Tenebrionid Success Updates!

I have had some nice successes with many of my Tenebrionids lately, so here's a new post just to highlight those successes! 😁

My Coniontis sp. "CA" have laid many eggs since I first got them, and I now have lots of larva tunneling around the enclosure! They seem to grow pretty fast, I was surprised at how large some of them were when I dug around the cage today looking for larvae to photograph!

Here are a couple half decent pictures of one of the larvae, (you'd be surprised at how much trouble I had to go through just to get these pictures):

The smaller Coniontis sp that I collected myself a little while ago have also produced eggs for me, and there are now several small larvae in their enclosure as well! Unfortunately they were too small for me to take any decent pictures of them, once they get bigger I'll try and snap some photos.

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The batch of Eleodes larvae that I got last month from Brandon Woo that are either E.acuticaudus or E.osculans have all pupated now! I separated a few into their own deli cups, but the majority are still inside the medium sized tupperware I housed them all in, they all dug to the bottom and constructed their own pupal cells at pretty much the same time.

I'm very lucky that they all grew at the same rate and decided to pupate all at once, otherwise the pupae would likely be cannibalized, not to mention many of the pupal cells would be collapsed by the tunneling activities of other larvae.

Anyway, considering their size, I'm almost 100% sure they are Eleodes osculans, will know for sure once some of the pupae eclose!

Here is a picture of one of the pupae that I had isolated into it's own deli cup:

Hopefully I'll end up with a lot of adults in a few weeks!

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I finally found larvae in my Eleodes tribulus container last month, this species seems to appreciate a rather sandy substrate for egg laying, and they don't seem to be terribly prolific either. The adults also really need good ventilation or else they get sluggish.

Here is a picture of one of the larvae:

In other Eleodes larvae related news, I now have a ton of Eleodes rileyi larvae! They seem very long and wiry compared to other Eleodes I've seen, unfortunately they are too small right now for me to get good pictures of them. This species is a lot more prolific than I expected, hopefully the larvae will turn out to be easy to rear!

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I have been isolating quite a few of my Embaphion cf. contusum larvae for pupation over the last month or so, and now I have quite a few new adults! This species has proven to be just as easy to breed as Embaphion muricatum, if not more so! The pupal survival rate is pretty high, and the percentage of "perfect" adults that eclose seems to be a little higher than that of E.muricatum.

Here are pictures of some of the fresh adults:

So glad this species has done well for me!

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Lastly, let's talk about my Meracantha contracta. Sadly, my female passed away the other day, this species doesn't live that long as adults, only a few months, and considering the extent of the injuries my female had, I'm honestly surprised she made it this long! Luckily she left me with a lot of larvae, she was way more prolific than I thought females of this species were supposed to be!

The larvae are doing very well on a diet of just chick feed and a little bit of leaf litter, (they don't really love the latter), so no rotten wood seems to be needed to rear this species, which is great! Some of the larvae are about half grown now I'd say, or very close to half grown at least!

Here are some pictures of a few of the larvae:

The coloration of the larvae seems to be pretty variable at this stage, some are sort of an orange tan color, while others have more of a rich chocolate brown coloration.

Overall it seems like most of my Tenebrionid species are doing very well right now, which pleases me greatly! That's gonna do it for today's post everyone, I hope you all enjoyed, will see you again soon! 😉

Alobates Larvae & Some New Darkling Beetles!

So, my Alobates pensylvanicus eggs hatched over a month ago into lots of tiny grubby larvae, (June 13th to be exact), I never really announced it! They were too small to get good pictures of or handle, and they soon dispersed into the substrate. I dug around the enclosure the other day and found a few of the larvae, most of them were near one corner of the enclosure, and there were less than I was expecting there to be. Granted, I didn't actually dig around the entire cage, and there are lots of bigger chunks of rotten wood that they could have bored into and hid in.

Still, I am a little paranoid about cannibalism, since larvae of this species are supposedly carnivorous, and the larvae seemed to be growing at rather staggered rates, (which suggests that some larvae could have eaten each other and grown bigger, while others hid instead and were just preying on small prey like fungus gnat maggots), so I separated the largest larva I could find and put it in it's own deli cup, and offered it live and pre-killed tiny mealworms. 

