Some Cool European Darklingz

[LucasDarklingz]

Last week I received three new Spanish species of Tenebrionids at home. Three completely crazy and extremely rare species that I don't think anyone has ever kept before. They were all found near Almeria in the extreme south-east of Spain.

1- Pimelia sp. Striped elytras (baetica?) : Really good looking, lay a lot of eggs, enjoy to bury themselves.

2- Pimelia sp. Smooth (variolosa?) : A smooth species, seems to be a bit harder than other species I keep.

3- Leptoderis solieri (a troglophile darkling) : Very goofy looking, very prolific, with a very subtle blue coating.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Some perfect specimens, there..thanks for sharing

 

[Arachnid Hunter]

Beautiful specimens you got there!

 

[TheraMygale]

Nice. What is your interest with these?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Wow are they lot bigger then superworm darkling? Obviously significantly rarer ! Nice ..

 

[LucasDarklingz]

Nice. What is your interest with these?

I want to try to breed them! And so far so good I got a lot of eggs!

Wow are they lot bigger then superworm darkling? Obviously significantly rarer ! Nice ..

Don't think so for the pimelias, the adult are 2cm body length. But the Leptoderis can be from 1.5cm to 2.5cm body length, so great size for them!

 

[torpedo71]

Never seen this species before. Those stripes on the back are quite slick looking. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Hisserdude]

3- Leptoderis solieri (a troglophile darkling) : Very goofy looking, very prolific, with a very subtle blue coating.

Those are so neat, really looking forward to seeing what the larvae look like!

 

[PillipedeBreeder]

Fingers crossed,
I know some peeps who bred some spanish or italien Pimelia.

 

[LucasDarklingz]

Those are so neat, really looking forward to seeing what the larvae look like!

I know right! First eggs should hatch soon!

Fingers crossed,
I know some peeps who bred some spanish or italien Pimelia.

Oh really??! I'd love to talk to them then!

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

It will be interesting to see if the larvae look very standard or have any unusual features for darklings. Please keep up the research and sharing.

 

[LucasDarklingz]

Hello everyone! Since last time I managed to collect a few eggs from each species and hatch them without too much trouble! The most prolific are the Leptoderis solieri which lay several times a day and the least prolific are the Pimelia variolosa (only 2 larvae and no eggs seen since last time). Here are a few videos of the larvae! And since you're so enthusiastic about Leptoderis solieri, I've made several videos! Unfortunately the larvae are still quite small (2th instar) so the videos are a bit cloudy!

Pimelia variolosa: 2 larvae (I feed them with cat food)
View attachment PXL_20240802_085228917.TS~2.mp4

















Pimelia baetica: many larvae (I feed them with cat food and chicken droppings)
View attachment PXL_20240802_085131473.TS~2.mp4

 

[LucasDarklingz]

Leptoderis solieri: infinite larvae glitch (I feed them mainly with chicken droppings and a bit of cat food)

1st video -> Freshly hatched ; 2-3rd video -> 2th instar
View attachment 1.mp4
View attachment vlc-record-2024-08-02-11h45m59s-2.mp4-.mp4
View attachment 3.mp4

 

[Hisserdude]

Very nice, glad these species are breeding well for you! I just caught some Eusattus muricatus the other day that I'm excited to try breeding again.

 

[LucasDarklingz]

Very nice, glad these species are breeding well for you! I just caught some Eusattus muricatus the other day that I'm excited to try breeding again.

That's very cool, I hope you will succeed! I really hope one day I could put my hands on some American tenebs!