Time to finally cover some more of the inverts I got from Alan Jeon over the last year! I think most of these were received before the winter, since Spring I have also received some stuff from Alan, but I can cover those at a later date.
First off we have some Arenivaga cf. investigata from Imperial Dunes, CA. I am not sure if these are truly investigata, or rather I'm not sure if there are cryptic species living alongside investigata across their range, because I've had Arenivaga that I assumed were investigata as well from the same area, that were not nearly as broad, or rather as circular as this stock looks. The adult females at least, are quite rotund. In any case, this line is quite unique compared to the other Arenivaga spp. in culture, and thankfully they have already bred for me as well!
I have them set up in a well ventilated container with a couple inches of sand as the substrate, topped with crushed leaf litter. I have a third of the substrate kept moist, the rest dry, and am keeping them at around 75-80F. I am feeding dog food and fish food pellets in addition to the leaf litter.
I have them set up in a well ventilated container with a couple inches of sand as the substrate, topped with crushed leaf litter. I have a third of the substrate kept moist, the rest dry, and am keeping them at around 75-80F. I am feeding dog food and fish food pellets in addition to the leaf litter.
Here are some pics of an adult pair:
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| Female |
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| Male |
A cute species that while slightly challenging to keep (since they need a purely sand substrate to do well), I hope will become popular in the hobby! They are also only our second CA Arenivaga established in culture.
Next up we have a cute species of isopod Alan sent me ages ago that I've only remembered to post about now, Colomboniscus sp. "Key Largo, FL". These are a very slow breeding and growing micropod, with a very unique morphology. They are also almost certainly undescribed, but from what I hear they may not be for long!
I have mine in a moderately ventilated setup with a few inches of coco fiber, flake soil and sand mix, topped with leaf litter and coco coir chunks. I am keeping them moist, at around 73-75F, and am offering fish food pellets as a supplemental diet.
Here are some pictures of a couple adults:
Here are some pictures of a couple adults:
Hopefully they will establish themselves better for me soon, but boy do they take a long time to breed.
Next up, we have Eluma caelata "El Granada, CA". Another very uniquely shaped isopod, and apparently rather than the normal compound eyes isopods have, this species only sports a single ommatidium. Their bodies are covered in velvety hairs as well, and they are rather variable in coloration (at least this locality is). Overall a really neat species that I am happy to say is breeding well for me!
I have them in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch or so of fir bark, gravel and coco fiber mixed together (basically a bunch of random old substrates I had from other setups that I threw into this bin), topped with leaf litter and eggcrate pieces. I keep them on a 50/50 humidity gradient, and have them at around 80-85F. I am offering dog food as their supplemental diet.
Here are some pictures of them:
Here are some pictures of them:
A neat new addition to the isopod hobby, that I hope will become more popular in the future!
Now these are adorable, and I'd never heard of them before Alan introduced me to them, Paralabella curvicauda. A micro species of earwig that are rather colorful to boot! They are rather prolific and hardy, and have thoroughly infested their enclosure now, which I am happy to see!
I have them in a minimally ventilated enclosure with a couple inches of coconut fiber substrate, topped with some bark pieces. I am keeping them moist, at around 75F, and am feeding them dog food as the staple diet.
Here are some pictures of some adults:
Here are some pictures of some adults:
I am happy to say that at the time of writing this, I probably have the largest collection of earwigs in the US, if not the world. Now that's not saying a lot, but let me have this small victory would ya? 😆
Ironically the only species I have failed with are both species of introduced Forficula here in the states, which are arguably the most widespread of the Dermaptera now. I think they need a diapause but even providing mine with a mild one did not prove effective, they may need truly cold temps below 50F to be properly cycled... I'll figure them out one day.
Anyways, moving on! We have the very pretty Parcoblatta uhleriana from Bibb County, AL. This is an unusually high red form of uhleriana, nymphs are red with black abdominal striping, and most adult females keep this coloration as well. Males look pretty standard for the species. This line thankfully does not require a diapause, and they are rather prolific and hardy as well!
