All About Insects' Photo Thread

socalqueen

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
221
Isotoma delta
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While going through moist leaf litter, I found a few individuals (around 6) of this large and cryptic springtail species of the order Entomobryomorpha. Hopefully these guys do well for me as apparently they seem easy at first but then cultures tend to eventually fizzle out.
Adult Female Parcoblatta pennsylvanica Carrying Ootheca
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First ootheca I've gotten from this species, it ended up being a large one!
Therea olegrandjeani Hatchling
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So excited, just got my first load of babies!:D There were many more where this guy came from (approximately 55), but this was the only decent pic I could get, they're only around the size of my Isotoma delta right now.
Very cool, congrats on the babies. Awesome pics as always!!
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Orchesella villosa
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Just found two of these monster springtails while out collecting bark in the woods. These guys are about twice the mass of S.curviseta and are also a bit longer. Along with the size, I also really love the black, bristly setae that they're covered in. Very interestingly, they seemed to show some territorial behavior towards each other as you can see in the last pic.
Meracantha contracta Pre-Pupa and Pupa
Pre-Pupa
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Pupa
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Just checked on these guys to see that my two older larvae had developed into a pre-pupa and pupa! Just hoping that my younger larva will catch up to them at adulthood, not all too sure about my chances of getting a pair with only two adults.
 
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All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Second Instar Eurycotis lixa Nymphs
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Speaking of these guys, I just had another hatch of 16 nymphs!
Trachelipus rathkii"Gray"
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I'm currently trying to isolate this common(on par with calico) P.scaber-esque phenotype of Trachelipus rathii.
Trachelipus rathkii"Calico" Mancae
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I've gotten tons of mancae from these guys so far, now I'm just waiting to see if they display the calico phenotype as well!
Tomocerus minor
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I was going through a bag of rotten wood that I had collected around Thanksgiving when I found a good number of these large springtails that are beautifully coated in a rainbow colored sheen. Unfortunately these guys are pretty tricky to keep, but there's a suspicion that they may be algae eaters(which so far has not been fed to them in captivity). I may or may not try culturing these stunning little arthropods, but it's nice to get a look at them anyway!
Porcellio spinicornis Mancae
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I'm very glad to have so many mancae of this attractively patterned species, hope they continue to thrive!
Coproporus ventriculus
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I always find a lot of these tiny, crab-like rove beetles in the rotten wood that I collect. They are probably the most bizarre-looking rove beetles out there! There is not much known on the feeding habits of these odd, little creatures, but it can be assumed that they likely feed on fungi(or additionally fungus gnat larvae, or mites and springtails) since they are so plentiful in rotten wood. I have been advised to feed them mushrooms and yeast by one enthusiast and mites/springtails and cat/fish food by another. I think I'll try yeast and mushrooms for now and see how they do.
 
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All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Here's some pics of all (three, one female and two males) the black-winged adult Archimandrita tesselata that I currently have in my colony. :)
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Adult Necrophila Americana
DSC_1111 (2).JPG DSC_1126 (2).JPG DSC_1113 (2).JPG DSC_1098 (2).JPG I found one individual of the gorgeous(not so much in feeding habits) American carrion beetle while searching under leaf litter for Orchesella villosa. I don't really think I'll try culturing any species of carrion beetle, but it was definitely nice seeing one of these beauties in person!
 

