First off, let's start with the oddest of allest, Ceronopus concolor! This species is pretty unique looking, and I've never ever seen them available in the hobby before, nor do I think anyone's bred them before! So obviously I thought I'd give it a try. 😜 Peter sent me five individuals, when I'd only asked for a couple, so hopefully I've definitely got at least one pair in this group!
This odd, medium sized darkling beetle is surprisingly in the subfamily Tenebrioninae, which I find strange, since most of the really weird looking Teneb genera in the US are in the subfamily Pimeliinae, (at least, the ones I consider weird looking). Hopefully though this means this species won't actually be all that hard to breed, as I've had much better luck overall with a wider variety of genera in the subfamily Tenebrioninae than those in Pimellinae, which often have husbandry needs just as weird as their looks... 😅
I'm keeping them in a well ventilated enclosure with a sand based substrate, with one third of the enclosure kept moist, the rest bone dry. I'll be feeding them chick feed and probably the occasional apple slice. With any luck they'll lay eggs in this setup, and then we can see how hard it is to rear the larvae, what they look like, etc. 😁
Here are some pictures of them:
Really hoping I've got at least one female, guess we'll find out soon enough! 😅
I'll be sure to keep you all posted on this little project, I could be the first to breed this species, we'll see!Speaking of potentially being the first to breed a species, I figured I'd try another species seemingly no one's ever successfully bred, or at least tried seriously to breed, Asbolus laevis, the smooth black death feigning beetle! This species is less commonly available than it's popular relative A.verrucosus, the blue death feigning beetle, and thus they are less commonly kept, but I think breeding them should be very similar to breeding the BDFBs.
I asked for a pair of them, but Peter was kind enough to send two suspected pairs, to help ensure I had a chance of breeding them! 😁 I have them set up in a well ventilated container with an inch or so of sand as the substrate, and I'm keeping one half of the enclosure moist, the rest dry. They have cardboard tubes for hides, and I'll be feeding them chick feed and possibly pre-killed Eleodes larvae, (Asbolus LOVE to eat other invertebrates, usually dead or dying ones, and offering them that type of food may help with breeding and rearing the larvae up).
Here are some pictures of them:
Hope they lay some eggs here soon, Asbolus larvae are unfortunately quite cannibalistic, and thus once they start hatching I will have to separate them, and I'll probably offer them live Eleodes larvae to feed on when they're big enough to take prey down...
Lastly, Peter sent me several individuals of a neat little Tenebrionid genus, Trogloderus! 😁 This is an obscure little genus, somewhat rarely sighted or kept, and in fact the immature stages have never been documented!
Lastly, Peter sent me several individuals of a neat little Tenebrionid genus, Trogloderus! 😁 This is an obscure little genus, somewhat rarely sighted or kept, and in fact the immature stages have never been documented!
I've kept two adults of this genus before, a smaller, less impressive Idaho native species, but alas, I believe they were both males, and I never got any offspring. This species I just got from Peter I think was collected in CA, but I could be wrong... In any case, it's a very impressive, if diminutive looking Tenebrionid!
I have my four set up in a small, well ventilated enclosure with a sand substrate, I'll keep a third or so of it moist, the rest bone dry. I have cardboard tubs in there for hides. I'll offer chick feed and maybe the occasional fruit slice as foods, as well as leaf litter for any potential larvae.
Here are some pictures of these interesting little beetles!
Here are some pictures of these interesting little beetles!
Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, stay distanced, and I'll see you all next time! 😉
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