Wednesday, August 13, 2025

New Pods & Some Roach Updates!

I got a group of Cubaris sp. "Amber Firefly - LCF" in trade with Alyssa from Forests of Asgard, was very happy with the counts and health of the specimens on arrival, and am glad to report they have blossomed into a full on breeding colony as of now! 😊 This is one of those species that has a bit of a silvery sheen to their exoskeleton (especially when they dry out a little bit), which is hard to capture on camera, but needless to say they look a lot prettier in person!

I have mine set up in a well ventilated container with an inch or so of leftover substrate from some other breeding project I've forgotten (so a mix of coco fiber, sand and I think a little clay too), topped with coco coir chunks, bark and leaf litter. I am keeping them fairly humid, at around 75-85F, and am offering dog food and fish food pellets as their supplemental diet, as well as some calcium carbonate chunks.

Here are some pics of them:







A beautiful species, I would like to acquire some of the other color forms in the future as well. Glad they are doing well for me, hopefully they will continue to do so!

At some point last year I got some Cubaris sp. "Black Bear" from my buddy Ty at Ty Dye Exotics, and I keep forgetting to post about them! They are a cute, velvety species that seems fairly easy to rear and breed, though a bit slow growing/breeding. They are part of an undescribed genus that also includes some other species like sp. "Kayson Honey".

I have them in a moderately ventilated setup with an inch or so of coco fiber and coco coir chunks as the substrate, topped with bark pieces and leaf litter. I am keeping them humid, at around 75F, and am feeding them dog food and calcium carbonate chunks as their supplemental foods.

Here are some photos of 'em!








A very underrated species IMO, these and the Amber Fireflies are now on my For Sale list BTW, if anyone is interested in adding some to their own collections. 😜

My Asiopus minimus are doing well and have exploded in numbers. They are evidently a very easy to keep species, not sensitive to crowding much at all. 

Here's a single picture I took of a glob of adults:


Glad these have done so well for me, another species to add to my ever growing assortment of Tenebrionid colonies.

My Cariblatta minima have also been doing quite well, and I really don't have anything noteworthy to add as an update. I just got a somewhat decent picture of a bunch of them chowing down on dog food recently and figured I'd post it here.


A neat little species that I think a lot more people should keep.

My Byrsotria rothi have all not only matured, but have bred as well. I can't believe I never kept these before, these are SO underrated! The males have some neat morphology and wing shape, and I love the dark reds the females have on their abdomen. 😍

Here are some pictures of an adult pair:

Female




Male




Pair

This genus in general is so underrated, but this species in particular is ridiculously slept on! I hope to see more hobbyists keeping them in the future, along with some of the other "forgotten" hobby staples that have sort of fallen into obscurity now with the influx of more "interesting" species that have entered culture as of late.

I moved my Paranauphoeta formosana to a larger 5 gallon bin recently, and weirdly they've been having a lot of die off in the process. I think the sudden change of environment, combined with slightly less ventilation and higher humidity in that setup may have been to blame. I have since let the setup dry out some more, though I may also add some more ventilation soon. The die offs seem to have slowed down though, and I've seen several litters born lately, so I'm not too worried ATM.

Anyways, got some group photos of some adults recently:





It's so dang hard to get even somewhat decent photos of this species, the adults are SO SKITTISH. They are much prettier in person than in photos IMO, these have also fallen into obscurity recently I feel, despite their attractive patterning and former popularity.

Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post. Thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉

Thursday, August 7, 2025

New Bugs & Random Stuff

I've been wanting to do a larger post about all the bugs I got from my buddy Brandon Maines when I visited him last year, as well as talk about that trip in general, but I just haven't had the time...  so I guess I'll post about them in a more piecemeal fashion, as I eventually bother to get pictures of all of those species...

One of the more impressive acquisitions from that trip were these pure Blaberus giganteus "PA University". These are a big, beautiful, and relatively hardy line, and the first and only giganteus I have kept. I'm glad to finally be breeding these, and to be able to make them available, as it can be tricky to find real, pure giganteus nowadays.

