Assassin Bug and Roach Updates (Really Picture Heavy!)

My adult female Melanolestes picipes died the other day, RIP. It seems my female ate quite a few of her eggs unfortunately, hopefully there are a few that she did not get to, since I would like a higher amount of nymphs.

I have 6 nymphs that are doing well, and another that may be at death's door. A few of the nymphs have molted to the 2nd instar, and they have gained a considerable amount of size.

Here are some pictures of one:

The shed

The nymph

All the nymphs have been feeding well on small Pycnoscelus surinamensis nymphs that have had their heads smashed, and they will apparently tackle prey almost twice their size if hungry.
Hopefully I will get some of these to mature, would love to get a colony of these going!

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My largest Corydidarum pygmaea nymph has molted into what I believe is an adult female, so I now have an adult pair of this species! Hopefully they'll mate, I can't wait to see some babies!

Here she is:

Another female is close behind, and there seem to be one or two subadult males. I will keep you all updated on these cool little roaches.

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Here's some really exciting news, two of my Dorylaea orini have matured!! They look so cool, I really hope they will breed well for me! I believe they are both females, though I could be wrong.

Here are some pictures of them:

Here you can kinda see just how long the antenna are

I'm so happy these are starting to mature, the other two nymphs are close behind, so soon all of mine will be adults!

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My Gyna lurida have been doing very well, and several more have matured. By the way, I have found that their reputation for being a skittish species is completely justified, while I have not seen mine fly they have darted out of the enclosure a few times, these guys are fast as lightning!! Luckily I'm faster, as none of them have actually escaped... yet.

Anyway, here is are some pictures of one particularly attractive female, she's almost white in coloration, and no, she is not teneral:

I have adults of both sexes now, so hopefully I'll be seeing babies pretty soon, and a lot of them!!

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My Panchlora sp. "White" have been doing OK, no babies yet. Even though nothing of note has happened with them, I really REALLY love this species, so I took some more pictures of the males. :)

Hmmmm.... I'm beginning to wonder if I should have split this into like, two posts instead of one really big one... Oh well, you know what they say, "go big or go home"! ;)

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Last time I showed off my Pycnoscelus sp. "Thailand", I photographed one of the individuals that looks pretty much exactly like a P.surinamensis. Now let me show you what many of the other adults in my colony look like.

Much darker, right? Plus the wings are really short. It kinda looks like a Pycnoscelus nigra, however it is more of a dark grey color than black. Plus the legs are not as vibrant of an orange color as they are on P.nigra. This really does seem to be a different species than the other Pycnoscelus in the hobby, and can't be a hybrid since these are parthenogenic.

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

Some New Roaches!!!

I recently got some new roaches from Alan Jeon, also known as Cariblatta lutea on Allpet Roaches Forum. I purchased some new Parcoblatta bolliana, Parcoblatta zebra, Pycnoscelus sp. "Thailand", and he threw in a free starter colony of Cariblatta lutea! :) Now I have recovered almost all of the species that were hit by the entomophagous fungus! I got a large over count on all the species I bought, and I will definitely do business with him again. Anyway, let's talk about my new roaches!

First let's talk about my Parcoblatta bolliana and Cariblatta lutea, both are species I have previously owned, but lost to a entomophagous fungus. These are all captive bred specimens, and will not carry such pathogens, thankfully.

The Parcoblatta bolliana are in a medium sized container filled with coconut fiber, I have bark, dead leaves, and a toilet paper roll as hides. Hopefully I will be able to breed this species this time!

The Cariblatta are in a small container similar to the one I am using for my Chorisoneura texensis, with the same feeding hole design. It seems like the best way to avoid escapees in these tiny species. The substrate is a mix of coconut fiber and a little bit of sand, and for hides I am using bark and dead leaves.

Here are some pictures of them!

Parcoblatta bolliana subadult male

Parcoblatta bolliana female nymph

Cariblatta lutea adult male

Cariblatta lutea nymph

Now let's get to my new species!!

My Parcoblatta zebra are housed in a medium sized container filled with coconut fiber. For hides I am using bark, dead leaves, and cardboard pieces. I have a big slab of bark propped upright against one wall of the container, as this species apparently likes upright bark. This species is the prettiest Parcoblatta in my opinion. :)

My Pycnoscelus sp. "Thailand" are housed in a medium sized container filled with several inches of coconut fiber. There are pieces of bark laid down on the surface of the substrate, which they seem to like hiding under. These guys have yet to be identified, but they could be P.conferta.

Here are some pictures!

Parcoblatta zebra subadult male

Parcoblatta zebra adult female

Pycnoscelus sp. "Thailand" nymph

Pycnoscelus sp. "Thailand" adult

I am very happy with this latest order of roaches, hopefully I will be able to breed all of them with no problems.

Well, that's gonna be it for today guys, I hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for next post! :)