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Showing content with the highest reputation since 03/27/2024 in Posts

  1. The availability is definitely crazy for those who have been accompanying the hobby since its inception. Going back to 1st October 1986 BCG Species List which is only limited to 17 species, tells us all how far it is has grown. But to be honest, I am more amazed by how organized the hobby was back then, with newsletters, regular articles, all of those efforts which built the foundation in which we all of us are still standing on today. its just amazing if you think of all the limitations back then!
    3 points
  2. A few years ago I saw people keeping the two species in the same enclosure, and I've seen people mislabel L. verrucosa as L. subcincta before, so it's possible for newbies to put them together by accident. I've seen people claim they cannot hybridise, but nobody seemed to have actually tested that. Since I own both species and have space for more, I decided to give it a go. FOR SCIENCE! But mostly for everyone's peace of mind. This experiment has been going since about 2022, I decided to put it here now too so everyone can actually look it up and find it instead of it being trapped within a niché social media audience. Enclosure is large critter keeper with about 7cm (~2,8 inches) of soil, both species love making burrows and little underground tunnel systems and seem happier when they have plenty of room to do so. Original set up had coconut fibre but I noticed a significant loss in nymphs that I did not experience with the more earthy soil I use in my other enclosures, so I switched it out. Leaf litter was always available as food source and the occasional fruit snacks, rotting wood, and fish flakes (for protein) were given, too. They also really like rodent food sticks with seeds and nuts. Misted regularly so the soil never dries out completely. Kept at room temperature between 20-26C. Note - To make sure the females had not already mated, I picked female nymphs and placed them in an enclosure with males, then waited until they reached adulthood and produced nymphs. Most images are labelled for clarity/image search engines. First experiment: Lucihormetica verrucosa (male) × Lucihormetica subcincta (female) Have been kept together for almost an entire year. No sign of offspring. Second experiment: Lucihormetica verrucosa (female) × Lucihormetica subcincta (male) Produced hybrid offspring! Here's the only survivor from the coconut fibre disaster. At this stage it's impossible to visually tell that it's a hybrid because their nymphs look pretty much the same (my older L. verrucosa nymphs tend to develop interesting orange patterns on their body while L. subcincta nymphs remain mostly black looking more like the pictured hybrid nymph here, but I don't consider it reliable enough for identification). Once the hybrids reached adulthood though, it was fairly easy to tell. Pure and hybrid males comparison: Females comparison: More adult hybrids (the light colour in some hybrids is due to them having molted recently): Appearance notes: Wings in all hybrids tend to be an interesting mix between the parent species, appearing like a square with rounded sides. The antennas of hybrids have a small white section towards the end just like in L. subcincta, something that is absent in L. verrucosa. Their wing colour is darker than L. subcincta and in person appears closer to L. verrucosa. More inconsistent appearance notes: The size of hybrids is similar to L. verrucosa, but can vary a lot between individuals. Pronotum pattern on hybrid females tends to be closer to the L. subcincta I own rather than the common pattern in my L. verrucosa colony, but the pattern can vary a lot even between individuals of the same species. Same goes for the head pattern, even being absent in some individuals of either species. Fertility of hybrids: While they can and do mate, no offspring has been produced yet. I am experimenting with offering pure bred individuals and see if any of the hybrids are actually fertile. Will update with the results eventually. TL;DR: I personally wouldn't recommend housing Lucihormetica verrucosa and Lucihormetica subcincta together.
    3 points
  3. A beautiful species of small Blaberid with metallic green adults. 😍 I did not find them too difficult to rear, fingers crossed they'll breed well for me! Female: Males: Females are unbelievably vibrant in coloration, they look oversaturated in real life. 😍 Males are quite a bit darker but still super pretty.
    2 points
  4. Cockroach availability today is crazy
    2 points
  5. No, a male from a different breeder.
    1 point
  6. He might be good for breeding, hard to say. The horns aren't like hissers but the pronotum should be a bit different in shape except small males aren't so different. Big and small males come from the same parents so it's really hard to say if you'll get a monster or a runt. Like hissers a brother can be 1/3 the mass of another.
    1 point
  7. One of the very biggest terrestrials pied (partial albino) tri-color (orange, black and white) various immatures. Adult males of this of this species have extremely long, sword-like tails (uropods).
    1 point
  8. These look a good choice for a large jar with a “bean sprouting lid” then.
    1 point
  9. Maybe five years ago the biggest male I'd ever seen matured and I figured that was top for the species but then last year a really big one came out, just like the size variability in oblongonota.
    1 point
  10. Well, my two females are doing great, one matured, and the other's a subadult. I needed a male to fertilize them, and thankfully @Cariblatta lutea loaned me his. This is a childhood dream of mine in the making, finally pairing Macropanesthia rhinoceros!!! Hopefully the females will give birth next year! Adult female: Mating pair:
    1 point
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