I have mine in a 27 qt. container with moderate levels of ventilation. I have them on 2 inches or so of coconut fiber mixed with coco coir chunks, and they have some eggcrate and vertically slanted bark hides to cling to. I keep two thirds of the substrate humid, the other third dry, and am feeding them dog food, fruits and veggies. The colony is sitting at about 80F°.

Here are some pictures of an adult female:










Such impressive roaches, and I believe the third longest species of cockroach in terms of wingspan (being beat by Megaloblatta longipennis, and M.blaberoides respectively). Definitely a must have for cockroach enthusiasts everywhere!

At some point I did another trade with Satchell Watts-Kerr, for a variety of inverts that I still need to post about... including these beautiful Labidura riparia "Lake Placid, FL". This is one of the largest earwigs present in the US, and perhaps the longest considering the crazy long forceps that major males possess. The patterning of this species varies a lot from locality to locality, this one a relatively dark locality with some nice red highlights.

Now I'd heard that these were a finicky species, and to an extent that is true, as these are an especially protein hungry and predatory species, for an earwig. However, with ample space, some live prey and more basic protein sources available at all times, I have had no issues establishing and maintaining a thriving colony of this species at all. 🤷

I have mine in a moderately ventilated 5 gallon gasket bin, with 3-4 inches of a sand and coco fiber mix (about 60% sand, 40% coco fiber). I am keeping them moist and at 80-85F°, and am feeding them dog food and fish pellets, as well as Compsodes, Nocticola and Tagaloblatta. There are also Trichorhina tomentosa breeding in their setup that I'm sure they're consuming as well.

Here are some pics of an adult male:









The forceps on these guys are crazy, such a pretty and unique species of earwig, and again, pretty large as well!

I'm pretty much always getting in new bugs from Alan Jeon, he is truly an enabler to my addiction. 🤣 One addition that I've been lusting after for years are these currently undescribed Euthlastoblatta sp. "Miramar Beach, FL". They are found in multiple areas in Florida and I think adjacent states as well, and are a large species for the genus, with very attractively patterned nymphs.

I set up my 2.1 adult trio in a well ventilated gallon jar with a thin layer of coconut fiber substrate topped in a few inches of coco coir chunks. I'm feeding them dog food and apple slices, and am keeping them semi-humid, at around 80-85F°. They seem to be doing well, and I started finding hatchlings last month, and at least one male and the female are still alive.

Here are some pictures of an adult pair:

Male



Female





Female (Left) & Male (Right)
Quite an attractive species IMO, can't wait to see their nymphs grow up so I can get some pictures of their striking, ornate patterning! This is supposed to be quite a finicky species, so if I can successfully establish a colony and get them thriving for me, that would be quite the achievement!

One of the more annoying pests in my collection are Pyralis farinalis, the Meal Moth. They have a propensity for getting into enclosures, and their larvae create silken tubes in the substrate which they live within, feeding on leaf litter and grain based foods. Large infestations can turn the upper layers of substrate into a solid mat of silk tubes, which is rather unappealing and can be stressful to some inverts.

Despite this, some of you FREAKS actually like these things and want to culture them... I suppose adults could make good feeders for arboreal, visual predators, but at what cost?

In any case, I decided to offer them on my For Sale page, and have surpringly had some takers already. I needed to get some photos for my listing, so here:



They are not an unattractive species, but boy do I wish they would leave my collection alone... 🙃

Now for something a bit more unusual, while hiking the Kepros Mountain trail outside of Boise, ID, I came across a beetle I have never seen before, and that I could not identify, even to family for the life of me. Turns out, it was a Pseudomorpha species, so called "Western False Form Beetles", I assume because they look nothing like typical members of their family, Carabidae. Their larvae are ant nest inquilines, and most species in the US are still undescribed. Very neat little beetles that I've never even heard of before, always nice to learn something new! 😄

Here are some pictures I took of the little cutie before I let it go:








Too bad they are dependent on ants for their development, so they're not something I would ever realistically attempt breeding myself.

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