Small Coniontis & Porcellio bolivari Updates!

My Coniontis sp. "CA" are doing very well, the larvae have all grown quite a bit, I think some of them will be ready to pupate soon! 😊 My females seem to have started laying a second wave of eggs too, as I'm seeing tiny larvae in the cage now. So, continuing a conversation I had with AlexW from the fine blog, Splendid Unknowns, I'm relatively sure we can conclude that female Coniontis do regenerate eggs after laying all the ones in their ovaries. There was a break in between the two egg laying waves after all, they definitely weren't just laying them the whole time.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of an adult eating a dead leaf:

I just threw these dead leaves in there the other day, as they had eaten all of the leaf litter I put in the cage originally, and had been without some for a couple weeks. They went nuts for these new leaves, the adults especially, so they definitely seem to be a favorite of this genus! 🙂

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My Porcellio bolivari are doing very well, and growing rather fast! Most of them have probably reached sexual maturity by now, so I'm hoping I'll see some gravid females soon! 😁 If I do, I may isolate them, to avoid any stress from males trying to mate with them or territorial disputes. For six isopods, their current enclosure should be adequate, but I'm not taking any chances with these rarities!

Here are a couple pictures I took of two females the other day:

The photos look a bit too bright from the flash in my opinion, but oh well.

Anyway, that's going to do it for this post, I hope everyone enjoyed, will see you all next time! 😉

Pystalla horrida Adults!!!

Well, apparently I've been worrying over nothing, yesterday I was doing maintenance in my collection, and found out that two of my Pystalla horrida nymphs had molted into adults! 😁 Shortly after checking on them all, another one of my subadults began molting into an adult as well. So now I have three, healthy adults, and boy are they big and stunning!

That premolt period was very long compared to all the previous ones, was very surprised to see adults in my enclosures, as I thought they were slowly starving themselves to death! Glad to see that wasn't the case, and that they aren't the picky eaters I thought they were! 😄

Here are some pictures of them:

Looks like I'm going to have to make a big breeding enclosure now, hopefully I'll get quite a few offspring from them! 😊

Well, that's going to do it for this post, I hope everyone enjoyed, will see you all soon! 😉

Drymaplaneta semivitta Hatchlings & a Asbolus verrucosus Update!

It's finally happened, one of my Drymaplaneta semivitta oothecae hatched! 😁 So happy that I finally have offspring of this species, hopefully many more will follow! Funnily enough, this particular ootheca had a small spot of mold growing along the opening seam a week ago, which I quickly wiped off, but I figured the mold was coming from inside of the ooth, which would have meant it was a dud. I decided to leave it be just in case, and I'm sure glad I did!

I was able to get a few pictures of the nymphs squeezing their way out of the ootheca, but was interrupted and had to leave before capturing the whole process. Here are the pictures I could get:

And here is one of them a couple days after hatching:

I am thrilled that I could successfully breed this species, things were looking bad for my colony for a while, but it looks like everything worked out in the end! 😊

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On the other hand, my three Asbolus verrucosus larvae apparently haven't been doing well in my care at all, I only have one left! 😞 Either their cage was too small and they resorted to cannibalism, I over-watered them (more likely IMO), or they don't like the food I have them. There's no hope for a future generation, that's for sure, I'd be surprised if I can get this last larvae to make it to adulthood! I'll definitely try my hardest though, I'm gonna keep the sand less moist, and may upgrade the larva's enclosure size soon too. 

Anyway, here are some pictures I took of the remaining larva:

At this age, it looks very similar to an Eleodes spp. larva. At a glance they look the same, the only noticeable difference being the unusual terminal segment, (which looks more odd in person). Hopefully I can get this last larva to mature, I will keep you all updated!

Anyway, that's gonna do it for this post, I hope everyone enjoyed, will see you all next time! 😉

Pasimachus Pupa & a Gyna centurio Update!

So, my Pasimachus L3 larva was getting really fat and had ceased feeding, so I moved it back into a jar with a couple inches of moist, compressed sand and coconut fiber, and it dug right to the bottom and constructed a pupal cell. It's pupal cell was similar to those of Tenebrionidae and Elateridae pupal cells, just a space dug out of the substrate, no thick walls made of spit and fecal matter like rhino or stag beetles.

After about a week inside the pupal cell, it molted into a pupa! 😁 I left it in there for another week or so, then dug it out for pictures, since there are no actual pictures of Pasimachus pupae on the internet it seems, and I'm not actually sure if this life stage has been formally described for the genus!

I was surprised to find that the back and sides of the pupa were covered in thick, short, golden brown setae! I gently picked up the pupa by hand, and it felt so soft and fuzzy! 😊 Besides the setae, it looks just like I would expect a Pasimachus pupa to look like, and has that typical Carabidae pupa appearance. 

