Metallic Perisphaerus Take #2!!!

Well, here we go again, I just acquired a new strain of metallic Perisphaerus, specifically Perisphaerus cf. flavipes "CCNR, Singapore". While the typical black species in thus genus can pose issues of their own, they tend to be a lot more straightforward and easy to breed and rear than the metallic species are. This is likely due to the different ecological niches they have, black species tend to spend more time under bark and may be found lower to the ground, VS the much more arboreal and out in the open habits of the metallic spp., which are most commonly found out on foliage.

My last attempt with metallic Perisphaerus was with Perisphaerus sp. "Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia", and while the beginning seemed rather promising, I ultimately failed to get any offspring produced to maturity, save one male that died while still a teneral adult. In retrospect, that species may have been a nectar specialist, as their heads were very very narrow. These cf. flavipes also have narrow heads, but not as thin as those of the sp. "Kota Kinabalu", so I'm hoping they will be more generalized in their diet. I also think an excessive amount of ventilation and thus sharp drop in air humidity wasn't to the liking of the sp. "Kota Kinabalu", and in fact seems to be a problem across most of the Perisphaerinae I'm keeping.

I've got my two adult females, one adult male, and three female nymphs housed in a moderately ventilated enclosure, with a thin layer of coconut fiber substrate, which I'm keeping one half moist, the other half sort of dry. I'm offering dog food, artificial pollen, fresh fruits, and a nectar substitute for the diet... really covering all my bases lol. 😅 The temperature is 75-80F°. So far they seem to be doing OK, though not plumping up as much as I'd hope they would (though perhaps this species is naturally less rotund in the abdomen).

Here are some pictures of this beautiful species, they are a metallic copper/green in person, but it's quite hard for me to capture this on camera:

Females

Male

Pair

I really hope I can establish a healthy colony of this species, fingers very crossed! 🤞

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