We Finally Have Aspiduchus in Culture!

This has been a long time coming, but we now have Aspiduchus, the sister genus to Hemiblabera, in captive culture! Not only that, but we have TWO species in culture! 😁 And boy they are huge compared to Hemiblabera, much larger than I was expecting personally! Cockroach hobbyists are truly eating good as of late. 😋

Firstly, I got a pair of Aspiduchus cf. borinquen "Manati, PR". This is a paler species, with very ovular wings on both sexes. This species is especially gangly with long legs compared to their bodies, on the males especially! The cave system these were collected from is apparently connected or likely connected to the cave system that the holotype was described from, so the ID on these is near certain based off the morphology and range.

I've got them housed in a moderately ventilated enclosure with a substrate of coco fiber, topped with a little eggcrate for them to climb on (they're mostly staying buried in the substrate). I'm keeping them moist, at around 75-80F°, and am feeding them food and fruits. 

Female

Male

Pair

These adults are a little battered, likely on account of being WC, however they seem quite healthy, and the female rather plump, so I'm hopeful they will breed and produce some babies here soon! From what I've been told they are rather easy to care for, basically just like Hemiblabera in terms of husbandry. 

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Next up we have Aspiduchus cf. cavernicola "Rio Grande, PR". These were collected rather far from the holotype locality, so the ID is a bit more dubious, however cavernicola is the only other Aspiduchus described from PR, and they match the coloration and morphology of the A.cavernicola holotype well IMO. Still, the ID could be subject to change in the future if it turns out they represent a third, undescribed species from Puerto Rico.

These are much darker and less gangly than the cf. borinquen, with shorter, more circular wings. Size is about the same, with these cf. cavernicola being a bit more chunky.

I have them set up in a moderately ventilated enclosure, with a substrate of coco fiber, topped with a piece of eggcrate for climbing (again, these are mostly staying burrowed in the substrate). I'm keeping them humid, at around 75-80F°, and am feeding them dog food and fruits.

Unfortunately the female passed very shortly after arrival, however before doing so she gave birth to a healthy litter of 20 nymphs, so I can't really complain!

Female

Male

Pair

L1 nymphs

The nymphs look almost exactly like newborn Hemiblabera, super cute! Hopefully they grow easily enough, will be awesome to get a colony of these established! 😍

So cool to finally have this genus in culture, and they are even more impressive than I'd thought they would be!

Anyways that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see y'all next time! 😉 

cf. Ellypygia spp. from Belize!

Got a couple new species to show off here from Roachcrossing, both seemingly members of the genus Ellipygia, collected from San Ignacio, Belize. These are small little Blattellids, with tiny vestigial wings, generally brown coloration with minimal patterning, that seem to be rather easy and straightforward to culture.

This first species here which I'm labeling as cf. Ellipygia sp. "San Ignacio, Belize - OW", the "OW" being in reference to the adults having only one pair of wings. These are a stout, compact bodied species with some slight reddish margins to their thoracic segments, and an overall dark brown body coloration.

I have these set up in a moderately ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate, topped with bark and eggcrate hides. I'm feeding them dog food and apple slices, and keeping them humid and warm at around 75-80F°.

A cute little species, I have several adults of these to work with, and hopefully will establish a colony of them pretty easily! 

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The second species I am labeling cf. Ellipygia sp. "San Ignacio, Belize - TW", the "TW" in reference to this species having two pairs of wings. This species is larger than the "OW", and has more colorful margins to their thoracic segments, and a dark red line going down the middle of their pronotum as well.

I only have a single adult female of this species, however she should be mated, so hopefully I'll be able to establish a colony of them nonetheless. 🤞I have her set up in an enclosure identical to that of the previous species.

Cute new additions to culture, hopefully they'll both thrive for me and stick around in the hobby for years to come!

Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉 

Real Hemiblabera brunneri!

I can hardly believe it folks, but it looks like we finally have true Hemiblabera brunneri in culture, from Manati, Puerto Rico! Not mislabeled H.roseni, but real, bonefide H.brunneri! I have read the original description for that species by Saussure, 1869 (which mistakenly reports the locality as being "Brasilia", a mistake Princis, 1963 later noted when moving this species to Hemiblabera), and these seem to match perfectly in terms of coloration, morphology, and length. These are a pretty small species, maxing out at 40 mm, and far skinnier and more cylindrical than the other Hemiblabera spp. I've kept. They are absolutely dwarfed by H.roseni, which is ironically mislabeled as H.brunneri in the European and Asian roach hobbies. So let this post serve as a wake up call to those still labeling their stocks as H.brunneri overseas; if they don't look like the below animals, they are not brunneri!

(If you'd like to read more about how I reached the conclusion that the old hobby stock Hemiblabera are H.roseni, feel free to check out my post about it here).

Now, there may be a second, darker Hemiblabera species also found on PR, however it seems H.brunneri may have variable color across it's range, (indeed Rehn & Hebard say as much in their 1927 key to the genus), so further study is needed before saying for sure. There was also another species from PR, H.manca, that was synonymized with H.brunneri, which could perhaps represent those darker phenotypes. However, the species description for manca is terribly short and bereft of any physical characteristics other than wing shape, with no mention of color...

In any case, this specific locality from Manati that we now have in culture seems to match the holotype description perfectly, so I can confidently say that these should be true H.brunneri.

I have my pair in a moderately ventilated enclosure with a substrate of coco fiber a couple inches deep, kept moist. I have them at around 75-80F, and am feeding them dog food and apple. Pretty standard Hemiblabera conditions.

Original description of brunneri

Translation

Female

Male

Pair

These are some truly stunning roaches, and it's nice to see actual representatives of a species whose name was falsely attributed to an older hobby Hemiblabera stock (namely H.roseni in the European and Asian hobbies). Hopefully these establish well for me, from what I hear they breed pretty readily in captivity, much like the other Hemiblabera spp. we have in culture. 

Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