Month: December 2017

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Dark Mealworm- Tenebrio Obscurus is not a Mini Mealworm

I wrote a post about Tenebrio Obscurus a while back.  You can find that post here.  The gist of the post was that mini mealworms were named incorrectly and I cited sources.    The common name for Obscurus is “Dark Mealworm.  Dark Mealworms, it turns out, have never been sold in mass volumes.  It is not even being grown by growers as feeders or in any fashion it seems.

Dark Mealworms are the larvae of the adult Tenebrio Obscurus.  Until recently, Buffalo Worms were mistakenly being sold as Tenebrio Obscurus, when they are actually Alphitobius diaperinus.  Diaberinus is  indeed a mini mealworm while Obscurus is a large mealworm.  In the video, I place a golden mealworm beetle, Tenebrio Molitor, next to a Tenebrio obscurus beetle and you can see that Tenebrio obscurus, or the Dark Mealworm is a larger beetle.

I also place a large mealworm next to a Dark Mealworm and you can see that the largest large common mealworm  is smaller than the Dark Mealworm larvae.  The difference being that the Dark Mealworm is darker in color and has an exoskeleton that is more like that of Superworms, Zophobas morio.

Please see the pictures and watch the video below and comment.

Dark Mealworm next to Golden Mealworm
Dark Mealworm next to Golden Mealworm

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Rolly Pollies Remove Heavy Metals From Soil, Stabilize Growing Conditions, Protect Groundwater

Armadillidium vulgare

This is very interesting.  We have heard recently that Mealworms eat plastic and Waxworms eat Styrofoam, but now the Roly Poly might actually be helping us by removing heavy metals from the soil.  Get some Isopods and save the Earth.  This give an entirely new meaning to the term “clean-up crew” when applied to Isopods in terrariums.

We will have Armadillidium Vulgare, which is the species that this story is about, when the weather warms up again.  We have some beautiful morphs. Check out the pics below.   The story is below also.

Armadillidium Vulgare
Roly Poly Isopods

 

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2017/06/study-finds-rolly-pollies-remove-heavy-metals-from-soil.html

Posted on by — Leave a comment

13 Isopods and Care Information

Armadillidium Vulgare

We have about 40 different species of Isopods here.   Trust me, that is a lot of isopods.  I made a video of three species of Spanish Isopods a few days ago.  That one covered Hoffmanseggi, Magnificus and Porcellio Ornatus “Dark South”.   That post is here. 

This video covers 13 different isopods.  Those are:

  1.   Porcellionides Floria “Flowery Blue”
  2.   Trichorhina Tomentosa “Dwarf White Isopod”
  3.   Cylisticus Convexus “Curly Isopod”
  4.   Armadillidium Maculatum “Zebra” isopod.
  5.   Armadillidium Vulgare “Roly Poly”
  6.   Porcellio Spinicornis
  7.   Porcellio Scaber
  8.   Armadillidium Nastium “Peach”
  9.   Trachelipus rathkii 
  10.   Porcellionides Pruinosis “Orange”
  11.   Porcellio Ornatus  “High Yellow”
  12.   Armadillidium S.P. “Montenegro”
  13.   Porcellio Laevis “Smooth Isopod.

I will link to care information for each one as soon as I get the chance.  I will just post brief care info now and then do more later.  I hope that you enjoy the video.  The text in the video is hard to see which is why I am duplicating that here.Thank you for stopping in.

Ken

Posted on by — Leave a comment

“Hypertufa How-To Manual” – Garden Art PDF eBook

Finally, an all inclusive step-by-step information resource to help you produce beautiful, long lasting hypertufa troughs, planters, totems, spheres — just about anything you can think of. Your imagination is your only limitation! You can learn to be creative using the peat-moss based recipe called Hypertufa.

I’ve worked hard to produce a thorough, clearly explained no-nonsense tutorial for anyone who desires to learn to create garden art with hypertufa.
Continue reading “Hypertufa How-To Manual” – Garden Art PDF eBook

Posted on by — Leave a comment

New Additions To Our Isopod Collection

We are happy to announce three new additions to our isopod collection.  We recently acquired groups of  Porcellio Magnificus, Porcellio Hoffmanseggi and Porcellio Ornatus “Dark South”.

