Telling differnt hisser species nymphs apart

[TheSwarmThing]

Hi All,

I keep Gromphadorhina oblongonota, G. portentosa, Elliptorhina chopardi and E. javanica. They all seem to be reproducing nicely. My only problem is, that some of the nymphs have escaped in the past and now it seems like I've put some of them back to the worong containers, as I can see different looking nymphs together in a few of my terrariums.

Do you have any idea how could I tell the nymphs of different species apart? Some of them are pretty small (3-4 mm). I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you!

[Hisserdude]

Dang, that sucks. As a rule of thumb with hissers, if you wish to keep your cultures pure, any escapees should be fed off or otherwise terminated, to avoid any possible culture contamination. :/

I'd just remove all of the "different" looking nymphs and feed them off or something, and just keep a REALLY close eye on your cultures. If they keep throwing out abnormal looking offspring after another generation, just assume they are hybrids.

[TheSwarmThing]

Thanks a lot! I have to be more careful in the future then.

Is there any sort of barrier hissers can't cross? I've tried a couple of things but they seem to walk through everything and escape under the lid of the container.

[Hisserdude]

11 hours ago, TheSwarmThing said:

Thanks a lot! I have to be more careful in the future then.

Is there any sort of barrier hissers can't cross? I've tried a couple of things but they seem to walk through everything and escape under the lid of the container.

Vaseline is supposed to work, but there's always the chance one or two nymphs will have success and climb over it. That's why you should get containers with airtight lids, so nothing can squeeze through. 

[Bmaines96]

Sorry to resurrect this thread but hisser nymphs are serious escape artists and with most airtight containers of you allow the nymphs Togo without food long enough till they are skinny they can indeed squeeze their way under the foam seal.

 

a product I'm currently testing that so far works waaaay better than Vaseline and is vastly cheaper than fluon is silicone "personal" lubricant applied very thinly using a cotton ball similiar to how ant keepers apply talcum powder as a barrier. So far it's stopped some of my fastest and best climbing ectobiids dead in their tracks without causing any harm to the tiniest of nymphs.

 

While I still need to test on a species with even smaller nymphs as it does trap fungus gnats occasionally it seems to be working pretty fantastically and I'll never use Vaseline again(: