entomo-logic

I kept them on a mix of ground up wood leaves and topsoil, with some sand mixed in. I had grasses and cacti as plants. Temp was in the high 80's misted once a day and provided a water dish. The beetles were always mating but I never got any larva. I have heard that people bury carrots in the substrate to get the beetles to produce viable eggs and get larva to grow. I still keep some but they are just for display so there are no special substrates or anything. They are cool beetles.

The following articles are on the social behaviors of Amblypygids. a rare behavior for arachnids www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v34.../arac-34-2-399.pdf http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March07/amblypygids.kr.html

I know a lot of studies are done on Manduca sexta moths in laboratories and they rear them on an artificial medium. I can find places that sell the media online but I cannot find any recipes to make it. Does anyone know of a good formula to make Manduca media? Thanks

IF anyone is interested in the paintings I have a few lying around. They are minimum $10 donation with all the proceeds going to Insect Conservation. PM me if you are interested.

Butterflies are very beautiful in every way. From their wings right down to their first waste release when they emerge from their chrysalis. I am trying to market these "Butterfly Paintings" so we can raise money for Insect conservation at the zoo. Problem is that most people don't get it. How do I spin this so people are interested and purchase these things? The attached file is me showing some of the Paintings at an Endangered Butterfly Workshop. Thanks

Hey all check this link out http://tinyurl.com/tiger-beetle This article explains how the Xerces Society and other groups are filing a lawsuit against the US Fish and Wildlife to designate more critical habitat for the CRITICALLY ENDANGERED Salt Creek Tiger Beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana). This is exciting and a BIG WIN for Invertebrate conservation.

Hello all, Does anyone have experience with Tiger Beetles? I am very interested in them and need some pointers. Has anyone had luck getting the larvae to go full term in the gel that the astronauts use for ants in space? Let me know. Thanks Tony

There is a current job opening as a swing keeper in the Wild Kingdom Pavilion and the Butterfly and Insect Pavilion. This job would offer a lot of opportunity to anyone interested in ectotherms. If interested feel free to email Trace Hardin at TraceHardin@yahoo.com he would be happy to answer questions about the job. http://omahazoo.com/index.php?p=visitus&s=jobopportunities

It is true it would be more fun to culture them. Unfortunately they don't like to be seen, are rather small, and as you said are cannibalistic so they don't make very good display animals. If it weren't for these flaws I am sure they would be very interesting to culture in a zoo. It is a shame that the Saint Helena earwig (Labidura herculeana)is extinct because then I think people would be more open to keeping/seeing them in insectariums. I might try to keep some at my apartment in culture though because they are such cool animals. Thanks for the idea. And while I am wishing for animals to be so much larger than their actual size Psudoscorpions would be so cool if they were about 100x their actual size. I do culture those in my personal collection.

Today I found several Earwigs (Order: Dermaptera) in my hisser colony. I didn't think much of it until I saw one eating an L2! I was astonished that an earwig could take prey so much larger than its self but It was squished immediately after the moment of awe was over. So look out for Earwigs they are killers!

That is a true story Atta are a ton of work to keep happy. Our colonies cut probably 100+ browse in a day in the peak season and about 30/ day in the winter. and the humidity is also difficult to get right.

Wow that is quite a collection! We at the zoo have tried Myrmecocystus mexicana and Camponotus pennsylvanicus but haven't had any luck. What is the trick to getting the Pogos to take off?

Yes I have all of the roaches in culture but the Therea petiveriana colony is not doing so well they experienced a sudden crash and now I have 1.1 which worries me because I like them alot and they were doing so well for 3 years and then just crashed. Also the Hormetica subcincata had a sharp decline from 20 to 2 and I am not sure why. I work at the Zoo which is where I get to work with all of these species. My main focuses are the Mantids and the roaches but i do like to work with all the insects and arachnids in the building. As for ants we have 2 colonies of Atta cephalotes and some small Pogonomyrmex sp. colonies. We also work with many beetle species including Thermonectus marmoratus, Eleodes sp., Moneilema gigas, Asbolus verrucosus, Chalcosoma caucasus, Dynastes granti and D. tityus, Phalacrognathus muelleri, Chrysina gloriosa, Strategus sp., and Xylotrupes gideon. Thanks for the warm welcome! Tony

Hello Fellow Blattodia enthusiasts! Thank you for allowing me to participate in your forum I hope to learn about the finer points of Roach culture and provide insights from what I have learned in my 5 years of working with roaches. I have worked mainly with Gromphadorhina sp. but have also cultured Blaptica dubia, Blaberus giganteus, Therea petiveriana, Therea grandjeani, Polyphaga aegyptica, and Hormetica subcincata. I hope to get some Blaberus craniifer soon, so if anyone has them available please let me know. I also work with a lot of other insects including ants, beetles, mantids, hemipterans, bees, and phasmids, as well as several arachnids and myriopod species. Anyway I look forward to learning from you all and hopefully contributing valuable information to topics on this forum. Best, Tony Palmer