Now for what is truly the last "acquisition" of mine from this order, and I use quotation marks there because I don't know how long I'll actually be keeping them, only that they're too fragile in their current shape to be shipped, and so I've been charged in caring for them for a while, (maybe even breeding them, who knows). If you all have been following this blog for a while, then you're probably already familiar with this species, the small but ornate Balta notulata! 😁
Unfortunately the Balta notulata that were ordered in this package were the only species that looked to be completely dead on arrival. I did however, find a couple of viable looking oothecae within the deli cup, and isolated them into an incubation setup right away. Unfortunately, one has dimpled a bit and I think may be a dud. The other one did actually hatch, though less than 10 nymphs actually made it out of the ootheca, seems a few got stuck and died in the ooth for whatever reason. Still, a few notulata are better than no notulata, and unfortunately this species had indeed died out from US culture around a year ago, (bit of a crash and boom species, they're easy to breed and prolific, but they don't seem to love overcrowding and/or filth buildups, or dryness).
Their intended owner was Ectobiid enthusiast Alan Jeon, but since they are only hatchlings, Alan wanted me to hold onto them for a bit, so as to not risk them dying in transit. I've kept and bred this species quite successfully before, so it's no big deal to me, and hopefully I can at least rear them up to a big enough size to send them to Alan, who's been wanting to get them again for a while. 😄
Here are some pictures of a hatchling, even straight out of the oothecae they are quite ornately patterned:
A pretty species, one I'll be glad to see established in US Blatticulture once again! 🙂 Now we just need B.vilis to come back one day. 😜
Anyways, that's gonna do it, hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for reading, stay safe, and I'll see everyone next time! 😉
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