Roachbread's Bug Blog

 Hello everyone. Today I would like to share two new isopod species that I have just received. Starting off with Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow". These guys aren't actually laevis, that one guy (I forgot his name, so sorry) did some microscopic examination on dairy cows and proved them to not be laevis. But let's just call them laevis for now. I received 8 specimens (juveniles and adults) of P. laevis "Dairy Cow". Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow" I'm pretty sure the majority of invertebrate keepers are familiar with these. Porcellio laevis "Dairy Cow" enclosure I am keeping them in this enclosure with ventilation holes on the lid. This one is a pretty large specimen. Moving on, I have a species that I already have, I was just not keeping them right. I did fix my mistakes, and I bought 10 more specimens to start a new bloodline.  They are Armadillidium vulgare "St. Lucia" This locality of A. vulgare actually comes in multiple color ...

 Hi. In this blog I want to share how I keep my Phlogiellus tarantulas. This generally applies to the majority of fossorial Asians, but yeah. Also, I don't generally recommend old world species to starters, as they may possess more potent venom (not always the case) and can be super bolty. This genus generally needs a lot of ventilation but also needs it humid at the same time. The species I'm keeping is P. atriceps, but let's get into their range. Phlogiellus atriceps  Range & Distribution The genus Phlogiellus is composed of species found all throughout Asia, including the Phillipines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and more. Since Southeast Asia is usually a humid environment, these guys should be kept humid around 60-70% and I keep mine at a temperature of around 20-26°C (68-80°F). Housing Housing this species or the genus entirely isn't much different than any other Asian fossorial such as Chilobrachys. But since these guys are a dwarf species, ...

 Hi everyone. In this post I want to do something different than usual. I might do more of these in the future. Also, I do not recommend this species to beginner keepers, they are very fast, great escape artists and are capable of causing an infestation if so. Anyway, I want to share how I keep my Periplaneta americana so maybe you can know something new if you're interested in keeping these. This is just my experience, it is by no means the only way to care for them. Regardless, let's get into it. Housing   I house my americana in a 3 gallon, airtight storage container with low ventilation. These guys like it moist and humid, and I keep them at room temperature (25-29°C) and they do superb. I wouldn't say they're picky with their humidity and housing, they do well in a lot of setups as long as they keep hydrated. This is my enclosure You can also keep them in a generic egg-carton setup. You can provide more hides if you want, and they for sure will appreciate it too. M...

 Hello. I had recently made a freshwater / blackwater aquatic invertebrate tank.  As of now, the tank contains three species. I will definitely want to get more species of aquatic insects that can live safely with the ones I have. This species is not to be confirmed, but I assume it is a species of Scandarma that I was gifted on the 20th of this month. I was gifted 11, but only 3 survived the shipping. cf. Scandarma sp. This large guy is usually resting or hiding below the wood or near the surface of the water like this. But the smaller ones usually prefer being in the water. Usually on the driftwood. cf. Scandarma sp. walking on driftwood If the blurry plastic and driftwood seems familiar, yes, it was the cherry shrimp tank. There are still shrimp, but the amount has lessened and new creatures have been added. (The crabs will not predate on shrimp) Cherry shrimp These few shrimp are still doing well and thriving. They looooooove the dead plant leaves that fall to the bottom o...

 Hi. Welcome again to another post. Today I just want to share a few updates from these few days. Let's start off with the harvestmen, TJ from Invertebrate Dude actually suggested a name I really like for them. Pseudogagrella sp. "Berastagi Pale Faced" And they have just eaten some protein. (Fish pellets) Pseudogagrella sp. "Berastagi Pale Faced" eating Although some do not have pale faces, the majority do so I don't think it really matters. Secondly is my house gecko who I named Chicken. Because... He looks like raw chicken Hemidactylus frenatus Isn't he so cute? I love Hemidactylus species so much. Lastly I want to show you the Gonocephalum cf. coenosum feeding. I have never got to see them eat but this time they were FIGHTING for the food, lol Gonocephalum cf. coenosum feeding on pellet Meanwhile these guys are all aggressively fighting for the food.. This little dude is just peacefully strolling around munching on the wood, lol 😂 "I have no ene...

 Hi. Welcome back to another blog post. Today I have just got a large enclosure to put my harvestman that I collected on my trip to Berastagi . They were previously in this small critter keeper which has a lot of ventilation which makes storing humidity difficult. I think they were also too crammed which resulted in two casualties. If you know harvestmen, they instantly munched and took a chunk out of the corpses. So, I drilled less but I think enough ventilation for them to live. Pseudogagrella sp. enclosure  It's a 3 gallon storage container with a substrate of peatmoss, organic topsoil and cocofiber. I guess due to the lack of humidity in the old critter keeper they were dehydrated, which could also be a possibility for the two casualties. But since there was moist sphagnum moss, they immediately started to... I'm not sure if they're drinking or munching but they immediately went for the sphagnum. That probably felt so good, lol 😆  It was adorable to see them enthusia...

 Hello everyone! Welcome again to another blog post. Today, I have just got two new species of grain-inhabiting beetle species.  They are both commonly found as pests in grains... as the name suggests. But some people in the hobby do keep them, and I find them very interesting. So let's get into it. This one is (maybe..?) not really one of the most popularly kept grain species in the invertebrate hobby, but some people like Kyle from Roach Crossing who has been keeping and breeding them. These guys are the Greater Grain / Maize Weevil, Sitophilus zeamais. Very similar to the S. oryzae I showcased in one of the previous posts that I made, because they are in the same genus ahaha.. Anyway, here they are. Also very beautiful like the oryzae. Sitophilus zeamais I am currently keeping them on dried maize corn as a substrate in a small 4cm tall by 3.5cm wide deli container (This might change in the future, same applies to the next species). Very basic and simple to care for. No spec...