kellakk

That is a very nice female!

I think the San Diego Zoo has a rather large colony of Blaberus giganteus. They have a display enclosure that has at least 200 adults hanging out along the wall, so I'm guessing the number of nymphs must be at least 3 times that.

I really don't look for mantids, I just know that one species does well in my yard. But I guess once spring comes I'll keep on the lookout for the little predators. I've seen a good number of ootheca on trees and such.

Not really. I'm just east of OC. Yes, Stagmomantis californica, and subterranean termites (do those count? ). I haven't ever seen others, though.

I see Parcoblatta americana quite often this time of year. I'm working on keeping them as a colony, it's a work in progress. I've found lots of Atopetholus spp. millipedes, one millipede tentatively identified as a Hiltonius sp., I started a breeding project of diabolical ironclads, and a beautiful orange click beetle that I have yet to ID. And I started breeding a declining native snail species in the hopes of increasing their numbers. I really should start taking pictures of these things.

Be careful of feeding them tomato or peppers, or basically anything from those two groups. Tomatoes are in the nightshade family and make poisonous chemicals, while peppers are spicy (obviously lol).

To make sure they don't escape, freeze them or at least get them really cold (if you don't want to kill them). That slows down their metabolism so you can view them easily.

I've had good luck with greens that were labelled "triple-washed".

That pic is quite amazing indeed!

Narceus spp. are the largest available in the US. Narceus gordanus is a decently thick millipede, but US millipedes will be nowhere near as large as AGBs.

Interesting, thanks for the info. Have any of you bred Pterostichus before? Is there any problem with cannibalism (adults eating young)? I kind of like predatory beetles after getting the chance to watch how these guys act. Any recommendations for another predatory beetle?

This topic is likely posted in the wrong section. I apologize, and hope the mods move it to the correct place. Not too long after I switched my G. portentosa colony to a more naturalistic look (leaf litter, hardwood chunks, oak log centerpiece), I noticed that the population of lesser mealworms in that enclosure had exploded. Since they're too small to feed to anything but my Lactrodectus slings, I wanted to cut down on their population a bit. They're good as a clean-up crew, but the adults were starting to bother some of the hisser nymphs. So I decided to add some Pterostichus melanarius that I had found while collecting Parcoblatta americana nymphs. They're doing the job well; they don't seem to bother the hissers, and occasionally (if I'm watching the colony late at night) I'll see one of them carrying a mealworm larva around. This evening, though, I witnessed some unexpected behaviour from one of them: it was eating fruit! All of the literature I've read about them says they're carnivores, but I guess they missed the memo!

Hmm, was it really Parcoblatta americana, or was it Periplaneta americana? But yes, I like roaches because of their interesting behavior, the variety in their looks, and the fact that they're so hated. I'm glad I found a place where people share my opinion.

Hi everyone, I'm a lurker here with a couple roach colonies, and I love roaches! They're definitely my favorite insects. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here has experience with Parcoblatta americana? I went out today and collect 5 or 6 nymphs, but saw more than double that. Those nymphs are so fast! They're currently set up with 2-3 inches of oak leaf litter mixed with peat moss, with a few pieces of rotting oak in there with them. As a side note, I'd like to start colonies of all the roaches native to California. Any tips on finding Arenivaga spp. and the like?