Monday, March 30, 2015

P.americana update

Just thought I would post an update on these guys. My adult female is still alive and in the garage, and I have the subadult male and three unsexed nymphs. One of them molted into what looks like a subadult female, which is great! Here are some pics!



What I believe to be a subadult female (EDIT: actually this is an adult female)
I can't wait to start breeding this species, I am hoping it won't be too hard, but we will see. That's it for today, hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Combclawed beetle larva

Just thought I would show some pics of my combclawed beetle larvae, they are more pale and thin than other darkling beetle larvae, (for those who don't know, combclawed beetles are in the same family as darkling beetles).



The cage (you can see an adult in the top right corner)
Hope you guys enjoy! :)

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Therea olegranjeani nymphs!

I got these last month from Peter at Bugsincyberspace.com. They are entertaining little things that love to burrow. They eat mostly dead leaves, and nibble on dog food, fruits and veggies. The substrate is coconut fiber and sphagnum moss, with a layer of dead leaves on top. I am keeping the top layer of the substrate dry, and the bottom layer moist. They can take a year or two to mature, but the adults are so beautiful that they will definitely be worth the wait! Here are some pictures!





The cage
They are doing well for me, and I can't wait till they mature! Hope you guys enjoy! :)

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Coelocnemis new setup

My old setup was not working, and had become infested with mites, so I am trying a new one! I have changed the substrate and caging, and added some springtails and some isopods, both of which were abundant where I found these beetles. The substrate is coconut fiber and sphagnum moss, and I put a layer of dead leaves on top. Here is a picture.


I really hope they will lay some eggs, as I would love to breed this species in captivity! That's it for today, hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Monday, March 23, 2015

E.armatus cage

Here is a picture of my Eleodes armatus enclosure. The substrate is coconut fiber and sphagnum moss. I just changed the substrate yesterday, (due to a mite infestation), so it is a little damp right now.


I added some springtails and some isopods to the cage as a clean up crew. I also added two paper towel rolls for hides. That's it for today, hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Eleodes sp. (subgenus Blapylis)

I have had these for a while, and they are cool little darklings! They are a bit bigger than the Eleodes cf. wakelandi that I have, and the larva are the color and size of yellow mealworms. The females are very wide, and I have dubbed this species as the "Chubby darkling beetle". The adults love to burrow, as do the larva. They live at least 2 years as an adult. I was keeping them on a substrate of sand and coconut fiber, but I just replaced it with coconut fiber and sphagnum moss, as it had become frass and sand. I keep them dry with a moist corner, like most of my darklings. I feed them dog food, fruits and veggies. They lay eggs readily in captivity, and the larva are easy to care for, but I have not yet been able to pupate any of the larva. They simply won't pupate, and eventually just die. Hopefully I will be able to convince some to pupate sooner or later. Anyways, here are some pics!

Female
Male
Male on left, female on right

Larvae

The cage
This species seems to be hardy, if only they would pupate!! I will keep you guys posted on these. I've been a bit busy lately, which is why the blog posts have slowed down a bit. I try my best to upload a post every other day, but sometimes stuff gets in the way. Hopefully you guys won't mind too much. That's it for today, hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Combclawed beetle (Hymenorus sp)

I caught around 17 larva and 4 pupa of this species last year, in a rotting tree. I have kept them in a container filled with moist rotten wood. The larva mostly eat rotten wood, but will also eat dog food, fruits and veggies when they are offered. I am not sure what the adults eat, (or if they eat at all), but I have offered them dog food and apple slices. They adults live only a few weeks. Here are some pictures of the adults!




Hopefully the adults breed, they are a pretty cool species in my opinion and I would hate to lose them. That's all for today, I hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Cylisticus convexus unusual coloration

Roughly 40% of my Cylisticus convexus colony are either white with brown speckles, or are purely white with a dark line going through them. I have not heard of these morphs in C.convexus, so I thought I would share this with you guys. (FYI the original stock was caught by me in Boise, Idaho.) Here are some pictures!





These are pretty cool isopods, and I may try to isolate the white morphs once I can find some time to do so. That's it for today! :)

Hairy rove beetle update

I have 5 captive bred adults as of now. I just changed their substrate, and I am hoping for some eggs soon. I did find one egg the other day, and the resulting larva is doing well. Here is a picture of one of my adults that I took today whilst changing the substrate.


I will be checking for eggs, fingers crossed! Hope you guys enjoy!

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Parcoblatta americana subadult male!!!

Yesterday I went and caught 2 more of these! One was a subadult male, and one was a unsexed nymph that was unhealthy and died today. :( However, now that I have a subadult male, I will hopefully be able to mate my adult female and get some fertile oothacae out of her before she dies! If not, I still have 3 more nymphs that will hopefully be females. Here is a pic of the subadult male!



I can't wait until it matures! Hope you guys enjoyed!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

E.hispilabris enclosure

I thought I would show you guys my Eleodes hispilabris cage. I recently replaced the substrate in their cage, due to a mite infestation, and the substrate was basically just frass. It is now coconut fiber and sphagnum moss. It is moist, due to the coconut fiber being freshly made. Here is a picture.


That's it for today, hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Eleodes cf. wakelandi

I caught these last year, and they have been doing really good for me. They are small, only about 13mm long. They breed readily in captivity, and the larva have good pupal survival rates. They eat dog food, fruits and veggies like most other darkling beetles. The larva are yellow with brown markings on them, kinda like superworms. The substrate is coconut fiber and sphagnum moss. I keep them dry, with a moist corner. Here are some pictures!

Female on the right side, male on the left
Male
Adult pair, Female on right, male on left
The cage
And here is a video I took of them the other day!


So far this species has proven easy to breed, and they are quite cute in my opinion! I hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Eleodes armatus

I have had these for a few years now, and they are not the easiest darkling beetles to culture. They do not have the best pupal survival rates. They eat dog food, fruits and veggies. The substrate is coconut fiber and sand. I keep them dry with a moist corner. The adults can live 2+ years. Here are some pictures!

Male

  
Female
Captive bred male with leg deformity. (The leg is much smaller than it should be).

I am pupating 4-5 of the larva right now, and hopefully I should have some healthy captive bred adults soon. That's all for today, hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Domino roach nymphs!

I got these recently from Peter at Bugsincyberspace.com, and they are doing good! They have been eating dead leaves, dog food, fruits and veggies. The substrate is coconut fiber and sphagnum moss. I am keeping them moist, with a drier upper layer, (or I will be, once the substrate dries out a little bit). The nymphs of these and the question mark roaches have white tips at the end of their antenna, unfortunately you can't really see them in most pictures. Here are some pics!

Nymphs


The cage
They are doing good, and in about 2 years I should have some adults! Hope you guys enjoyed! :)

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Snails!!!

I have had these since October of last year, I caught 6-7 of them under leaf litter. I have been feeding them dog food, fruits and veggies, and some dead leaves. The substrate is coconut fiber, and one corner of the cage has some calcium sand. There is some sphagnum moss on top of the substrate, for them to hide in. I keep them moist. They have been doing great, and have reproduced. Here are some pictures!




Their cage
They seem hardy, and I hope I can keep breeding them through multiple generations. Hope you guys enjoyed! :)

C.maxillosus adult enclosure

I thought I would post a picture of my setup for the adults. The substrate is 2 inches of coconut fiber, and a little sphagnum moss on the top.


Unfortunately, the adults have not been laying any eggs, I do not know why. I will keep you guys posted!