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Marlon

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Marlon last won the day on February 15 2019

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  • Location
    Colorado, USA
  • Interests
    Cybernetic remote controlled battery powered spy roaches. And cute fuzzy bunnies.

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  1. My wife got somewhat upset when she saw this book sitting on my pile of stuff. She reads Chinese... GREAT BOOK! I haven't read a lot of it but was stunned how much detailed info I found when I did look for something.
  2. From what I've read, neem can affect the roaches yes, and in high enough amounts, humans as well. It does break down over time that is typically much shorter than the life span of a roach (and longer than a spider mite), but don't know all the details. I'm keeping it away from mine. It can suffocate small insects but the main purpose is to disrupt them hormonaly, so it should work if you soak the soil in neem once in a while too. ATTENTION! Calling all mycophiles for advice on answering Kulture's questions!
  3. I tried to do a separation like this; I found it really difficult to separate eggs from frass, but I had let it go for a year. Also, the frass had a lot of small roaches buried in it. so I put a dark pot in it and they climbed in. For separating the males, I took the bin outside where it was about 3C / 37F (cold but not freezing). The activity was so low, the males were easy to remove by hand.
  4. A spider moved into my pot that had the white flies. It took a year or so but as the web grew, the more white flies became trapped until there were none. I've had more problems with spider mites and aphids. Ladybugs tend to wander off. I tried catching wild predatory mites and releasing them on the plants; was not worried about these guys at all, they are too small. I don't think I was able to get enough to make a difference, and wasn't confident in the end that it was ever going to work. Finally, I tried neem oil spray, being careful to not get it on my hands or clothes (but I did anyway) and washing hands and cloths after I sprayed it so I wouldn't get it on roaches. It doesn't kill the pests directly, it just messes with their hormones. After just one treatment, the aphids reproduction rate dropped dramatically and they almost disappeared, though in time, they did come back. Haven't seen any spider mites in a long time. I think I need to follow this advice to finally be aphid free https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/pesticides/neem-oil-uses.htm
  5. There's no shortage of Floridians that hate Periplaneta americana, and I am certain they would be very against an even LARGER roach invading despite hissers being so charming. And you know how easy the babies escape. But the University folks are smart enough seem to think its just a matter of time before red runners, dubias, and hissers join all the other invaders. I'd be surprised if they already weren't on the loose somewhere there. Is this just another case of bureaucracy fighting a losing battle? My area here in Colorado has all kinds of rules, some make little sense, and there's so many its easy to break them. I'm probably breaking a dozen of them on a daily basis. Do they check? Rarely, only when someone complained once, or when I left a visible violation in plain view for quite a while. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2008-11-15-0811170176-story.html
  6. I used to sell Accurite digital thermo/hygrometers on ebay. It was also available at Walmart and a little cheaper than this similar model https://www.walmart.com/ip/Digital-Thermometer-4-1-2-H-2-1-2-W-ACURITE-00219CA/896347 I also used the digital one for incubating eggs and it did fine. I had one sitting next to an analog and the analog always seemed way off. Since I had boxes of the digitals, I didn't bother with any other analogs. I have another accurite I kept in the rabbit tent and it has survived a lot of mistreatment, being covered with dirt, rabbit poop, rained on, snowed on etc https://www.walmart.com/ip/THERMOMETER-DIGTL-LCD-ACU-RITE/33347929
  7. I wanted to try the differential grasshopper, but in my area the two striped is much more common. Its nearly nationwide and seems to prefer areas with tall wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa) and sunflowers. They are supposed to be in PA. Once together they bred readily in captivity, in a butterfly tent, with regular fresh foods including wild lettuce flowers. A study back in the 50's or 60's found the nymphs could be taught to eat a commercial style feed to avoid the hassles of fresh greens. I have some references somewhere if anyones needs them. egg cases in peat
