satchellwk

Looks like a periplaneta nymph to me, maybe P. australasiae. Americana and fulginosa manage to get into my colonies all the time, despite efforts to keep them out.

They should be fine with scorpions and centipedes. It may be a good idea to keep an eye on them while they molt though, and make sure the isopod number never get too high. I will say, however, that they are not a good species to keep with roaches or anything else with similar food sources, because I have had pruinosus overpopulate and outcompete roach species if given enough food. They should be fine with large predators because there would be a much more limited food source.

Nope, but if you keep them together chances are one will outcompete the other and you'll end up with just one species. My money would be on the pruinosus.

Isopods are great BUT be careful, I've had isopods multiply so quickly in some roach tanks that they've taken over outcompeted the roach nymphs. In my experience porcellionides are the worst about this, and I'm sure porcellio sp. would be problematic as well. I'd suggest smaller species like trichorhinas or slower reproducing ones like armadillidium.

I live pretty far south and I've never seen them really "infest." However, in the summer months, they're all over the place and get into homes very frequently. My house has a traditional chimney and, at night in the summer, P. americana and fulginosa will utilize it to come in and out, along with the occasional house gecko.

I've been on a bit of an Isopod kick lately. As of now I have: Porcellionides pruinosus, Armadillidium vulgare, A. nasatum, A. maculatum, Porcellio scaber, P. scaber "orange", P. laevis, P. spinicornis, P. dilatus, Oniscus Ascellus, Trachelipus rathkii, Cylisticus convexus, Venezillo parvus, Venezillo sp. keys, Oniscidea sp. "Florida Fast", Trichorhina tomoentosa, "Dwarf striped", an unknown species of porcellio from northern Florida, another unknown porcellio from south Alabama (could be same species as the Florida one), and some tiny Trichoniscidae sp I found here in central Alabama.

So, I'm having phorid fly issues. It all started a month or two ago, I had 2 separate dubia colonies, both of which were overdue for a substrate change. I started a new bin, combining both colonies of roaches and any of my cleaner crew I could pick out of the substrate (I have a mix of dermestid beetles, lesser mealworms, and P. pruinosus isopods). However, I dumped most of the old cardboard paper towel rolls and egg cartons since it was getting old and moldy. Well, I had planned to get some large egg flats for the bin, but upon searching local farmer's co-ops, I was unable to locate any. Therefore, my colony remained for about a week with minimal amounts of surface area or hides. So, when I opened the container, there were quite a few dead individuals, and, since I ended up losing a great deal of my cleaner crew from the substrate change, phorid flies had absolutely taken over. I cleared out what i could and put in some large, vertically stacked pieces of tree bark, so there seemed to be plenty of space now. however, I flies still aren't going away. My cleaner crews look to be reproducing alright, but I don't know when they'll be to the point they were before. Also, the roaches don't seems to be dying at any rate higher than usual, but I still have tones of flies. I've just been taking the bin outside and letting as many fly out as I can about once a week, but they're still breeding. Could they just be breeding in the substrate or something? TL;DR: I got phorid flies and they don't seem to be going away. Will they eventually just phase out, or should I just dump the whole thing (again) and start with fresh substrate and whatnot? Any help is greatly appreciated.

You lay back and accept the fact that grain mites will forever be a part of your life. But, yeah, isopods and springtails do help.

I currently have: A. vulgare A. nasatum a ludicrous amount of Porcellionides pruinosus And two, as of now unidentified species. Both were collected along the Alabama Gulf coast back last summer. One I believe might be the same species as Kyle's Oniscidae sp. "Florida Fast." Pic: The other is some variety of very small pillbug. The best guess Kyle and I have is Venezillo sp, but we aren't sure. Good news is both of these species seem to be reproducing alright. I started with only a pair of the pillbugs and I have about a dozen now. Pic:

I wouldn't be too worried about it. Yes, there is a chance of bringing in parasites, but Isopods, especially A. vulgare, are quite hardy and, besides, you could always just start an entirely wc colony if something happens. All CB colonies had to start WC at one point anyway.