Here are some pictures of it:

Hopefully, like Tenebrionid pupae, it will be able to eclose properly in just a smooth, shallow depression I've made in a thin layer of moist substrate, rather than it's actual pupal cell, which I destroyed. If the pupal stage of Pasimachus was better documented, I would have left it alone, but I really wanted to get some pictures of it while it was in this rarely seen stage! Will let you all know when it ecloses! 

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My adult Gyna centurio pair are STILL alive, I'm not all that surprised that the female is still kicking, but that male is a trooper! I'm really loving the longevity of this species, and the fact that they seem to spend a lot more time underground than my other Gyna species, even at night! Makes them a lot easier to check up on. My female has already produced a second litter of nymphs by the way, and may give birth to one more before she dies!

Here are a couple pictures I took of my female the other day:

The adults of this species are so stunning to see in person, I highly recommend this species to any cockroach enthusiast out there! 

Well, that is going to do it for today's post, I hope you guys and gals enjoyed it, will see you all soon! 😉

Cariblatta Crashes & Pystalla Problems...

Well, I've been having a stroke of bad luck with my Cariblatta cultures lately. Luckily it doesn't seem like I'll be losing either species from my collection any time soon, but their numbers have been diminished a bit...

I forgot to feed my Cariblatta lutea a few weeks ago, just one missed feeding, but in the three days they were without food, I lost about half of my adult population, and quite a few nymphs too. 😢 It was quite a stupid mistake, I simply took their moldy food out of their enclosure when it came time to do maintenance, but forgot to put some new food in. Luckily the remaining individuals seem to be doing well, and I still have a couple dozen or so individuals, but it really sucks, because my culture was undergoing it's first big population boom...

Meanwhile, my Cariblatta minima culture has become infected with some sort of small, round, dark red mites, and they seem to be affecting their overall health quite a bit. Most of the remaining Cariblatta are too small to pick out individually without also collecting some of the mites, so I was only able to pick out a few adult females and two adult males, along with one subadult female, and I have moved them to their own, mite free enclosure, in the hopes of establishing a new colony in case the old one dies off completely.

I also added lots of Sinella curviseta springtails to the mite infested culture, in the hopes of them out-competing the mites and saving the Cariblatta minima, and I added more hides for the Cariblatta and springtails as well. Maybe the mites will die off and the roaches will bounce back, we'll see, for now though I am keeping them in my bathroom, far from my other enclosures, so the mites don't spread to the rest of my collection.

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My Pystalla horrida subadults are being SO picky when it comes to feeding, they are refusing to go after prey in the standard enclosures I have them housed in, so I've been trying different enclosures, hide types, hide placements, and food types in an attempt to get them to feed. So far I've had no luck, and it's driving me up the walls with frustration... I got these to help relieve me of stress by getting rid of excess roaches, not to create more stress! 😩

I really don't know why they won't eat anymore, they fed just fine for me on a wide variety of prey items up until now. I suspect they want a specific type of hide to perch from and swoop down on their prey, but nothing I've done seems to be adequate for them... Hopefully I can get them to start eating normally again soon, I really want to be successful in breeding these beasties!

Oh well, I think that's gonna do it for this rant of a post, hopefully the next one will be a little more upbeat! Thank you all for reading, will see you next time!

Lanxoblatta & Corydidarum Updates! (Picture Heavy!)

I moved my Lanxoblatta rudis to a larger enclosure recently, but most of it is empty, I need to buy some more bark for them soon. Right now they should be comfortable the way things are though, and indeed there has been some molting activity! 😁

My female nymph molted, into what I assume is the subadult stage, as she is quite large now! My male nymph also molted, into an adult! My original adult pair are still doing well, and I even got some pictures of my female a few days ago!

Here are some pictures of them:

Adult pair, female on the left, male on the right

Adult female

Adult male

Subadult female

Subadult male

Freshly molted adult male

Their new enclosure (I surrounded their bark hide area with cardboard, to make them feel a little more comfortable)

Hopefully I'll be able to find some suitable bark for them soon, will let you all know when I do!

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It looks like one of my newer Corydidarum pygmaea females gave birth a few days ago, which I was definitely not expecting! Their male brethren are still alive, usually the females don't give birth until several months after all the males are dead, (at least all the males that matured at the same time they did, that is). Super surprised and happy to see this newest litter of Corydidarum nymphs, glad this species is doing well for me! 😊

Here are a couple pictures of the newborns and their mother:

Aren't they just the cutest little things? 😄 Even the adults are cute!

Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post, I hope everyone enjoyed, will see you all next time! 😉