Jumping Bristletail care

[Lykoloo]

I have been seeing these jumping bristletails, which I believe may be Trigoniophthalmus alternatus, in my yard since early spring and I think they are interesting critters. Has anyone kept these before? I read that they are difficult to keep alive.

Sorry for the blurry picture, it was from my smartphone:

 

[Hisserdude]

I have kept two species before, both died after a few days in captivity sadly. They kept rubbing all their scales off on objects in the enclosure, and once all their scales were gone, they died. Don't know how one would avoid that, while still giving them places to hide, which they need...

 

[Lykoloo]

I have kept two species before, both died after a few days in captivity sadly. They kept rubbing all their scales off on objects in the enclosure, and once all their scales were gone, they died. Don't know how one would avoid that, while still giving them places to hide, which they need...

I always see them eating algae out in the open so I didn't put any objects in the enclosure. Even so, one of them lost its scales so I think that they just might not be appropriate for captivity. What baffles me is that there was a study recently on the gliding behaviors of a South American species when dropped from a tree, so did they just find a new one every time they dropped one?

 

[spotropaicsav]

I have been seeing these jumping bristletails, which I believe may be Trigoniophthalmus alternatus, in my yard since early spring and I think they are interesting critters. Has anyone kept these before? I read that they are difficult to keep alive.

Sorry for the blurry picture, it was from my smartphone:
View attachment 247747

Is it true that some are long lived in the wild? I could be wrong, is it just captivity that they do poorly with?

 

[Lykoloo]

Is it true that some are long lived in the wild? I could be wrong, is it just captivity that they do poorly with?

Every source that I have seen about people trying to keep them in captivity says that they always die. As for longevity, they are pretty long lived for insects, with many sources claiming that they live 2-4 years in the wild.

The ones that I have captive are being kept at conditions similar to where I found them at ~70F and 60% humidity and so far are acting pretty naturally but they aren't eating anything that I offer them. Last night I went outside and observed some bristletails and they seemed to be feeding on the algae on the cinder block that they live on.
I tried feeding the captive ones organic cucumber since aquatic algae feeders will accept it; but no luck.

So far I have mostly seen them living on concrete, with them being far more numerous on flat cinder blocks than the large bumpy piece of broken concrete nearby. I counted 5 individuals on one face of a block at one time.

This is the position that they are in at night, feeding on what I assume is algae.

 

[spotropaicsav]

Every source that I have seen about people trying to keep them in captivity says that they always die. As for longevity, they are pretty long lived for insects, with many sources claiming that they live 2-4 years in the wild.

The ones that I have captive are being kept at conditions similar to where I found them at ~70F and 60% humidity and so far are acting pretty naturally but they aren't eating anything that I offer them. Last night I went outside and observed some bristletails and they seemed to be feeding on the algae on the cinder block that they live on.
I tried feeding the captive ones organic cucumber since aquatic algae feeders will accept it; but no luck.

So far I have mostly seen them living on concrete, with them being far more numerous on flat cinder blocks than the large bumpy piece of broken concrete nearby. I counted 5 individuals on one face of a block at one time.

This is the position that they are in at night, feeding on what I assume is algae.
View attachment 247896

Bummer they seem to do poorly in captivity, c'est la vie sometimes I guess, thanks for pic. Post if you have any tricks that work out...

 

[Lykoloo]

I'm thinking of soaking some algae pellets that you feed fish with and smearing a bit of one on a piece of bark. I gave them proper substrate and some moss today and now they are hanging out on the floor of the enclosure and two of the three haven't lost any scales as far as I can tell. perhaps that's a good sign?



edit: typo

 

[spotropaicsav]

I'm thinking of soaking some algae pellets that you feed fish with and smearing a bit of one on a piece of bark. I gave them proper substrate and some moss today and now they are hanging out on the floor of the enclosure and two of the three haven't lost any scales as far as I can tell. perhaps that's a good sign?



edit: typo

I like the algae pellets idea. Did you use pellets or the cakes? Not sure it would matter, or if one would be more similar to natural habitat or not. Seems like a good sign

 

[Lykoloo]

I like the algae pellets idea. Did you use pellets or the cakes? Not sure it would matter, or if one would be more similar to natural habitat or not. Seems like a good sign

Turns out is wasn't necessarily a good sign, one of the ones with scales died so I let the others go before they did.

 

[spotropaicsav]

Turns out is wasn't necessarily a good sign, one of the ones with scales died so I let the others go before they did.

You tried, sounds like the right decision in the end. Thanks for posting details of your keeping experience