All three Porcellio species are from Spain and prefer enclosures with airflow and kept on the drier side.  We have tried to mimic the dry Spanish forest floor in order to keep them happy.  The addition of Rosemary leaves seems to have perked them up a bit and they love goldfish flakes and Alfalfa grass.  We also keep them on a continuous diet of Pecan and Sugar Maple leaves.

 

Magnificus and Hoffmangessi
P. Ornatus “Dark South”
How the homes look for Spanish Isopods
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Get Rid of Silverfish – A Step by Step Guide by Bob Haskins

live firebrats

Okay, we have taken another turn to the dark side here by talking about how to get rid of insects instead of how to culture them.  Silverfish are related to a great insect that we raise here on our farm called Firebrats.  Firebrats are a great feeder for mantids, spiders and a host of reptiles and amphibians.  Although Firebrats and Silverfish look the same, they are not the same. Firebrats are bigger, love the heat and are not fond of the same type of cool, damp, musty spots that Silverfish love.

If you must get rid of insects, you may as well do it right so here is a guide that will take you through ridding yourself of Silverfish once and for all.  Sure.. squishing them might make you feel like you’re making a difference, but it just doesn’t solve the problem. They’ll keep coming back again and again and again. So take the next 5 minutes to read over this page and you will learn exactly what you need to know to get rid of silverfish…

The fact that you’ve arrived at this website should be evidence enough that you want to get rid of your silverfish infestation. But like most people, you may not think silverfish are anything more than a “nuisance pest.”
Continue reading Get Rid of Silverfish – A Step by Step Guide by Bob Haskins

Posted on by — Leave a comment

eBookpage

When to use different types of herbs such as culinary herbs, aromatic herbs, ornamental herbs and medicinal herbs.

And that’s not all… that’s just a small tiny fraction of the amount of information you’ll discover in this jam-packed eBook – which you can get your hands on in 5 minutes (or less) by ordering through ClickBank – just follow the ink below…
Continue reading eBookpage

Posted on by — Leave a comment

DIYBeehive.com – Build Your Own Warre Garden Backyard Top Bar Bee Hive

Imagine that you are sitting on your deck enjoying the sun on a summer afternoon. You can see the red and green of your tomato plants in your garden.

You can smell the perfume of your flowers in the flower beds just off the deck. And you can hear the buzzing and humming of the honeybees in your garden beehive.
Continue reading DIYBeehive.com – Build Your Own Warre Garden Backyard Top Bar Bee Hive

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Invertebrate Auction Is live

Looking To Buy or Sell Exotic Invertebrates?

We have been busy working on a new feature for our invertebrate loving friends. We realize that there is a need for many collectors, breeders and enthusiasts to have a safe place to buy and sell exotic insects like roaches, isopods, mantids, walking sticks or whatever invertebrate you are caring for.

We are happy to announce that Invertebrateauction.com is open for business. It is totally free to use.

Very shortly, we will open tow other sites as companion sites for Invertebrate Auction. Those will be Invertebratecrawler.com(still being built.) and Invertebrateclassifieds.com. Invertebratecrawler.com will be a search engine that only lists invertebrate sites, making them easy to find for those of you in this hobby. The classified ads will be added to the auction site so that you will be able to post an auction, run your own store or post a classified ad. We also have a forum to help focus discussions and spark ideas. You can find that at Invertebrateauction.com/forum.

We are hoping that this suite of sites will help build our hobby into an industry, while also concentrating invertebrate sites in one space so that it will become easier to find information and hard to find invertebrates.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Mushroom Growing 4 You – Step-By-Step How To Grow your Very Own Mushrooms at Home

“Discover How to Grow Delicious, Organic, Pesticide-Free Mushrooms at a Fraction of the Cost of Buying Them from Supermarkets”

Dear Mushroom Grower, Imagine you knew how to grow healthy and pesticide-free mushrooms in a way that people would swear you purchased them from organic farmers. Well, I’m going to reveal to you all the secrets of organic mushroom cultivation, no matter your starting level or whether you have no clue about it at all. Here’s why:
Continue reading Mushroom Growing 4 You – Step-By-Step How To Grow your Very Own Mushrooms at Home