Surprisingly, it didn't eat either the live or dead mealworms, and just burrowed into one of the large pieces of rotten wood in the deli cup. It didn't even go for any of the chick feed I offered it, and it doesn't seem like the larvae in my main enclosure like that stuff much either, so far the only thing they really seem to eat is rotten wood.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the large larva I found:

Also, the adults have laid two more clutches of eggs, both are in between the sides of the enclosure and the substrate, and are right up against the enclosure in plain view. So it seems they are not as specific in their egg laying habits as I once thought. 😕

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A couple days ago I went out on a little collecting trip to a little stretch of scrubland near me, something I rarely do nowadays. I collected three species of darkling beetles, two of which I've never seen in person before! 😁

I collected three of these medium sized Eleodes, one was walking across a dirt path, and the other two were under large clods of dug up, dead grass. They look very similar to E.subnites, however I'm not sure that species ranges this far north, these are definitely something in the subgenus Promus though, I'm sure of it. Pretty sure all three of mine are females, so with any luck I'll get larvae from them soon!

I have them housed in a gallon sized plastic container with some coconut fiber as the substrate and some dead leaf litter on top. I will be keeping the enclosure dry with one moist corner. I am currently feeding them chick feed. 

Here are some pictures of one of the adults:

I'm surprised I've never seen this species alive before, the area I collected them was very close to an area I camped at frequently in 2014, I found lots of Tenebrionid species at that time, but never saw any of these. I did find a dead Eleodes there that looked a lot like one of these, it was a lot smaller and thinner though, must have been a male, (or a different species).

I also found this small Tenebrionid under a dirt clod, I'm thinking it's something along the lines of Metoponium, but I could be wrong. I've never seen one of these before, I submitted some photos of it (and the above Eleodes) to Bugguide, hopefully one of the experts there will be able to identify them! 😃

I am keeping it in a small plastic container with some coconut fiber as the substrate, and some dead leaf litter on top. I will be keeping the substrate dry with a moist corner. For the diet I will use mostly chick feed, in addition to the dead leaves. 

Here are a couple pictures of the little thing:

I am really hoping it just happens to be a gravid female, I seem to have incredible luck with finding gravid female Tenebrionids where I live, so we'll see! 

I also caught two adult Coniontis sp, one was found by my mom walking across a dirt path, the other I found under a grass clod. They seem to be the same species I've bred in the past, (which I collected in an area very close to where I caught these two), happy to have some again! 🙂 They are quite a bit smaller than the species I have from CA, still a very welcome addition to my collection though! I have them in the same container as the unknown Teneb above, with any luck one of them will be a female, and I'll get eggs soon! 

Well, that's gonna do it for today, I hope everyone enjoyed, will see you all next post! 😉

Coniontis darkening pt 2

Here are more pics of my Coniontis darkning, its almost fully black now, with a waxy bluish sheen.

As always, hope you guys enjoy! :)

Coniontis darkening up

My recently eclosed Coniontis sp is darkening up. Here are some pics!

I don't know why, but I really, really like this genus, I am eager to collect some other species, there is at least one more I've found here in Idaho. Can't wait till the weather warms up! As always, hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Coniontis update

My first Coniontis pupa has eclosed! There were no deformities, no problems, just one healthy captive bred Coniontis adult! Here are some pics! (Not the best quality pics, but I was excited and wanted to get this post out).

I have more larva in the pre-pupa stage, so more adults are on the way! I find these more interesting than Eleodes sp, even though these are much smaller. I hope to establish these in the hobby, once I have enough to part with. That's it for today guys, hope you enjoy! :)

Coniontis pupa!

I have been trying to pupate some of my Coniontis sp larva, and I have had success! They seem to pupate readily in small containers filled with moist, not wet, compressed coconut fiber. They dig to the bottom, make a pupal cell, and pupate a few weeks later. The pupa are unusually quite hairy. Here are some pics!

Pre-pupa larva in its pupal cell

I removed this pupa from its cell to get good pictures of it, I have it on a thin layer of moist coconut fiber.

Dorsal view

Ventral view

I can't wait to see some adults! That's it for today guys, hope you enjoyed! :)

Coniontis sp substrate change

Due to a heavy mite infestation, I had to replace the substrate and decor, and wash out the container. The substrate is now coconut fiber and sphagnum moss. One of my two adults died, so I really hope I can successfully rear the larva to adults soon. Here is a picture of the fresh enclosure.

Anyway, that's it for today, hope you guys enjoy! :)

Coniontis sp

I caught these last year at a campground right next to the snake river. I have been keeping them in a medium sized container, with some "Zoo med jungle mix" and sand as the substrate. I keep the substrate dry with a moist corner, like all my darkling beetles. They eat dog food, fruits and veggies. They love to burrow, both as larva and as adults. They do not seem to release any defensive chemicals, which makes them decent for handling! Here are some pictures of them (they are not the best quality, because these guys are small and do not stay still for very long).

This one is having a refreshing drink, lol!

Here is the larva. It looks different than most darkling beetle larva

Here is the cage

Overall I think these are fun little darklings, different in looks and habits than most of my other darklings. Hope you guys enjoy! :)