Any other hobby entomologists here?

[PrettyBirdRocky]

A few encounters today that made me smile. Also saved a Bald-Faced Hornet from a web and the cat before we left for work; released him and he tried to come back inside

 

[TOMTE]

A few encounters today that made me smile. Also saved a Bald-Faced Hornet from a web and the cat before we left for work; released him and he tried to come back inside

Is that a meadow katydid? It's so pretty! That looooong ovipositor and the pink wings... Awesome wheel bug, too! I don't think I've ever seen one yet, but I know they're around

 

[CoopBoots]

That’s awesome! My partner is into Warhammer too lol
*Edited to add* I showed her the photo and she says that Iron Hands is a bold choice

I’ve always wanted to get into beekeeping, that’s going to be one of my first projects once I get my own property

Hubs says "all of the loyal legions are represented in my army, even the grumpy ones" haha. I don't know enough lore to understand

Bug tax: A pair of Tiger Swallowtails from years and years ago. I've never found eggs or a caterpillar to raise but they are on my bucket list!

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Is that a meadow katydid? It's so pretty! That looooong ovipositor and the pink wings... Awesome wheel bug, too! I don't think I've ever seen one yet, but I know they're around

Yes to both. We see the wheel bugs often around here. They like my milkweed garden. One bug I'd like to find is the giant water bug just to say I did!

 

[TOMTE]

Posted this pic in another thread already but I love these little things so I'm dropping it here, too

3 of my many dubia roaches. These ones are all adult females, one of my largest and 2 of the smallest

I love how dark and disc-shaped the one on top is. And the other small girl is definitely the lightest in my colony. She was super light as a nymph too, like a creamy sandy color as opposed to the usual dull brown... I'll have to name her, any ideas?

And that big girl is named Silver. Only the most distinct females get names and I can easily tell her apart from the others because of her size and pattern

I got the picture yesterday while doing a cull. 4 adult males (I don't need any more nymphs at the moment) and a large nymph with blisters on its wing buds. I'm pretty sure the blisters are residual from the small amount of green pesticides in my rats leftover food that I was feeding the roaches after my last rat was euthanized. I had no idea that was even a thing to look out for but when I started noticing huge blisters on their wings I started researching like crazy! Thankfully I think it's mostly run its course by now. I hardly ever see blisters anymore.

So what I learned is that most animal food containing grains, including chicken food, has a small amount of sulfur, as well as DL Methionine in it that cause large blood blisters in roaches that eat it. That's because methionine reacts with proteins in the body to create histidine, which in turn create histamine. Too much histamine can cause rash, blisters, itching, even anaphylactic shock in severe cases. While it isn't harmful to whatever you feed the roaches to, it can't be comfortable for the roaches themselves. They also tend to have much shorter lifespans, grow much slower and not as large as roaches raised on a non-pet food diet. (*edit to specify: pet foods containing grains)

https://www.roachforum.com/topic/7805-dubia-roach-blisters/?do=findComment&comment=48904

The more you know!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Dubias are cool. I love sticking my hand in a big pile of them.
We do a clean out and cull every few months. This was our colony a couple years ago (this was a temporary holding bin). We sold some so I don't think it's quite as big now.

 

[TOMTE]

Dubias are cool. I love sticking my hand in a big pile of them.
We do a clean out and cull every few months. This was our colony a couple years ago (this was a temporary holding bin). We sold some so I don't think it's quite as big now.
View attachment 3931171

Holy roaches! I don't have near as many, but I don't need many because my leo only eats 4-6 a week. If I want to start treating my chickens to some juicy dubias I'll need to get a bigger tank mine are only in a 10? 15? gallon aquarium. I'd love to upgrade anyway at some point. Only the best for my feeder roaches

I also love sticking my hands in them. And I love the sounds they make when they're eating (crunch crunch crunch) and when there's a bunch of them scurrying around at once (sounds like rain). Some people will look at you like you're crazy if you say a dubia colony is fun and relaxing to keep. Well maybe I'm crazy then!

 

[StinkyAcres]

I also love sticking my hands in them. And I love the sounds they make when they're eating (crunch crunch crunch) and when there's a bunch of them scurrying around at once (sounds like rain). Some people will look at you like you're crazy if you say a dubia colony is fun and relaxing to keep. Well maybe I'm crazy then!

Same! I guess I'm crazy too!

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

I love our dubias and miss our Madagascar hissers.

Found this lil dude this morning! I love cicadas. I grew up always loving them, my pappaw would tell stories of how I had this little purse that I carried around full of cicada skins to show everyone. - I was a farm kid raised by my mammaw and pappaw, and always went with pappaw everywhere. The kids collected skins and we have a jar of them on display, as well as dead bodies we've found.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Found this photo on my storage, from year and a half ago I believe!