Harvestmen, Mantids & Beetles Oh My!

Well, I lucked out big time lol, that single pair of Vonones ornata Alan Jeon sent me back in December actually ended up being a sexed pair! And back in late January/early February, I found hatchlings in their enclosure! 😁 

I only got five babies total from the first wave of offspring, which are doing great and have molted several times (I think they're all L4 now). However I just found a bunch of new eggs that the female laid on the substrate and on objects on the ground, so more babies are incoming!

In fear of the adults eating these offspring in their somewhat small enclosure, and fear of these larger babies eating the incoming hatchlings, I've moved my five L4s to my Armadillidium gestroi setup for now, which should have ideal humidity for them and plenty of hides (and I don't think the Vonones will bother them much).

Here are some pictures I took of what I think is an L3:

So cute, and oddly not Vonones-like in appearance! I'm sure that will change soon as they continue to molt. 😄

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Finally, after months of waiting, my Pseudacanthops lobipes male has matured! And boy is he a stunner! 😍 The males of this species have such incredibly long wings, it makes them look so much larger than the females! (even though in reality, the females are much larger in terms of mass).

Here are some photos of the handsome fella:

He's already eaten for me, and I will likely attempt to pair him in a matter of days... Fingers super crossed the female doesn't eat him!!! 🤞😅

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Lastly, just a little update on my Eleodes spinipes macrura. Got lots of adults emerging now, most of which are females... Which means I'm going to be overrun with larvae soon! 😂

Finally got some pictures of fully darkened adults, so here they are:

Adult male

Adult female

These have been a breeze to rear compared to a lot of other large desert darklings I've bred, and are a very valuable addition to the hobby! Hopefully they'll catch on in captive culture soon! 😁

Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see y'all next time! 😉 Got some really exciting new additions to show off, so be sure to stay tuned!