Let's dive right into the first species, Eleodes acuta! This is one of the largest and heaviest darklings in the US, and adults usually have a dark red stripe going down the center of their elytra. Alan sent me a dozen larvae, which I'll hopefully be successful in growing out and rearing to maturity! 🤞
I've got them set up in individual delis atm, with an inch or so of coconut fiber, on a 50/50 humidity gradient at around 75F°. I'm offering them dog food for the staple diet.
Here are some pictures of one of the larger larvae (with some grain mites in hypopus stage attached, since they're going through a slight infestation ATM):
Pretty standard looking for large Eleodes spp. larvae, and getting to a hefty size, I really hope I can rear these to adulthood!
He also sent me a dozen or so larvae of Eleodes longicollis, so I can FINALLY breed this species after getting sterile females TWICE now. 🤣
I've got these set up in a well ventilated gallon shoebox, with an inch of coconut fiber and sand as the substrate. Keeping a third of the setup humid, the rest bone dry, and offering dog food as the diet. Keeping them at around 75-80F°.
Honestly not gonna bother with pics of these as larvae until they get bigger, they look very typical for this genus and are quite small ATM.
Last but not least, I'm kicking off what could be a new obsession with Dermapterans (earwigs), as Alan has sent me a breeding group of Marava arachidis! This diminutive species has adults with some very pretty coloration IMO, and is apparently quite easy to breed, considering after only a month I've already gotten offspring! 😁
I've got mine in a moderately ventilated container with several inches of coconut fiber and sand substrate, which I'm keeping humid, topped with bark hides. I'm feeding them dog food and fruits, and keeping them at around 75-80F°.
Here are some photos of a pair of adults:
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| Male |
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| Female |
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| Pair |
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| Now kiss! 💋 |
Definitely a cute little species, here's hoping they continue to well for me! Might have to branch out into other earwig spp. in the future... 😄
Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading everyone, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see y'all next time! 😉
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