First off, Martinho sent me 3 Polyphaga plancyi oothecae! 😁 This is the first time this species has entered the US hobby to my knowledge, and all three ooths look healthy and viable!
Unlike the other Polyphaga spp. in the US hobby, these beauties actually have a splash of color and patterning on the adult females, and males are a bit more stout than other Polyphaga spp.. See Martin's blog post here and his post on the roach forum here for pics of the adults/nymphs.
So not only are they rare in culture, but they are truly unique compared to the other Polyphaga spp. in the hobby, and hopefully they'll start hatching within several months! 😁🤞
Here are some pictures of the ooths:
Hopefully they'll hatch soon, though I'm fully aware that in typical fashion for Polyphaga, I may be looking at 5-6 more months of waiting... 😅
Next up, an oldie but a goodie for the US hobby, Neostylopyga rhombifolia, AKA the "Harlequin Roach". This species seems to come and go from collections here very frequently, it's a species that some people struggle to get going period, and others may have healthy cultures for years before suddenly losing them for seemingly no reason.
Martin sent three ooths, however, two were completely or almost completely dead inside, and the only one that had healthy looking eggs inside had a slight crack in it, that started to mold days after arrival... HOWEVER, that last ooth must have been pretty close to hatching anyways, as the molding crack triggered the ooth to hatch, albeit prematurely. As a result, half the nymphs came out underdeveloped and died hours later. However, at least half a dozen nymphs have survived and look to be pretty healthy, having molted once or twice already. 😁 So, fingers crossed I end up with a pair or two and get lots of offspring from them this year!
I've got them housed in a well ventilated deli cup, with a thin layer of coconut fiber for the substrate, with cardboard and leaf litter for hides. I'm keeping one corner humid, the rest bone dry. Trying to keep them at around 75F° for now (though warmer will be optimal when it comes time for them to breed), and I am feeding them dog food and fruits.
Here are some pics of one of the healthy L1s:
Really hoping this species will do well for me, apparently incubating the ooths properly is the main challenge most people face with this species. I can't speak from experience yet, since the ooth that hatched was already almost completely incubated by Martin, but I'm hoping I'll be able to hatch the ooths of this species with ease! (Deropeltis have me permanently scarred and doubting myself with Blattidae ooths now, even though most Blattids I've kept, I've breed successfully... 😂). Time will tell I suppose!
Well, that's gonna do it for this post! I apologize for the delay in posting lately, I'm working a new job and have been grinding trying to save up to move across the country to North Carolina, which of course has taken up a lot of my time. If any of you are interested in helping me out with that, you can either support my GoFundMe, or buy some bugs from me. 😅 Sooner I can move there, the sooner I can try and make this hobby my main source of income, which means I'll be able to continue devoting plenty of time and effort into my own breeding projects and helping others out in the community. ☺️
Anyways, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉
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