entomo-logic Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petastic Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Oooh, what kind of ants have you raised/had? I have many species. Welcome to the forum though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpet Roaches Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Welcome Tony! Do you still have all those roaches in culture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entomo-logic Posted December 12, 2010 Author Share Posted December 12, 2010 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petastic Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Atta - awesome! I have over 20 species. To name just a few of the generas, I have Camponotus, Solenopsis, Pogonomyrmex, Cyphomyrmex, Trachymyrmex, Crematogaster, Psuedomyrmex, Pheidole, Monomorium, Technomyrmex, Odontomachus, and Dorymyrex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entomo-logic Posted December 12, 2010 Author Share Posted December 12, 2010 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petastic Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 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? They're pretty easy once you have the right setup. Like others, a test-tube setup for a fresh queen works ok, just add very little water in the resever. Keep them around 80 degrees. Depending on your species of pogo, they will most likely be semi-calustrel. A mix of finch seed and smalls insects like termites and fruit flies is what I use to raise the queens. They're MUCH easier to raise in a mix of sand. The danger to this is a tunnel colapse. Because of this, you have to find the exact point of of moisture that keeps the sand from colapsing, but also at a dry humidity, since pogos do best with an access to water but a dry nest. They are a hit or miss species, you either get 1,000 in a year or a curled up queen and 3 dead workers in the same time frame. Camponotus pennslvanicus is uncommon around Florida, but from the 2 colonies I've had I do know they take almost twice as longer than other species of Campos to establish; I only had 20 workers in a year. My C. floridanus had 50 in a year at the same temp and feeding rate. Not to mention they seem to crash and burn for no reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hisserman Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Welcome!!! PS where do you get your queen ants? I was thinking about leafcutters a few years back, but turned them down. I should have bought them..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petastic Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Welcome!!! PS where do you get your queen ants? I was thinking about leafcutters a few years back, but turned them down. I should have bought them..... Bought them? Unless your getting them from someone in your own state (Which is still IMO, not a good idea) it's illegal. But I get mine all from small colonies or newly mated queens. Usually from the end of March to to the beggining, nuptial flights are still occuring. The key is to know yours days, keep your eyes on the ground, and just be plain lucky. The season would be shorter farther north, I'm in Central FL. Besides, leafcutters (Atta, Acromyrmex, etc.) are no begginer ants. They require a specialized (And huge! Egg to ant with sufficient food is just as fast as red imported fire ants, 30 days) enclosure with exact temperature and humidity. Not to mention quite a bit of vegetation - I have enough trouble supporting my fungus growing Trachymyrmex and Cyphomyrmex colonies. And those are only 6mms at the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hisserman Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Bought them? Unless your getting them from someone in your own state (Which is still IMO, not a good idea) it's illegal. But I get mine all from small colonies or newly mated queens. Usually from the end of March to to the beggining, nuptial flights are still occuring. The key is to know yours days, keep your eyes on the ground, and just be plain lucky. The season would be shorter farther north, I'm in Central FL. Besides, leafcutters (Atta, Acromyrmex, etc.) are no begginer ants. They require a specialized (And huge! Egg to ant with sufficient food is just as fast as red imported fire ants, 30 days) enclosure with exact temperature and humidity. Not to mention quite a bit of vegetation - I have enough trouble supporting my fungus growing Trachymyrmex and Cyphomyrmex colonies. And those are only 6mms at the most. Yeah he was in my state and was only 20 minutes away..... he needed to get rid of his colonies so he was going to give me the coffin sized container they were in. As for heat, he had a heater inside of it..... he was also selling it all for only $450!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petastic Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Yeah he was in my state and was only 20 minutes away..... he needed to get rid of his colonies so he was going to give me the coffin sized container they were in. As for heat, he had a heater inside of it..... he was also selling it all for only $450!!!!! I would have got it...but like I said, horrible begginner species. Wrong humidity and the fungus will start to die. A colony that size would require several pounds of certain vegetation every day. Not to mention cleaning time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entomo-logic Posted December 12, 2010 Author Share Posted December 12, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hisserman Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 I would have got it...but like I said, horrible begginner species. Wrong humidity and the fungus will start to die. A colony that size would require several pounds of certain vegetation every day. Not to mention cleaning time. 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. Yeah, glad I didn't get it. The humidity was actually one of the main reasons I didn't buy it...... he had this high-tech humidifier but he wouldn't sell it to me.... the vegetation wouldn't have been hard for me to get, it was just the humidity (and the fact that that container didn't look ant proof ) Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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