Speaking of roach babies I didn't get pictures of, my Panchlora sp. "Speckled" females have started to give birth, found some tiny nymphs in the substrate the other day! 😃 These things breed fast!
I redid my Corydidarum pygmaea enclosure last week, as the top layer of substrate was just frass and old sheds, (which this species does not eat). So I replaced the substrate, and I also added even more ventilation and a small rotten log, to try and mimic this breeder's setup. As you can see, he has gotten his to breed very prolifically, and I think it either has to do with the sheer amount of ventilation they have, (he keeps his main colony in a large kritter keeper with cloth or parchment paper? spread over the top in between the lid and the container, so the roaches can not escape), or maybe the logs he has in there, (I have observed mine boring into small rotten wood chunks a couple times before).
Anyway, I'll do whatever I can to increase the productivity of my colony, so here's what their enclosure looks like now, (ignore the mold on the log, that is typical post-sterilization mold, it'll be gone after a few weeks):
And pictures of a tiny nymph and an adult female:
Also, the nymphs from the second litter that my original females gave me have all started to mature, and a couple months faster than the nymphs from their first litter! (only took them six months instead of eight). I attribute this to increased temperature levels.
My Pystalla horrida have had it rough lately, they have absolutely refused to eat Hemiblabera tenebricosa adults, (presumably because they aren't that active), and after leaving some H.tenebricosa adults in with them for a couple days, I was horrified to find that they bit off both of the antennae from one Pystalla adult, and bit off one antenna from two of the others! 😰 Needless to say, I will not be feeding them Hemiblabera anymore.
Luckily though, it seems that adult Pystalla will eat prey much smaller than themselves, (something I did not think they would do), and they have been eating Pycnoscelus nigra adults and subadult nymphs!!! I have an UNLIMITED supply of P.nigra, my colony has exploded lately, so if they keep eating them consistently, it seems my Pystalla worries are over! 😁 And yes, I have fed them Pycnoscelus nigra when they were younger, so I know for a fact that they won't turn on them like the Hemiblabera adults did...
Now I just gotta get them all plump and well fed, and I can begin harvesting eggs from my females!
Well, that is going to do it for today's post, thanks everyone for reading, happy holidays, will see you all next time! 😉
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