Prax's Live Bugs

I am not too computer savvy, so apparently I forgot to label the photos...I think they are all self-explanatory except for the centipede in with the beetles haha. We woke up one morning to find that in the aquarium, it must have fallen in. I caught and released it back into the living room. We no longer kill those as they are actually beneficial to have in the house

The white caterpillar is the one my 3-year old found, and the cocoon is what the caterpillar looks like now. So we are baby-sitting it through the winter I assume, unless it emerges sooner, or dies!

A lot of cool insects there... I am not sure where you live or how cold it gets but... that caterpillar is Lophocampa caryae. Also now that he is in his cocoon, you can put him out in a cold garage or something and he will come out after things warm up again.

I was worried about him being exposed to the car exhaust in the garage. We are in Ohio, so it can get pretty cold. The last few winters have seen sub-zero temperatures. His jar is on the kitchen breakfast bar, between the Beta splendas

I have never seen those light colored beetles there? Where can I get them?

They are Asbolus verrucosus (blue death feigning beetle). We got them at bugsincyberspace.com

Ok, thanks... not to look stupid! But what is the brown looking insect on the underside of the piece of wood above theblue death feigning beetles?

A house centipede

mothman27 wrote:A house centipede

Thank you, the problem is that I am only really knowledgable about insects in my state.

Not to be picky but technically, house centipedes are NOT insects and DO live in your state. So if you only know about true insects than these are not one. I have only seen one once at my house.

They are myriapods I think. They are wonderful critters to have as free-roaming house guests. They are a predatory animal that eats most common household pests including carpet mites, silverfish, and bedbugs.

That one got in our beetle enclosure on accident, I believe it fell in while night hunting. They cannot climb glass. We released it into the living room.

The occasional sighting is fine, but if you have many of them it can indicate a pest problem. I am aware of 2 at my house. One in the garage and the other is the one we released from accidental captivity.

What's the beetle in the third pic? Is it a Tenebrionid or a scarab?

According to Peter, it is an "unknown desert darkling beetle from California"

I got it in one of his "desert variety packs" lol. As far as habits go, that one is 98% nocturnal. It also likes to spend the daylight hours completely buried in the sand. It will come out on cloudy days, or if we put in fresh grapes or carrots. I don't know if it eats the dog food at all.

Praxibetelix wrote:According to Peter, it is an "unknown desert darkling beetle from California"

I got it in one of his "desert variety packs" lol. As far as habits go, that one is 98% nocturnal. It also likes to spend the daylight hours completely buried in the sand. It will come out on cloudy days, or if we put in fresh grapes or carrots. I don't know if it eats the dog food at all.

Nice, looks like it's a Coniontis species then. It's one of my favorite Tenebrionid genera, I used to breed a couple species a while back, love their unique larvae and the cylindrical adult build. If yours reproduces I may be interested in buying the larva.

Awe, we only got the one in the package. He (assuming since it has not laid eggs) is all alone, but entertaining! You are welcome to use my picture and see if Peter gets more. The variety pack was around $12 plus shipping.

Praxibetelix wrote:Awe, we only got the one in the package. He (assuming since it has not laid eggs) is all alone, but entertaining! You are welcome to use my picture and see if Peter gets more. The variety pack was around $12 plus shipping.

That's quite alright, I'll just have to hope I will be able to find some next year. I've collected them not too far from where I live right now, but due to some health related problems I have not really been able to go out much this year.

Nice bugs, I tried a few of these once.