This update will cover happenings from June 21st, 2021 to September 21st, 2021, following the official definition of summer.
On June 26th, I found the first larva in my six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) tank. I have been adding Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies for the babies since then. The larvae are being kept communally, but there have not been any instances of cannibalism that I have noticed. Interestingly, despite the adult female dying on July 18th, the eggs seem to be highly variable in incubation time because new L1 larvae have been still showing up months after her death.
On July 1st, I found one of my Chinese mantis nymphs had fallen mid-molt, but I had found it just after it happened. Therefore, I was able to rehang it, and it had no lasting deformities as it was still soft enough to undo any damage.
In early July, I was forced to go on a family trip to the frozen, Arctic wasteland commonly known as Michigan. There were not many unusual bugs, but there were several interesting plants in the Frederik Meijer Botanic Gardens. Of the bugs on the trip, most were common species, but there were more monarchs (Danaus plexippus) than near my house, probably because we were closer to the migration’s northernmost reaches.
In late July, I finished configuring the lighting for my self-contained styrofoam mantis tanks. I used a shape of aluminum rod called a C-channel to make a simple heat sink for my low power LED strips. The lights could not be attached to the styrofoam directly, but the aluminum dissipated the heat to warm up the tank.
On August 14th, I went to a Repticon show and saw a beautiful mantis that someone had brought. It was an adult female panther mantis (Tarachodula pantherina). This is one of my favorite species, but it is unfortunately kept without permits most of the time. Being an exotic species, it requires too strict of a permit for me to attain currently. Besides the illegal mantis, there were also some adorable green keel-bellied lizards (Gastropholis prasina).
On August 26th, I hiked in Greensboro, NC at a spot a friend uses to find a lot of beetles. I did not find too many unique things outside of a few caterpillars, but I did find the elytra of an eastern Hercules beetle (Dynastes tityus), which at least means I found a good area for catching them. According to iNaturalist, the best time to find them is July, so if I make it back next Summer, I will need to head there earlier.
On September 4th, I finally received an insect that I have been trying to obtain for almost 4 years: the greater arid-land katydid (Neobarrettia spinosa). The single adult female was already gravid and has been laying eggs continuously. She enthusiastically eats cockroaches, as long as the cockroach does not scare her, wiggle the wrong way, poke her, or do several other things. To get her to eat, I have been decapitating the cockroaches to avoid accidentally spooking her and causing her to panic over food.
On September 18th, I added a dozen adult eastern lubber grasshoppers to my colony. The F2 generation was having more issues with mismolts, so I had arranged to acquire new, wild adults to breed with them. Since the original generation had only produced one ootheca, the F1 generation was entirely inbred, and the issues should hopefully be resolved with crossing in a new bloodline.
Most of the other ongoing colonies and breeding projects are doing fine, but this update covers the new acquisitions and is already verbose enough.