So now I've got around 50 nymphs of this species, which is a great starting group to work with for sure! 😄 I am noticing the nymphs from the first ooth are growing at FAR more staggered rates than R.bilunata, some are still L3, while there are a couple that are already L6!
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| L3 |
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| L5 (Left) & L3 (Right) |
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| Basically L1 through L5 in the rest of these pics... |
There's only been a very small die off of a few nymphs so far, so it seems I've got the care for Rochaina dialed in. But I won't know for sure 'til I get adults. 😉 Hopefully by the end of the year I'll be posting pictures of mature Rochaina!
Speaking of Rochaina bilunata, mine have reached L6! Their growth has really slowed down as of late, a couple of stragglers are still L5, though the growth is not nearly as staggered as that of the aforementioned R.metae.
I'm thinking I got 2-3 more instars until they're mature, at this rate I'm expecting adults at the end of Summer/early Fall. 🤞
Unfortunately, it is with a heavy heart that I announce my Hemilepistus pavlovskii have kicked the bucket. 😠Unfortunately I am not 100% sure what happened, but I'll share my experience with this last generation here so as to hopefully preserve any information that may prove useful in the future for other keepers of this species.
Once my F1s all reached sexual maturity late last year, I noticed they seemed to be killing each other off. This subgenus (Desertellio) is supposedly not AS territorial as subgenus Hemilepistus, however, H.pavlovskii may be an exception, as even after massively upgrading their enclosure size and providing them with a number of suitable hides, they still seemingly killed each other down to a single pair by winter 2025. And just like that, I was back down to a single pair, very reminiscent of my experience with the WC individuals I received in 2024.
Considering this happened two generations in a row, I've come to the conclusion that this especially large Desertellio species is in fact, nearly as, if not just as territorial as species from subgenus Hemilepistus.
Anyways, I dug up my last remaining F1 adult female back in late March, and saw she was quite gravid. So, excited about the prospect of F2 babies being born soon, I waited patiently for another month. But the babies never came, and I saw the male had died in a corner of the enclosure.
After weeks of not seeing the female or any babies surface, I finally tore the enclosure apart May 5th and the female was just gone. 😠No babies in sight, and I'm assuming her body decomposed to a degree that I was unable to find it.
Now, I'm still not sure exactly what went wrong, there are several variables that could be to blame:
- For starters, I had let them get a little warmer than I did last year, as my bug room has had some more significant heat spikes/fluctuations this Spring.
- Their new, larger bin could have had inadequate ventilation, either too much or too little, as I switched them over to micromesh ventilation, which I'm still new to using and am in the process of figuring out exactly what levels are preferable for what species.
- They might have contracted Rickettsiella, which several of my other pods have over the past year. I think my last big batch of leaf litter was pretty inundated with that bacteria, and I will admit that I did notice some unusual discoloration on my Hemilepistus this generation that could be attributed to that (could also have been dietary changes causing the coloration changes though). While I've been able to pull many species out of Rickettsiella infections, and they typically gain immunity after a generation or two, the territorial nature of this species may have left me with too few individuals (a single pair) to overcome such an infection.
- I also didn't sterilize the clay substrate in their new setup, as opposed to in the past when I sterilized everything. So any number of pests/pathogens could have been introduced that I may not have noticed.
In short, there were several variables that could be in play that weren't last generation, and unfortunately luck was just not on my side. 😠Whatever the case, I'm quite bummed, as I was literally weeks away from having F2 babies. 😩 Hopefully I'll be able to get my hand on this species again in the future, and equipped with more knowledge, will isolate pairs out as soon as they hit sexual maturity to avoid the territorial killing... and I would also sterilize ANYTHING going into their setups in the future rather than being lazy about it. But for now, this species is officially extinct in the US hobby. 😞
Another unfortunate loss has been my cf. Tyrannochelifer sp. "Orange Beach". They persisted for a generation or two but never in good numbers, and while I tried a variety of feeders (springtails, various mites and barklice) they didn't seem to eat anything with zeal. They were also quite picky about their hides, and seemed to want the very thin, flat hides pressed against each other (the the papery underbark layers from some hardwoods). I think they must be specialists on some specific invert prey, and might need a better choice of hides in captivity than what I was offering as well.
Last year I got a few Blapstinus dilatatus from Bakersfield, CA. This is a large, broad member of the genus, and are kinda like the western equivalent of B.fortis IMO.
They bred sparingly in their own enclosure I set up for them, and I in fact almost lost them, before dumping the half dozen or so individuals into my Gromphadorhina portentosa "Cleveland Aquarium" enclosure. IDK what it is about hisser enclosures that small darklings like this love so much, bur wouldn't ya know it, they've exploded in number in said enclosure, and are doing well enough for me to offer them up now. 😄
Said hisser enclosure is a well ventilated 5 gallon gasket bin with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped with eggcrate hides. I'm keeping a third of the substrate moist, the rest dry, am offering the roaches dog food and fruits (the Blapstinus only seem to really eat the former), and have them at around 80-85F°.
I wonder if it's the way the substrate compresses in hisser enclosures that these smaller darklings like, or if the roach frass is something the darklings enjoy eating. But whatever the case, I've found a number of species do better in hisser colonies than in their own dedicated enclosures, at least in my experience.
Now for an update on my Parahormetica bilobata! Most of them are subadults now, but one male actually matured months ago, and boy is he a stunner! 🤩
Interestingly, this locality seems to have some variation in the nymph coloration. All my nymphs are a dark reddish brown with little in the way of lighter markings. But one of Kyle's nymphs has the brighter coloration you'll often see in pictures of this species' nymphs online, so the coloration seems to be random.
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| Large nymphs |
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| Adult male |
This species is smaller than I had expected, with this male being about the size of a small L.subcincta adult. But that patterning more than makes up for the smaller size, and hopefully this just means I can keep more of them in a 5 gallon bin than I previously thought. 🤣 So excited for the rest to mature, hopefully within the next few months, so they can finally start breeding!
Lastly, Kyle sent me some a species of Pseudophyllodromiidae from Black Rock Lodge, Cayo, Belize, a few months ago. These are a brand new introduction to the hobby, and are reminiscent of a beefy Euthlastoblatta or Latiblattella species IMO, though their ID still remains a mystery. They are quite easy to breed, and mine have already produced an abundance of offspring!
I'm keeping them in a moderately ventilated gallon jar, with an inch or so of coco fiber substrate, topped with coco coir chunks, and eggcrate hides. I'm keeping them humid, at around 75-80F°, and am feeding them dog food and apple slices.
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| Male |
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| Female |
They so far seem quite a hardy species, and pretty large for a Pseudophyllodromiid, a good candidate for a beginner's introduction for this group! Will be interesting to see if/when these get a genus/species ID!
Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉
