Darklings from Arthroverts!

Last month I received a couple new Californian Tenebrionidae species from fellow invertebrate enthusiast Arthroverts, (who runs the blog Arthroverts.org). Hoping to breed both, and get them established in captive culture (and keep them in the hobby!).

Let's start off with the Nyctoporis carinata from "Azusa, CA". He sent me a trio of these highly textured Tenebs, which you may remember I've had a brief experience keeping in the past. This time I'm hoping for better success in breeding, provided I have a pair out of the three (or they're all females).

I've got them set up in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch of a coconut fiber and sand mix, with some bark chips and leaf litter on top. Keeping a third of the substrate humid, the rest bone dry, and they're being kept at 75-78F°. Staple diet is dog food.

Here are some pictures of one of the trio:

Now here's hoping I find larvae in their enclosure soon! 🤞😅

EDIT 3/2/22: Welp, just found L1 larvae in their enclosure, that was super quick! 😂

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Now onto the obscure Schizillus sp. "Oak Hills, CA". This genus is in the tribe Cryptoglossini, the other two members being the popular Asbolus and Cryptoglossa. This genus has been bred before by at least one hobbyist, Chandra Orr, however that population was lost from culture. It's great that they're back in the hobby, I'd love to breed these and not only establish a stable breeding colony for myself, but spread them around in the hobby to other interested parties as well. ☺️

Sadly, the natural area these were collected in is being destroyed for housing development, an all too common occurrence nowadays. Habitat fragmentation is a big problem in California especially, and it's a shame considering the vast amount of CA endemic wildlife relies on that habitat, most of which are obscure and go unnoticed by the vast majority of naturalists. Hopefully, if I can indeed breed these Schizillus, I can at least help to keep that population of them alive in captivity, even if their wild counterparts in that particular area are wiped out due to development.

I've got my two adults in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch and a half of sand, mixed with a little coco fiber as the substrate. I'm keeping a third of the substrate humid, the rest bone dry, and they're being kept at around 75-78F°. The staple diet is dog food.

Here are some pictures of one of them:

Interestingly, while jet black on arrival, since I stopped disturbing them and am keeping them dry, both adults have developed a blue waxy coating, a typical defense against dessication in Cryptoglossini and some other Tenebrionidae.

Hopefully at least one of my two adults is a female, and being WC should mean they're mated and gravid if so. Time will tell! 😄

Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post, thanks for reading, and big thanks to Arthroverts for the new Tenebs! 😁 Hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