Ty Schaben Order Pt. 1/8
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In another joint venture with Ty Randal of Ty Dye Exotics, I've just received a large shipment of roaches, most of which have been in the US at one point or another, but were sadly lost from culture here... So I'm doing to devote several different posts to these species from this latest package (most of which I get to keep groups of), so stay tuned for info and pics of all these awesome new additions to my collection and US Blatticulture in general! 😁
Now, rather than saving the best for last, I'm just gonna showcase the species I was the most excited to receive in this package first, the beautiful Asian clown roach, Hemithyrsocera vittata! 😄 It's cousin, H.palliata is already doing pretty well here in US Blatticulture, but despite this species having been introduced to the US hobby a couple times before, they've never stuck around long, I suspect because they usually went to people inexperienced with finicky Ectobiids... Luckily, I have quite a bit of positive experience working with that exact group of roaches, so fingers crossed I can establish a colony and help get these established in US Blatticulture for good! 🤞
These roaches are diurnal, active, and brightly colored. Hatchling nymphs are ant mimics, and all life stages seem to roam foliage in the wild, feeding on pollen, possibly nectar, as well as all manner of decaying organic material. As the nymphs age they develop various patterns of red, white, black, and even silver-ish blue. Adults are fully winged, black with yellow patterning. All life stages climb well, and adults can fly.
I'm keeping my 7-8 small nymphs in a tall gallon container, with no ventilation currently. Two large holes have been melted into the enclosure, one near the top, and one near the bottom, on opposite sides. I've filled said holes with sponge, and will use them as feeding/misting holes once the colony gets to a large size and opening the top lid won't be as good an idea... But for now I can easily do maintenance by just opening the lid. They're on a substrate of coconut fiber, and I've got vertically slanted bark and leaf litter in there as hides. I'm keeping them at around 75F° or so, and pretty humid too.
I've given them two feeding areas, one on the ground next to the bark, and one on a cork tile "shelf" I made in the enclosure, near the top, that they have to climb to. So far they seem to be able to find food in both areas, so that's good.I'm feeding them chick feed, artificial pollen, and fresh fruits.
Here are a few crappy pictures I was able to take of a nymph, they are very hyper and difficult to photograph! 😅
Such a pretty species, hopefully I can get better pics of them soon! Fingers crossed they do well for me and breed prolifically! 🤞
Well, that's gonna do it for this post, but stay tuned for more, I've got some awesome new additions coming from multiple different sources, so I'll probably take turns posting about different packages... Next post will be about some beetles I've received from Bugsincyberspace along with my rhino roaches, so stay tuned for that... 😁 Thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next post! 😉
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