Hisserdude

Arachnoking
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
2,453
Nice, I've never had the pleasure of seeing Necrophila americana in person before, but I have seen and kept a couple individuals of the closely related genus Nicrophorus. Those guys have different feeding habits than Necrophila, the adults eat live invertebrates, such as maggots or other beetle larvae, my individuals would tackle large Eleodes larva and ride them as they were chewing through them, it was like a little rodeo!
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Nice, I've never had the pleasure of seeing Necrophila americana in person before, but I have seen and kept a couple individuals of the closely related genus Nicrophorus. Those guys have different feeding habits than Necrophila, the adults eat live invertebrates, such as maggots or other beetle larvae, my individuals would tackle large Eleodes larva and ride them as they were chewing through them, it was like a little rodeo!
Ooh, very cool! These guys eat maggots as well, but yea, definitely not nearly predatory to the extent of Nicrophorus. Wow, sounds like a very entertaining feeding response. lol
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Porcellio spinicornis"Black"
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Porcellio spinicornis"Pale"
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I will try isolating these two polar opposite color morphs of the brickwork isopod. I currently have two "Black" specimens and one "Pale" specimen, which actually gave birth to a nice litter of mancae recently.
Large Eurycotis decipiens nymph
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Most of my F1 nymphs, like this guy, are pre-sub-adults or sub-adults. One of them has even matured! Can't wait for the F2 nymphs to start rolling in once the F1s start breeding! :)
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Adult Male Blaberus craniifer"UCR"
(Recently Molted)
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(Full Coloration)
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My first adult, what a stunner he is! The nymphs were all very close in age so the others should be following along very soon.
Therea olegrandjeani 1st-2nd Instar Nymphs
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Finally got some good pics of these guys and just wanted to share....the substrate is crawling with them. lol
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Gravid Porcellio scaber
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I collected one of these and it turned out to be a gravid female...YES!
Eurycotis lixa 1st-2nd Instar Nymphs
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I ended up getting forty-one nymphs from the three oothecae that hatched(excluding the first that only yield a couple weak nymphs). Looks like my rode to reviving my colony of this stunning species is going to be looking pretty smooth!
1st Instar Coproporus ventriculus Larva
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As far as I'm aware, this is a first ever breeding of C.ventriculus in captivity!!! :D They seem to be doing very well considering the amount of larvae in the enclosure, but the real test lies in whether I can rear these guys to adulthood successfully, wish me luck! BTW sorry for the low-quality pictures, these guys are so tiny!
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
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181
Hypogastrura sp.
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I found a large congregation of this species under a large decayed log at a local forest preserve. They don't seem to ever (or at least never want to) jump so collecting is extremely difficult, especially since they are extremely fragile and require a very soft paintbrush for safe removal from objects. I'm attempting to culture them, but apparently the sub-adults need cool temps in order for maturation to occur so I'll have to move them to a cool place in my house soon.
Orchesella villosa
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Baby :happy:
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Isn't it just so cute!? This guy really tested the limits of the camera, it rivaled the C.ventriculus larva for the smallest invert that I've been able to take a photo of.
P.S I know that I already shared a few pics of the larger individuals of this species, but I was able to get some way better ones so why not?
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
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Dec 11, 2016
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181
Orchesella cincta
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This beautiful Orchesella is only about 2/3 as large as its cousin, Orchesella villosa, but is still above average in size for a springtail. These guys display a nice, lime green stripe across the middle of their abdomen, which especially stands out in the stunning black morph.
Porcellio scaber"Orange"
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Just received eight mancae of this beautiful, neon orange strain of P.scaber yesterday, can't wait until they get larger and develop even brighter coloration!
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
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Dec 11, 2016
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181
Armadillidium maculatum
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Just received a batch of twelve young individuals, I'm hopeful that they'll do much better than my first individuals did(they all died out due to incorrect and varying moisture levels).
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
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Dec 11, 2016
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181
Porcellionides virgatus
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I'm psyched to finally have this species on my hands! Although this isopod displays cryptic coloration and dwarves its flashy relative, Porcellionides pruinosus, it is still capable of running at very fast speeds much like its cousin.
Rhyscotus texensis
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I'm certainly happy to have this odd, small, slender, and fast-moving species in my collection! Apparently, these guys also breed like roaches! Unfortunately, these are one of the hardest isopods to take decent pics of, if they weren't small enough, their glossy bodies make it even more challenging.
 

