Pods, Crickets & Roach Updates!

Last year I started an Armadillidium vulagre colony from a single gravid female I found inside a Walmart in Meridian, Idaho. This particular line (perhaps due to inbreeding) has thrown out a lot of color variations, one consistent one has been "Dalmatian" looking individuals. I finally got around to isolating some a few months back, they have now bred and while it's still a little to early to say, it does seem like their offspring all inherited the trait. 

So should be a simple recessive gene, in which case, while I do hate gimicky morph names, I feel that I have to name these "Walmatian"... 🤣 Credit to Kyle from Roachcrossing calling them "Walbinos" as a joke, which inspired me. We'll see if they truly do prove out though.

Here are some pictures of them:

One of the larger males pictured here is a high expression individual, most of them have been low expression though, meaning they only have a few small flecks of pigment here and there. Mostly quite pale, which is normal among a lot of "Dalmatian" morph isopods.

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Speaking of Roachcrossing, Kyle recently sent me a new Gryllus species from "New Park, AL". They are neat in that larger nymphs have a reddish brown coloration, whereas most Gryllus have pretty dark black nymphs, except for firmus, I've noticed my colony of those is throwing out paler nymphs and adults (initially a customer pointed it out to me and thought they were a different species, but after isolating pale nymphs to their own setup and letting them breed, their offspring are a mix of normal black individuals and more pale ones, so it seems to be just one species with variable coloration).

Anyways, I've got the sp. "New Park" set up in a well ventilated 5 gallon gasket bin with an inch or so of coco fiber, topped with lots of eggcrates and bark hides (they're being cohabbed with pure Blaberus sp. "peruvianus"). I'm keeping a third of the enclosure moist, the rest dry, and am feeding them dog food and fruits.

Here are somw pictures of an adult female:

A really neat new addition to culture, their chirp is pretty and they are very easy to keep and breed. Mine have already produced oodles of nymphs!

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My Spherillo sp. "Dream" have been thriving, I recently replaced their old substrate and revamped their setup, and they've produced a bunch of mancae as of late as a result.

Managed to snag some pictures of a few of them:

Pictures really don't do these justice... though I will say these came out a lot better than the last pics I posted of this species. 😄

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Now for yet another hisser project... I am "Hisserdude" after all. 😆 I'm currently working on refining a more consistently and vibrantly striped line of Princisia vanwaerebeki "Big/Black - 2017 CCR Stock". My main B/B colony is quite variable, throwing out a mix of high striped, low striped, very dark and straight up melanistic adults (the latter I've already isolated a true breeding line of, "Obsidian"). However I really would like a line that consistently only throws out individuals with the orange/yellow abdominal margins. And not just the more squared off, thin margins, but ones where the orange margins turn into side-striping. As that coloration is my favorite in the "Big/Black" phenotype. 

So first, I had to isolate a culture that only produced individuals with abdominal margins and breeds true to that. I accomplished this in a generation, it was actually incredibly easy. Now I've isolated the individuals from that colony with the highest amount of side-striping, a 2.2 group of fresh adults, and have them in their own enclosure. With any luck, their high level of abdominal patterning will be heritable, and I can have a true breeding colony of very "Vibrant" B/B within another generation or two. 🤞 

Here are some pictures of the individuals I've picked for the highest amount of striping:

Females

Male

Pair

Pretty, right? Now here is a more normally patterned female for comparison, note how square/rectangular the abdominal margins are, barely cutting into the black at all:

Weirdly, males seem to much more commonly throw out a higher level of abdominal patterning than females, there were plenty of males that had the nice sidestriping in the colony I pulled these out of, but most females had just the normal, more squared off abdominal margins.

Anyways, here's hoping I'll have success with this line breeding project, fingers crossed! 🤞

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

Some New Wishlist Roaches, & a Couple Other New Additions!