  8. I have ~200 grasshopper eggs in peat from wild caught parents. It was enjoyable to get this far. Was more work than roaches IMHO, and I suspect babies will need even more attention, which I am not ready to give yet... hope they are ok though.
  9. how bad does it hurt or limit them when they lose their antenna ? It huts to see stubs
  10. @Test Account Awesome! Thanks! I've never heard of that one, but fits the bill perfectly. Not near as easy to find info on as molitor, (I see wikipedia has it wrong too)but I did find a very comprehensive study https://books.google.com/books?id=IMZDAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA2&lpg=RA4-PA2&dq=Tenebrio+obscurus+distribution&source=bl&ots=ewwc67a0uj&sig=YPAt2onNmJJ4pNk9fGDnhXG0FFc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiGh4vugdPfAhVCpIMKHXeqBuY4ChDoATALegQIBBAB#v=onepage&q=Tenebrio obscurus distribution&f=false I guess my local population might be from a bag of a new brand of rabbit feed that I accidentally got wet back in April, as I don't recall seeing these guys before. The normal brand I get had some batches that got contaminated by fertilizer, so the feed store went with a nearby uncommon brand that didn't seem to be as well-made, then it got damp and molded, so I just set it aside. After reading so much, maybe I should check the frozen bag from some dormants. The study says they die if frozen but worth a check I think. Wonder why so little info, that study was done a year before my dad was born and he's 87 What's cool about this beetle is although nearly identical to molitor, the study shows they lay more eggs and some exhibit earlier maturation, and as you mentioned, can survive dry grains. Anyone know a reason while molitor has dominated the commercial industry when the study shows obscurus has better numbers? Perhaps the slightly larger size of larvae? I recently learned there's a sister site to this one for beetles... perhaps I should be posting this there?
  11. My first impression was that these local darklings were larger than mealworm beetles, however, those were my store bought mealworms and the beetles were smaller than what I have now, home grown. So I took a pic of some dead ones, as well as a dead one next to some home grown meal worm beetles and they are very close in size. The locals seem slightly longer and thinner, less oval. I think I had a total of 8 of them which died fairly quickly after capture (a month or two), and have maybe 40 ~ 50 larvae from them. The larvae are very similar looking to small superworms (not yellow like mealworms). They seem very hardy, I found two larvae in a tray I didn't see or feed for probably at least 2 or 3 months. Sorry I can't find my good camera ATM. I do have much better pics somewhere. Half of them I found outside, half of them in the bathroom, I assume heading towards the wet towls the kids keep throwing on the floor. It seemed very strange that just as I was breeding meal worms and superworms, some other darkling beetle was showing up out of nowhere right outside their room! https://imgoat.com/uploads/c5bde74a8f/181527.jpg
  12. I've had some get trapped in my bathtub somehow. I'd suggest a pit fall trap with bait hidden in a corner near the kitchen, or a funnel / bottle type trap maybe. Maybe with a cover so once daylight comes, it will be dark inside. My apartment building used to have them but they would only come inside and run around if it was at night just before a storm hit; otherwise I think they must have lived around or inside the walls and I seldom saw any.
  13. I've found about half my escaped RR males wound up in my open dubia bin on their own, probably going for their food / humidity. It was really strange at first. I prefer they stay separate. Incidentally, the buffalo beetles I put in the dubia bin somehow also made it into the RR and the two hisser bins. I guess they don't bother the RR ooths but I don't know that for sure. Now I have a sorting challenge with all these beetles in the mix.
  14. I can't tell what I am looking at. Can you zoom in any?
  15. If I recall, its the females that are larger , the males appear to be normal sized. I thought the same thing when I started with them. My small colony I started around 6 months ago, I regularly think they are all dead, then they keep showing up. Not a comfort roach. At least not yet. Several times had a spastic one hyperspeed out of the jar, jump into a lid, run up my arm, jump again, catch it, lose again, @#$$%, catch, and throw back in , whew! stressful.
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