I caught these cool inverts a couple weeks ago and just haven't posted about them yet, but now that time has come!
1. Castianeira cingulata(Two-banded ant mimic spider)
I found one of these guys about 2 weeks ago at Woodhaven Lakes( where I find most of my coolest WC inverts) under some leaf litter. I housed it in the plastic container that I housed my katydid nymphs( which I will also include in this post)in before I let them go, I used coconut fiber as the substrate and also had a couple pieces of egg-crate in there. I believe it was an adult female.
Adult female C.cingulata
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Here's a picture of it and its current enclosure!
Adult C.cingulata |
C.cingulata enclosure
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I found one of these under a slide in my yard while hunting at night for insects with my headlamp. I was really excited when I found it because they're my favorite centipede that I can find locally and I've really been wanting to keep one. I had been keeping it in a medium sized deli cup with a cloth lid, but I recently let go of my adult Scarites vicinus, so I am now keeping it in their old enclosure, which is a plastic Ziploc container with ventilation holes in the lid. I have some coconut fiber in there as the substrate and couple pieces of cork bark as the hides.
Here's some pictures of it and its enclosure!
S.coleoptrata |
So I found an adult male( which has been dead for a while) about two months ago on some rocks near the bank of a large river, but I also remembered seeing the beautiful adult females. So the next time I was able to return to that river, I searched the bank high and low for a female, and just when I though I wouldn't find one, I lifted up a large rock to find an adult female clinging to the bottom! This time I came prepared with a net to catch these speedy little jumping spiders, so I was able to swipe it up and into a deli cup! I have it housed in a plastic container with some ventilation holes in the lid, I am using coconut fiber once again as the substrate, and have 3 pieces of egg crate in there. A couple days ago I noticed that I hadn't seen it walking around in the container for a couple days, so I opened the container to see what was going on and ended up noticing that it was inside a small, thick web with a freshly laid clutch of eggs!
Here's some pictures!
Adult female M.inclemens |
Adult female M.inclemens with eggs |
M.inclemens enclosure |
4. Pterostichus permundus(Woodland ground beetles)
I found two of these under a rock while at Woodhaven Lakes. They were very beautiful with their glossy, colorful sheen! I housed them with my D.elongatus and C.tricolor. I initially thought that they were Dicaelus politus, but ended up finding out that they were indeed Pterostichus permundus which look almost identical to the aforementioned species, but has a colorful sheen.
Here's some photos!
2 P.permundus |
5. Microcentrum retinerve(Lesser angle-winged katydid)
My mom called me outside at night about three weeks ago to tell me that she had found a couple katydid nymphs on a branch that she had cut off of a tree. So once I got the couple that she had found in deli cups, I got my headlamp and went to see if there was any more in the area where the previous ones came from. We ended up finding a couple more and ended up with four of these guys. I'm not usually one for keeping orthopterans but I decided I'd keep them for a little while since they were colorful and cute. I kept them in a plastic container with some ventilation holes in the lid. I had some clippings in the container from the tree that they cam from and were eating, and I used coconut fiber as the substrate.
Here's some photos!
M.retinerve nymph |
M.retinerve enclosure |
6.Xylopinus saperdioides(Darkling beetle)
I was looking around with my headlamp at night over at Woodhaven Lalkes( again) and I noticed this small beetle on an old, rotten stump. I initially thought it was a ground beetle, but knew that it was an odd place to find a ground beetle, but as I picked it up I realized that I had found my first native darkling beetle! It is relatively small and normal looking but I still thought it was pretty cool, so I decided to bring it back home. I have it in a smallish-medium sized deli cup with a couple ventilation holes in the lid. I am using a mix of coconut fiber, sand, small chunks of rotten hardwood, and dead leaves as the substrate, I also have a piece of egg crate in there for it to hide under.
Here's a couple pics!
X.saperdioides |
X.saperdioides enclosure |
I still ended up collecting some pretty awesome inverts though so I'm happy, but it really would have been cool to bring those guys back with me too.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I'll be sure to make some more soon, to everyone goodbye! :)
Lots of very nice finds, especially that Xylopinus saperdioides! If it's a gravid female or if you find more and want to breed them, I'd move them to a container filled with primarily rotten wood and maybe some dead leaves as the substrate, as I doubt the female would lay eggs in a substrate that has large amounts of coconut fiber or sand in it, and the resulting larva would not do well in such a setup either. Make sure the container is well ventilated, as even though they are forest dwelling Tenebrionids that prefer a moist enclosure, humid stagnant air will most likely kill them in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI don't think I'll be keeping the darkling for very much longer, I plan on letting it go the next time we go back to where I found it.