALLY love it if I could get my hands on another US native genus, especially one of the sand treaders... But, I shall stay content with my Ceuthophilus for now. 😅

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Next up, a small update, but the other week I reared up a female Eleodes hispilabris "South Texas Race" adult with a nice red stripe going down the middle of her elytra, and felt compelled to take some pictures. Pictures that I will now share here. 😂

Very nice form of this species, glad they've been breeding well for me. 😊

Also, just thought I'd mention that I've gotten larvae from my Eleodes extricata and Eleodes subnitens now! 😁

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Lastly, my Trogoderma sp. "Boise, ID" have been breeding incredibly well, and I now have starter colonies available for sale. 😄 I can see the larvae potentially being used as feeders, and honestly these may make decent cleaners in dry roach bins, they pretty much only eat dead, dried invertebrates, they'll eat dog food too but at a MUCH slower rate.

Anyways, I got pictures of the adults before, but not the larvae, here's some grubs digging into some dead invertebrates:

Kinda cute, in a creepy way, right? 😄 Glad these are doing well for me, hopefully they'll be identified to species eventually. 🤞

Anyways, that's gonna do it for this update post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉

New Darklings from Kyle!

Got some cool new species of Tenebs from Kyle of Roachcrossing, which I'll be covering in today's post! 😁

First off, he sent me a couple dozen adult Neatus tenebrioides "Livonia, MI", a forest dwelling darkling that is closely related to and looks pretty similar to the commonly cultured Tenebrio. Similar to Tenebrio, they are easy to rear and breed in captivity, and prolific to boot.

I've got mine in a well ventilated deli cup with an inch or so of coconut fiber, which I'll maintain a 50/50 humidity gradient with (I think the larvae of this species might like more humidity than those of Tenebrio). They've got a couple wood and bark hides, and I'm feeding them dog/cat food. I'll be keeping them at room temperature.

Here are some pictures of the adults:

For being such a widespread species, very few people culture them, and I feel like they have great feeder potential personally. Not sure if a diapause is required for this locality, but I don't think so.

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Next up, Kyle also sent me a (mated) female Eleodes subnitens, from a strain that Orin McMonigle has been breeding since 2007. Such dedication to a single stock is very impressive, and I hope I can keep them going in my collection for years to come! 😁

I've got her set up in a well ventilated container, with an inch of coconut fiber substrate. I'm keeping a third of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and am keeping her at around 75F°. I've given her a bit of eggcrate for a hide, and I'll be feeding her dog/cat food.

Here are some pictures of her:

The body shape of this species is rather unusual, quite rotund, with a weird little pucker at the end of the elytra. Hopefully this female lays lots of eggs for me! 🤞

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Lastly, Kyle sent me a (mated) adult female Eleodes spinipes ventricosa, also from stock maintained by Orin McMonigle, since 2006! This is the only other, far more finicky subspecies of E.spinipes in the US, differing from E.s.macrura in having deeper, more noticeable elytral punctation (also seems a bit skinnier than macrura).

I think Kyle mentioned getting pairs of both these and the subnitens off of Orin in a show months ago, but didn't have the time/space to set them up properly for optimal breeding, so he just sent the females to me to breed them instead. 😅

I've got this gal in a well ventilated setup with a coco fiber/sand mix. I've given her a toilet paper roll for a hide, and am keeping a third of the substrate humid, the rest dry. I'm keeping her at around 75F°, and will be offering dog/cat food as the staple diet.

Here are some pics of her:

Quite a large darkling, may actually be a bit longer than macrura (not as bulky though). I think I've seen her ovipositing already, which is fantastic! Adults of this species are quite prolific and produce many many offspring, however, getting the larvae to pupate correctly and emerge as healthy adults is the main hassle with this subspecies. Hopefully I can do it! 😅

Well, that's gonna do it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