9darlingcalvi

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 6, 2016
Messages
112
Porcellionides virgatus
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I'm psyched to finally have this species on my hands! Although this isopod displays cryptic coloration and dwarves its flashy relative, Porcellionides pruinosus, it is still capable of running at very fast speeds much like its cousin.
Rhyscotus texensis
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I'm certainly happy to have this odd, small, slender, and fast-moving species in my collection! Apparently, these guys also breed like roaches! Unfortunately, these are one of the hardest isopods to take decent pics of, if they weren't small enough, their glossy bodies make it even more challenging.
How do you keep you isopods? What do you feed them? Also how do you isolate and get the right colors that you want?
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
How do you keep you isopods? What do you feed them? Also how do you isolate and get the right colors that you want?
In depends on the species, but most of them just require a moist substrate(I usually use coconut fiber mixed with small chunks of rotten wood) and a layer of dead hardwood leaves(on top of the substrate).....they're that simple! lol Besides that I usually give mine some bark hides just for the heck of it and keep them in 6 qt Sterilite shoebox containers. :)
They will feed mostly on the dead leaves, but will also eat rotten wood and little bits of dog/fish food, fruits, and vegetables.
For isolating color morphs you are basically just going to want to isolate a few individuals that possess the coloration, patterning, etc. that you desire and if it's a recessive gene, some of their babies will end up with that same trait. If you continuously cull out those individuals each generation, you'll eventually end up with a population that breeds true, meaning that they only produce individuals that possess that desired trait. :) However, if the coloration, patterning, etc. is just environmentally related, you won't be able to isolate the trait no matter how hard you try.
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Agabiformius lentus
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Picked up these along with the R.texensis, and P.virgatus through trade from @Lucanus95. Apparently, these little guys do much better when kept in cohabitation with large Blaberids due to the fact that they consume their frass and dead bodies. I don't currently have these guys set up with any of my roaches, but will be occasionally supplementing their substrate with roach frass to see if I can simulate cohabitation. One thing I love about this species is their body structure, it reminds me very much of that of Alloniscus perconvexus(which I also hope to acquire soon).
Haplophthalmus danicus
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A tiny, pale species that commonly occurs under loose bark on rotting logs at one of my collecting spots. I only knew of one person who was currently keeping them, but now I know of two(Alan Jeon), soon three(Kyle Kandilian), and including myself, four! Hopefully we'll be able to establish the captive husbandry for this interesting species!
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Trachelipus rathkii"Orange"
DSC_0460 (2).JPG DSC_0466 (2).JPG DSC_0449 (3).JPG DSC_0459 (2).JPG DSC_0454 (2).JPG I found two individuals(both of which seem to be female) of this gorgeous color morph at one of my most pristine collecting locations. This particular spot is rich in T.rathkii(and Dolomedes tenebrosus) so it was likely out of pure probability that I was able to find these out of the thousands of others I stumbled upon. Although I did hope to come back with a few "White Out" specimens, I guess these were fine too.;)
Philoscia muscorum
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I am thrilled to finally have come across this marvelously ornate species! These isopods exhibit pops of neon yellow and orange like no other common species. Very, very unfortunately this isopod has yet to have been successfully cultured over multiple generations, but if it had been, it would easily be considered the most stunning U.S-naturalized species in the hobby. Despite the very finicky history of this species in captivity, I will do what I can to try and steadily breed them. :)
 

All About Arthropods

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
181
Lucihormetica grossei
Male nymph
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Female nymph
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Very excited to have been able to acquire this species, which dwarves the other two currently cultured species of Lucihormetica in both length and (at least with males) width! These guys are absolutely stunning even as nymphs having extremely glossy bodies and satin-red marked pronotums! Hopefully I'll have success breeding these rare and truly breathtaking glow spots!
Adroniscus dentiger
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A neat little subterranean, Hyloniscus/Trichoniscus look-alike that I received through trade as a "mystery" species from Kyle Kandilian. :)
 
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