Old Roaches & New Orthopterans!

Thanks to Alan Jeon, one of the most prominent members of Blatticulture and the invert hobby general, I've just received two pairs of a beautiful roach species I used to keep, as well as a pair of a large US native Orthopteran that is rarely cultured... 😁

First, let's start off with the roaches, a species that I used to keep but sold off before I could actually breed them, (as I was leaving the hobby at the time), the beautiful Hormetica strumosa! 😄 Yes, I now have two pairs of these beauties, I used to keep them, but as I mentioned earlier, I sold them just as mine were starting to mature, so I never got to breed them... Hopefully this go around I'll be able to rear larger adults, (as I'm giving them a bigger enclosure), and I'll be able to breed these beauties! 😁 Come to think of it, I don't think anyone BUT Alan's had much success breeding them in the US, kinda scary TBH, but hopefully I'll also have success in getting them to pop! 🤞

I'm keeping my two nymph pairs in a moderately ventilated two gallon tub full of moist, compressed coconut fiber, with some slanted bark slabs buried for them to construct burrows against, as apparently females of this species like having stable brooding chambers. I'll feed them the usual fare of chick feed, fruits and veggies, maybe some artificial pollen too. Got some leaf litter on top of the substrate just in case as well.

Here are some pictures of one of the nymphs:

Here goes round #2 with these guys, wish me luck! 😁 I will also probably be removing the males from the females after I'm sure they've mated, as this species may occasionally exhibit filicide, something one does not want to let happen with such a slow breeding species.

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Now, for something new entirely... There is a very large Camel cricket species found in the eastern US, Ceuthophilus gracilipes, could be the largest native species in the US to be honest. They've been cultured in the past by a few enthusiasts, but had sadly died out in culture. Luckily, Alan knows where to find the nominate subspecies, C.g.gracilipes, and was kind enough to send me some pairs of this amazing species!

Unfortunately though, they are apparently VERY sensitive to shipping, as two attempts to send them to me ended in lifeless looking crickets that seemed DOA... 🙁 However, I have one pair that seemed to "revive" themselves a bit after cooling down from shipping, though they still seem quite shakey and may die here soon... I've been handfeeding them stuff, but the female doesn't seem hungry, and the male seems to regurgitate most of what he ingests, so my hopes aren't high...

Seeing as they're so cool and unique though, I figured I'd share some pictures of them:

These guys are beyond cool, and it would be amazing if I could keep my pair alive, but again, not too hopeful, might have to wait to breed this species for another day...

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