Collection update

50-ish Cryptocephalus spurcus larvae (F1)
7-ish Eleodes littoralis adults (F1, I may release these, we'll see)
Disabled Eleodes acuticauda female sent to Arthroverts, he says it is apparently now hiding normally again when it sleeps

Baccharis salicifolia (several)
Salvia leucophylla (1 specimen)
Salvia mellifera (1 specimen)
Cuscuta subinclusa (a lot)
Calasterella died a few months back =(
Croton californicus (2 specimens)
Monardella viminea "Russian River" (1 specimen)
Clinopodium chandleri (1 specimen)
Trifolium fragiferum (several)
Eriogonum elongatum? (cutting, hope it roots)
Iva hayesiana (several)
Grindelia stricta (several)
Encelia californica (several)
Salix (native one I assume, only 1 specimen)
Artemisia californica (several)
2 leafy Marchantiophyta spp., non-gemmiferous permanent fern gametophytes, & that one unidentified Chinese moss (several colonies)
Strobilanthes dyeriana or whatever its true name is (1 specimen and the branch I broke off of it)
Scorzonera? (1 specimen) I actually had this one for a while but never mentioned it, also differently shaped leaves from the same plant key to different species [it's really phenotypically plastic] so clearly someone needs to revise the genus

All of the native shrubs/trees are juveniles or medium adults (except for 1 Croton around full size, but full size adult Croton is the size of a medium juvenile sagebrush anyway).

Apparently some C. spurcus individuals are unsuited to captivity too

The latest one I caught seems pretty afraid of me (it tends to duck to the opposite side of the plant whenever it sees me, whereas some other individuals don't react to suspicious visual stimuli, only vibrations) and keeps trying to fly away and flee its hostplant to the point that it's not eating properly even when I don't come near it, I guess the whole "insects have personalities" thing is true yet again?

I released it because insect personalities are (disturbingly) somewhat heritable apparently habitat fragmentation can make some butterflies evolve to be less explorative and I don't want to raise a batch of specimens that's constantly terrified of me (not to mention the hassle of having to put them back on their plant).

I no longer love my new dirt molecule!

Some of the Exema were running up and down their plant frantically and then flew away (they did eat the sagebrush I provided though). I think I shall return all of them to their habitat, they clearly are stressed somehow.

Elater lecontei have also been released a few days ago, as will the 2 remaining Tiaja (neither of which has apparently laid eggs) and Xerophloea (which seems unfertilized) soon.

Cryptocephalus spurcus larvae are doing well tho, they doubled in size in like only a day or two. Also noticed they will eat lettuce like C. sanguinicollis.

Plans to rehome the disabled Eleodes acuticauda (which is miraculously still alive after all this time, having already seen 2 years, and in that time has lost only a palp even though old tenebs are supposed to be losing legs left and right) are also in the works, since I'm depressed and feeding it drains my mental health (plus it is doing that thing again where it won't hide under its provided shelters because they apparently emit some sort of bad odor only it can smell, and since it is so hard to find unmoldy bark here I'm not sure I can provide it a suitable replacement). Might get rid of the 6 or 7 surviving E. littoralis that I raised from the wild females' larvae too, depending on how stressed they are and I am (though currently they are apparently mostly inactive/buried and not throwing any fits unlike the acuticauda as far as I can tell).

The small millipedes are still doing somewhat ok though since they hide their eggs in the substrate where I can't euthanize them they are inevitably overpopulating as per law of nature and I always feel bad about it. That's why I like cryptocephalines and external-laying Auchenorrhyncha, if they're not laid underground or embedded in plant tissue you can just squish the eggs guilt free, it's not like eggs have feelings.

Caved and took home 5 Exema (albeit from Artemisia)

I love my new dirt molecule!

Cryptocephalus spurcus hatched

Sudden rainstorm today, which raised the indoor humidity so high I was struggling to breathe, and it apparently kicked some of the eggs out of dormancy. They're already feeding on the rotten Baccharis salicifolia leaves I've made for them.

Apparently one trick to making rotten leaves without mold is to force them underwater and keep them there for about a week, molds in my area do not appear to survive on plant litter when too wet (but can grow in the very small air bubbles that form underwater on said leaves).


Also: my suspicion that there was some similarly late-summer-active cryptocephaline in the hard chaparral was confirmed, I found some Exema on brickellbushes on the road leading to Chantry Flat. I did not keep them though because I have something coming up next month and can't risk it since brickellbushes are so hard to come by in the trade (and I have none).

Exema eats live foliage as larvae but I wonder if there are any detritivorous late summer equivalents within reach of me.