A few weeks ago, Kyle sent me two adults and some larvae of a medium-small Eleodes species from "Potato Chip Rock, CA". I can't quite place them to species myself, and am waiting on ID confirmation from an expert ATM, so I'll edit and update this post when I get an ID. One interesting thing to note is that the larvae are a darker brown color than most Eleodes spp..

I've got them housed in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch or so of a coco fiber and sawdust mix, one third kept moist, the rest dry. I'm feeding them dog food and am keeping them at around 75F°.

Here are some pictures of one of the adults:

Here's hoping I can get a colony established! They're pretty cute, everything about them is quite stout and rounded in appearance. 

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Now for a very exciting new addition, I was able to acquire some CBB Parahormetica bilobata nymphs from Connor Brescia! These are a brand new addition to culture, and I am so excited to be among the first to receive CB stock of them! 😁 

I have them set up in a minimally ventilated bin with a few inches of coco fiber and substrate, kept humid. I'm giving them dog food and apple slices for their staple diet, and have them at around 80-85F°.

Here are some pictures of one of the nymphs:

They are still quite small and very dark, but I've seen pictures of larger nymphs online that have lots of color and patterning on them (and the adults are stunning as well), so I look forward to watching these grow!

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I also got another species I've been wanting to try my hand at culturing for a while from Jeremy Morrell, some Luridiblatta trivittata! These are the first real Ectobiids I've kept (all other former "Ectobiids" I've kept have since been moved to their own families), and boy are they cute! This species is known for having unique care requirements, namely their oothecae require a cool, dry period for a few months, and then a warm and humid period to trigger hatching. There's a great Roach Forum post on them explaining the process here.

I've got the adults in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of a coco fiber/sand mixture, topped with bark and cardboard roll hides. I'm keeping one corner of the enclosure moist, the rest bone dry, and they're being given dog food and fruits for the staple diet. I'm keeping them at around 80-85F°.

I was also given some oothecae, which I put in their own well ventilated deli cup, on a bed of dry coco fiber. Eventually I'll move all the oothecae the adults lay in their main enclosure to the deli cup or vice versa and put them in a cool spot over the winter.

Here are some pictures of an adult female:

I'm pretty sure I only have females, otherwise I would have taken pictures of a male too since their wings are longer (but they're still brachyapterous). Really really hope these breed for me!

I also got some oothecae of Planuncus tingitanus s.l, another Ectobiid that has become established in CA and likely has the same care requirements, so I'll be incubating said ooths the same as the Luridiblatta. 

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Months ago I got some Parcoblatta lata "Tuskegee, AL", from Kyle I believe. These are the second largest Parcoblatta IIRC (largest being northern P.pennsylvanica), and I haven't kept them in years. Happy to have some back, and this line thankfully doesn't require a diapause!

I've got them in a well ventilated enclosure with a 50/50 humidity gradient, a thin layer of coco fiber substrate topped with eggcrates and cardboard rolls for hides. I'm feeding them dog food and apple slices and have their enclosure at around 75-80F°.

Here are some photos of an adult pair:

Male

Female

Pair

I've really been on a Parcoblatta kick lately, and I briefly had all described species in my collection as of a few weeks ago... but unfortunately my P.desertae just died off due to an entomophagous fungus infection... so I need that species again lol. But other than desertae that I've got all the described species ATM, though there are certain localities and color forms of some species I am looking for, and perhaps 1 or two undescribed species we know of that I need as well. 😆

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Lastly, a few months back I acquired some Porcellio flavomarginatus "Crete" from Spencer Thornton, a unique locality of this species with a dark base coloration, covered in greenish-yellow speckles.

I've got them in a well ventilated shoebox with a thin layer of old roach/beetle substrate (looks like a random coco fiber and sand and clay mix), topped in leaf litter and eggcrates. I'm keeping a third of the enclosure moist, the rest dry, and have them at around 75-85F°. They're being given dog food as their supplemental diet.

Here are some pics of a couple:

They've proven to be quite hardy and prolific, and I've already got a nice colony going!

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