I have mine in a moderately ventilated setup with an inch or so of coco fiber, topped with leaf litter, bark and eggcrate pieces. I am keeping them humid, at around 75-80F, and am feeding them dog food and fruits as the staple diet.
I have mine in a moderately ventilated setup with an inch or so of coco fiber, topped with leaf litter, bark and eggcrate pieces. I am keeping them humid, at around 75-80F, and am feeding them dog food and fruits as the staple diet.
Here are some pictures of an adult pair:
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| Female |
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| Male |
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| Pair |
I really love this line, though keeping them really makes me want to keep the normal dark form of P.uhleriana again as well!
Now I really wanted some pure Porcellio expansus "Orange Skirt", and Alan the GOAT hooked me up. Not only did he send me some of Orin's pure stock, but they're also het for "Witch's Potion", and some of their mancae already came out expressing that. Now I have an isolated culture of that morph straight from Orin that's doing OK for me, but hey, never hurts to have backup!
I have them in a well ventilated shoebox with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped in leaf litter and cork bark. I'm keeping a third of the substrate humid, the rest dry, and am keeping them at around 75F. I am offering them fish food pellets as the supplemental diet.
Here are some pictures of them:
As I mentioned before, they've already bred for me, so here's hoping they keep at it!
Alan also hooked me up with another long term want of mine, Troglodillo sp. "White Tiger". These have remained a relative rarity in culture despite being in culture for a while now, likely due to their relatively slow breeding and growth rates, as well as their small brood sizes.
I have them in a well ventilated shoebox with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped in coco coir chunks, sphagnum moss, leaf litter and cork bark hides. At first I only kept a third of the substrate humid, the rest dry, but have found they prefer the entire enclosure humid (at least when well ventilated in an area with relatively low air humidity, like Idaho). I'm keeping them at around 80-85F, and am offering them dog food and fish food pellets as their supplemental diet.
I have them in a well ventilated shoebox with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped in coco coir chunks, sphagnum moss, leaf litter and cork bark hides. At first I only kept a third of the substrate humid, the rest dry, but have found they prefer the entire enclosure humid (at least when well ventilated in an area with relatively low air humidity, like Idaho). I'm keeping them at around 80-85F, and am offering them dog food and fish food pellets as their supplemental diet.
Here are a few pictures of them:
I really love the crisp, contrasting coloration on these, adults especially. They have been breeding pretty well for me, though I think I need to rehouse them to something bigger to really boost their numbers.
Now onto a very unique species of Arachnid! We have Charinus acosta, a micro species of Amblypygid (Whipspider), that is parthenogenetic! Slow breeders, but can be kept communally so long as they are well fed. I have my three in the same setup, and they all grew to sexual maturity together with no issues.
I have mine in a moderately ventilated setup with a thin layer of coco fiber, topped with cork bark pieces for hides. I am offering them Coecobrya, Nocticola, Caraiboscia, and Trichorhina as food sources, all of which seem to be consumed at one life stage or another. I am keeping them moist, at around 75F.
Here are some photos:
Lastly, on the topic of Arachnids, Alan sent me 2-3 of these weird, flat Pseudoscorpions from Orange Beach, FL quite some time ago. I honestly didn't know if they'd take or if there was even a pair in there, but I just saw a female carrying eggs the other day, so now that I'm hopeful they will establish for me, I guess I'll post about them!
I have them in a well ventilated setup with a thin layer of coco fiber, topped with a few inches of coco coir chunks and flat bark pieces. I am keeping a third of the substrate humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 80-85F. I am feeding them springtails and barklice as their staple diet.
Here are some pictures of 'em:
I absolutely love the morphology of this species, and I really hope I can establish a colony of them!
Aaaaaaand that does it, for this batch of inverts anyways. Alan has sent more boxes since, so I'll probably compile the contents of those into another blog post, maybe in a year or two from now, we'll see. 🤣
Anyways, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see ya'll next time! 😉
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