Well, the deal with protista is that it's literally a group for whatever does't fit into the existing groups. There is no evolutionary connection between anything in protista that unify them. I believe there is a movement to abolish the kingdom and add its members into the kingdoms that they are more closely related to, assuming they amend the qualifications for the kingdoms in question. Also, protozoan is not the same thing as protist.

I agree Keith and Island Reptiles are great choices, but I would also throw Cariblatta's name into the mix. He's a great guy who really loves his bugs and does a great job in his husbandry.

I found some isopods like these at the Alabama coast a few months ago, though I wasn't sure if they were if they were actually a small species or just immatures. They're certainly a cool little species.

For the record, I had a couple in my G. portentosa enclosure and thy readily bred and the next generation are now pretty happily co-inhabiting with the hissers and growing quite rapidly.

Did this literature specify where in Alabama these were found, perchance?

Whaddup Alan? Great to see you on here!

Looks like it could be the moths I have in mine. My dubia and giganteus colonies are full of these moths. Did you find in in sort of a silk-lined tunnel thing? I haven't noticed any adverse effects, but it sure can be annoying to have 5 moths fly out every time you open a bin.

I need to check this site more often; here's a thread where people are solely posting pictures of my bugs. Glad to see everyone's giganteus are doing well, for the most part. As for die-offs, like Wodesorel, my entire initial group of 7 nymphs continued to live well after reaching adulthood, churning out litter after litter. Yet, as the next couple of generations began maturing, I began seeing quite a few die-offs, leading me to think crowding has something to do with it. I recently moved my entire colony ot a new enclosure (10 gallon to 20 gallon aquarium) and the deaths certainly slowed down, but didn't completely stop.

I have a couple of mixed P. americana and fuliginosa nymphs currently occupying a gallon-sized jar, though, as they mature I'll end up moving them into something larger. The only thing you need to make sure is that they can;t get out; since they climb well. I use standard substrate with rotten wood and leaves in it. You could probably get away with no substrate, but it'll be harder to retain humidity. These species may adapt to live in sewers, but they would feel much more at home in a damp wood pile. They need humidity, definitely, so either have an enclosure that retains moisture well, or mist, or keep a water dish, whichever floats your boat (though i might be worried about small nymphs drowning in a dish). Also, you really don't need to worry about the random P. americana carrying any disease. As long as you go to sanitary places to collect (wood piles are a Periplaneta's heaven), there shouldn't be any problem. Frankly, I wouldn't even worry about the stray individual that might wander into your house having anything; I think the idea that they all carry nasty diseases is just part of western culture's hatred towards them and nothing more.

Should be fine, though I would supplement the diet with fresh fruits and vegetables as well.

Thanks! I've gotten a lot of species lately, so a few of the cultures aren't well established just yet. I'm in Tuscaloosa. I would love to trade sometime; I know, right now, I have plenty of Blaptica dubia, Blaberus giganteus, pycnoscelus surinamensis, and panchlora nivea, and I could manage some small groups of gromphadorina portentosa, blaberus discoidalis, and "little kenyan" roaches.

Welcome! Great to see someone else from Alabama, what part of the state are you in?

If the surinamensis are in the terrariums, then they'll probably always be in there. Good thing is they're not really that "pesty" of roaches, they just proliferate in greenhouses and terrariums. The australians, on the other hand, can become more a of a pest, though they still need a great deal of heat and humidity to really thrive. Also, they're probably what you're finding as "palmetto bugs," the pics you posted are just them as nymphs. Frankly, both make decent feeder roaches, so you might just want to keep them as frog food, since there is really no way to get rid of them all without completely dismantling your terrariums.

I've seen this happen to some of the Blaptica dubia nymphs that I pre-kill to feed to immature centipedes that go uneaten, though I promptly remove them once I start to notice it or any mold. I keep the centipedes rather humid with low ventilation, and I always just assumed it was some sort of fungus/bacteria/other by-product of decomposition. And, I haven't seen it with any dead dubias in dryer enclosures, so I would assume the humidity has something to do with it.

They won't hybridize, but you will never be able to tell nymphs apart, which becomes a very large problem if you ever want to trade/ sell any. I've learned that the hard way with giganteus and A. tessalata.