Friday, May 20, 2016

Passed P.punctata, and Glowworm Eating

Hi To All Who Read My Blog! :)

Back in November of 2015, I found 5 Pelidnota punctata (grapevine beetle) larvae in a large rotten log in the back of my yard which had been cut down for a couple years. While collecting them, one larvae got bitten by one of the other larvae and so I put it back under the log and ended up eventually finding it in the same place, dead, and eaten by slugs. The four larvae I did collect and house successfully did well, with only one of them dying shortly before pupation due to an infection. The other three managed to pupate successfully and end up becoming perfect adults. They lived about two months as adults, which is not much compared to the five months I've heard that they typically live as adults. I think they died prematurely due to me providing them an insufficient amount of grape leaves, since I didn't already have grape plants and the plants that I could find were small and didn't have vary many leaves on them.
Well that's the story on these guys, now here's some pictures of them as larvae and adults!


P.punctata larvae



P.punctata adult

I just loved how the adults' little blue eyes looked! LOL
The other cool thing I wanted to share with you guys was my glowworm eating a millipede that I caught for it! When I tossed the millipede in, it first grabbed it and rapped it's body around it. After a few minutes it let go and crawled away from the millipede, which was on the brink of death, although I didn't even see any puncture holes in it from the glowworm. It then came back to it and dragged it around by one of it's legs, it just kept crawling around and dragging it so I closed up the container. When I came back a couple hours later, I checked under the substrate and saw that it had broken open the millipede and was sticking it's head inside of it, trying to get all the guts!
Here's some pictures!

Glowworm subduing a millipede


Glowworm dragging around millipede after injuring it 
It was really cool to see the glowworm's hunting response and the events that carried out until it eventually brought it under the substrate and ate it!
Hope you guys enjoyed my post and have a wonderful day!

2 comments:

  1. So cool, I love Phengodes! Your millipede appears to be a Julid, looks like a native species. You should collect some and try to breed them, so you have a sustainable food source for your larva, who knows, you may find more! Keep us updates on this guy, I love this group and I wish they ranged into my area!

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    1. Thanks!
      I might find more larvae, but it is very unlikely as this is the only one I've ever seen in my yard, I think I'll just stick with collecting the millipedes, they are pretty copious in my yard anyway. I will keep you guys updated!:)

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