A Quick(ish) Post: An Update and My Arthropod Collection

Just wanted everyone to know that I’m still alive! I apologize for the lengthy disappearance but just wanted to catch everyone up on what has been happening since the last time.

Since the last post I’ve completed my Master’s degree and am now trying to get my work published (it will be split up into two manuscripts so there’s still lots of work ahead). I’m currently on the job boards trying to find a job, but the market is a little small at the moment. I have gotten a few interviews but nothing has panned out. There’s no need to despair though! I just need to keep applying to jobs and something will eventually work out. In the meantime though, I have been working as a field and lab technician in Dr. Sam Heads’ lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where I have been helping survey prairie landscapes across Illinois to determine how land management techniques influence density and diversity of indicator insect species. The groups we have been looking at are:

Tiger beetles

Band wing grasshoppers

Cicadas

Butterflies

A handsome Cincindela formosa, the big sand tiger beetle

On the hobby front, I have taken up birding in the last few months to help me get through the winter weather. I’ve really enjoyed it though and plan on continuing once things warm up again. As for my pets, I have expanded significantly into roaches and widows. My goal is to own a very wide variety of widow species and successfully breed them too. Same goes for the smaller roach species, though I’ll likely get into hissing cockroaches and some of the larger species someday.

Here is my current list of pets. Before we get started though, I would like to explain what the numbers before each species means. It’s separated out into male.female.unsexed. So if you see a species that’s labeled as 0.0.1, that means that I have one unsexed individual. If there is an X where a number is, it means I have no idea how many individuals I have.

Tarantulas:

0.0.1 Avicularia metallica – Metallic pink toe
1.1.0 Brachypelma albiceps – Mexican golden red rump
0.0.1 Brachypelma albopilosum – Curly hair
0.0.3 Brachypelma emelia – Mexican red leg
1?0.1 Brachypelma smithi – Mexican red knee
0.0.4 Cyriocosmus elegans – Trinidad dwarf
0.0.2 Cyriocosmus perezmilesi – Bolivian dwarf beauty
0.0.1 Cyriocosmus ritae – Peruvian black and white
0.0.2 Grammostola rosea – Red rose hair
0.1.0 Hapalopus sp. Pumpkin Patch  – Pumpkin patch
0.0.1 Hapalopus triseriatus – Lemon patch
0.0.2 Poecilotheria rufilata – Redslate ornamental
0.0.1 Psalmopoeus cambridgei – Trinidad chevron

Brachypelma albiceps– Mexican golden red rump

Scorpions:
0.0.1 Anuroctonus phaiodactylus – Mafia scorpion
0.0.3 Centruroides gracilis – Florida bark scorpion
0.1.1 Hadogenes sp. – Flat rock scorpion
0.0.4 Hoffmanius spinigerus – Striped tail scorpions
0.3.0 Liocheles australiasiae – Dwarf bark scorpion
1.1.0 Orthochirus scobiculosus negebensis – Pillar tail scorpion
0.0.1 Parabuthus schlecteri – no common name
1.0.0 Rhopalurus garridoi – no common name
2.1.7 Rhopalurus junceus – Caribbean blue scorpion
1.1.0 Smeringurus mesaensis – Dune scorpion
0.0.1 Smeringurus vachoni – no common name
0.0.5 Tityus asthenes – Black devil scorpion
0.2.0 Tityus serrulatus – Brazilian scorpion(?)
0.2.0 Tityus stigmurus – Orange devil scorpion

Rhopalurus junceus – Caribbean blue (yes, I know it’s orange)

Other Arachnids:
0.0.1 Damon diadema – Tanzanian whip spider
0.0.1 Paraphrynus carolynae – Sonoran whip spider
0.1.0 Kukulcania arizonensis – Sonoran black hole spider
0.1.0 Kukulcania hibernalis – Florida black hole spider
0.0.XX Loxoceles reclusa – Brown recluse
0.0.3 Sicarius sp. Chile – Sand spider
0.1.0 Heteropoda sp. Red stripe – Red stripe huntsman
0.0.4 Cupiennius salei – Red femur wandering spider
0.2.3 Latrodectus curacaviensis – Chilean widow
0.0.2 Latrodectus elegans – Hellfire widow
0.0.4 Latrodectus geometricus – Brown widow
0.0.11 Latrodectus hasselti – Redback widow
0.2.0 Latrodectus hesperus mexicanus – Western widow (subspecies)
0.2.0 Latrodectus mactans – Southern widow
0.2.2 Latrodectus sp. Mexico – Mexican widow
0.0.5 Latrodectus pallidus – White widow
0.0.10 Latrodectus tredecimgutattus – 13 spotted widow
0.2.8 Latrodectus variolus – Northern widow
1.0.4 Ischnothele caudata – Central American funnel web
0.0.5 Stegodyphus sp. – Social spider
0.0.2 Stegodyphus sp. 4 – Social spider
0.0.1 Geolycosa sp. (missouriensis?) – Burrowing wolf spider

Female Latrodectus curacaviensis – Chilean widow

Insects:
2.2.2 Asbollus verrucosus – Blue death feigning beetle
0.0.5 Arenivaga tonkawa – Arizona sand roach
XX.XX.XX Blaptica dubia – Dubia roach
0.0.7 Blattella asahinai – Asian roach
0.0.19 Blattella nipponica – Japanese field roach
0.0.XX Blattellidae sp. Kenya – Little Kenyan roach
1.1.0 Corydidarum pymgaea – Roly poly roach
0.0.X Diploptera punctata  – Pacific beetle mimic roach
0.0.8 Ergaula pilosa – Big black beetle mimic roach
0.0.114 Gyna caffrorum – Chrome roach
0.0.5 Gyna centurio – Centurion roach
0.0.XXX Gyna lurida – Porcelain roach
0.0.XX Oxyhaloa duesta – Red head roach
X.XX.XX Photaelia pallida – Pallid roach
0.6.0 Polyphaga sausseri – Saussere’s giant sand roach
0.0.5 Pseudomops septentrionalis – Pale bordered field roach
0.0.12 Rhabdoblatta formosana – Taiwanese leaf roach
0.0.4 Simandoa conserfariam – Extinct in the wild roach
0.0.15 Therea olegrandjeani – Question mark roach
0.0.XX Therea petiveriana – Domino roach
0.0.1 Platymeris laevicollis – Red spot assassin bug
0.0.2 Platymeris sp. Mombo – Mombo (orange spot) assassin bug

Gyna lurida – porcelain roach

Isopods:
0.0.XX Trichorhina tomentosa – Dwarf white isopods
0.0.10 Oniscus asellus – Skirted isopods

(No isopod pictures at this point)

If there’s ever a show called “Animal Hoarders” I will likely be one of the first people on there! But it’s alright because I absolutely love my collection. I’m hoping to do a string of blog posts highlighting various species so that you all can learn more about the wonderful species found in the invertebrate hobby.

Hope you all enjoyed the post!