New Pods and LOTS of Dubia!

Well, something interesting happened a few weeks ago. One of my local acquaintances did a joint rescue with Idaho Fish & Game, and rescued/confiscated a decent collection of herps and inverts. He offered some of the inverts to me if I wanted them, and you know me, I can't turn down free bugs. 🤣 

First off, and probably most excitedly, I was given 8-10 Cylisticus convexus "Ukraine - Pied". I have a real fondness for this species, their ease of care and unique morphology are both appealing to me, so having a Pied/Dalmatian morph of this species is even better! 😃 

Got mine set up in a moderately ventilated enclosure with an inch or so of what looks like coco fiber mixed with moss (it's what they came on), topped with leaf litter and bark. Keeping them quite humid and at 70-75F°. Feeding dog food in addition to the leaf litter.

Here are some pictures of them:

I expect I'll start seeing babies any day now, considering some of the females are gravid. 😄 

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Also nabbed a starter culture of Porcellio dilatatus, which have gone through the wringer and were initially set up far too moist. Letting the colony dry out a bit, and already they seem to be recovering nicely, I did find a few mancae the other day, so I expect within a few months I'll have tons of them, based on my previous experience with this species.

And lastly I was given a fairly large and well established culture of Blaptica dubia, which I merged with my smaller breeding colony. Interestingly there are both Alphitobius diaperinus and Tenebrio molitor present in the colony in small numbers, which I will likely isolate and establish separate colonies of for the heck of it. 😁 

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

New Job Inverts & A Trade!

Well, as I've mentioned before, I got a new job at Walmart, which is why I've been more infrequent with my posts lately. However, rest assured that I've been staying on top of my invertebrate maintenance, and what's more, I caught a group of Clogmia albipunctata in the bathroom at work! 😆 

I set them up in the typical Psychodidae enclosure, a 32 oz deli cup with a fabric mesh lid, with an inch of flooded leaf litter at the bottom, with a piece of dog food thrown in for extra nutrition. In 10 days, I had larvae already, and maybe a weel later, I started getting adults. 😁 

Here are some pictures of some large larvae, and some adults (some of which are denuded):

Larvae

Adults

Been wanting to breed this species for a year or so now, they're surprisingly hard to source... Glad I finally got some and got them breeding! This species breeds and grows so much faster than Setomima, and is probably a much better feeder option as a result. They are significantly larger than Setomima though.

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I also got some Tenebrio molitor from Walmart as well, most of which have matured now. It's been a few years since I kept this species, nice fo finally have them again. Sadly it seems I won't be breeding them, as all the females came out sickly as hell and seemingly died before laying any eggs.

Anyways, for the first time ever on my blog, here are some pictures of this species:

Can't believe I never took pictures of these before, even though they were one of the first Tenebs I bred (the first being Eleodes hispilabris). I'll have to get some healthy stock from a more reputable source later on.

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Thanks to a trade with Maxwell Wolfgang, I once again have Pystalla horrida, the Horrid King Assassin Bug! I was hoping to breed these in large numbers again like I did back in 2017. That being said, I had QUITE the trouble getting these ones to eat, despite offering the same food items I used to last time I bred them. IDK if it was shipping stress, the shock of being introduced to a new setup, or what, but as a result, all but three died, and the three that survived seem to be a unisex group... 😑  I had to throw them into my Princisia vanwaerebeki "Big/Black" colony to get them to eat, they seem to like the smaller hisser nymphs that are abundant in there. Hopefully I can get some large nymphs/adults of the opposite sex to breed these, or just start all over with eggs or L1s this time.

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Anyways, inlcuded with the Psytalla were some Blaptica dubia nymphs, which were meant to serve as food. However, the Psytalla didn't eat them during shipping, so I decided to save them, because I don't yet have normal dubias. 😆 

I have the 7 or so nymphs set up in a well ventilated enclosure with eggcrates for hides, and no substrate. I'm feeding them dog food and fruits, and am keeping them dry and warm (75-80F°). 

I didn't bother getting pictures of them, but I probably will when I start getting adults! 

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

Blaberus Adult, Euthlastoblatta Nymphs, & More!

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been insanely busy between my new job, my side job (caring for and selling my inverts LOL), and family obligations. 😅But I have a few overdue updates to share, including these that I was supposed to have posted weeks ago.

My pair of Blaberus cf. chacoensis "Pantanal, Brazil" has matured, and they're so pretty! 😊 They look very clean and pure, so that's great, hopefully I'll be able to breed these successfully and get some decent broods out of this female!

Here are some pics of the male, I have taken pictures of the females as well but haven't had time to edit them or anything, so for now, here's just the male:

Male

Really hoping I'll have success with these, they're very pretty looking for a Blaberus! Plus every brood counts, considering we're just getting this species established in the Us hobby again.

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My Euthlastoblatta abortiva are growing very well, and one of the ooths Kyle sent along with the initial group of nymphs actually hatched, so I've got a decent starter culture going. I think my largest nymphs are pre-subs or subadults now, and they look so pretty! 😍

Here are some pictures of my largest nymph:

These things are so damn pretty, I really can't wait to see adults! 😁

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My Pycnoscelus surinamensis "Dark" colony has been thriving, and so I decided to snap some better pictures of one of my adults, just 'cause.

Here she is:

Definitely a very pretty strain of this species IMO. 😊 I've had some lighter, normal colored adults pop up though, so I think the strain needs some refining still.

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Lastly, I snapped a couple of pictures of a large male Tenebrio obscura the other day. These pics don't do him justice, his forearms are very large and bowed, quite a good looking specimen! My next wave of adults is maturing out, should have tons of these soon. 🤞

Here are those pictures:

I really prefer these guys in morphology to T.molitor, though T.molitor are definitely a more prolific species IME.

Speaking of T.molitor, I just got a group of those, so yay, another darkling to add to the roster lol. 😂

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