Culturing of Dalquestia formosa

[Smotzer]

@RezonantVoid I wish I could send these to you and you could send me some of your Opiliones!

 

[RezonantVoid]

@RezonantVoid I wish I could send these to you and you could send me some of your Opiliones!

Agreed! Have just acquired breeding colonies of another 3 species I'm keen to try, with my dream species hopefully arriving this week

 

[Smotzer]

Agreed! Have just acquired breeding colonies of another 3 species I'm keen to try, with my dream species hopefully arriving this week

Damn man that's awesome!! What's your dream Opiliones species??

 

[RezonantVoid]

Damn man that's awesome!! What's your dream Opiliones species??

Neopantopsalis pentheter, photos below are not mine (first 2 taken by the person assisting me in obtaining them, 3rd and 4th taken from Google)

Adult males




Adult female

 

[Smotzer]

Amazing the coloration variation is quite stunning!!! Hopefully you get them and they do well for you!!

 

[RezonantVoid]

Amazing the coloration variation is quite stunning!!! Hopefully you get them and they do well for you!!

The tricky part is their impressive 10cm/4" legspan makes packing them safely a rather difficult challenge, and one we are still trying to work out before sending them down. Neopilionids seem exceedingly fragile compared to the smaller Triaenonychidae I'm used to, so it might unfortunately take some trial and error

 

[Smotzer]

The tricky part is their impressive 10cm/4" legspan makes packing them safely a rather difficult challenge, and one we are still trying to work out before sending them down. Neopilionids seem exceedingly fragile compared to the smaller Triaenonychidae I'm used to, so it might unfortunately take some trial and error

Yeah that's been an issue for me with some of the larger leggier species I have found down here as well, collecting them without damaging them is a challenge for sure! They're much more fragile!

 

[RezonantVoid]

Yeah that's been an issue for me with some of the larger leggier species I have found down here as well, collecting them without damaging them is a challenge for sure! They're much more fragile!

Do any of your larger species detach legs in defence as well? My little Triaenonychidae don't but I wasn't sure if all other families can

 

[Smotzer]

Recent hatching! L1 D. formosa

 

[Smotzer]

They've grown to L6 and maybe one or two L7 now but I just have to take photos of them but here is a L4 Dalquestia formosa from the first clutch!

Dalquestia formosa L4

• Smotzer
• Nov 9, 2022
• arachnid halloween harvestman harvestmen opiliones other arachnids

One of the first individuals from the first CB clutch of D. formosa reaching L4 on October 5th...

 

[Smotzer]

They've grown to L6 and maybe one or two L7 now but I just have to take photos of them but here is a L4 Dalquestia formosa from the first clutch!

Dalquestia formosa L4

• Smotzer
• Nov 9, 2022
• arachnid halloween harvestman harvestmen opiliones other arachnids

One of the first individuals from the first CB clutch of D. formosa reaching L4 on October 5th...

 

[Smotzer]

Here shown L7 but at L6 and L7 they begin to darken and get adult colors but are still partially translucent compared to the more deep black color or the adults!