Category: Blog Posts

Today marks the start of the first semi-formal vacation I’ve had in years! I’ll be using this time to catch up on yard projects, do some hiking, spend some time with a special someone,...

Some unfortunate news for all the livestream fans: this week’s livestream is cancelled. I forgot that I had double booked this Thursday for a livestream but had previously committed to doing a native edible...

The meme of “disgusting bugs” is pervasive in western culture, and many of us who frequent this site do our best to dispel and educate away these erratic stigmas. However, there are truly beautiful...

For those who haven’t watched last week’s livestream, I’m coming off the heels of both my parents contracting covid and needing frequent care which has set back many of the day-in, day-out operations at...

May 26th was Viktor’s first birthday, and pending genetic testing in another 8 months he’ll be viable for studding! We have been working on his cross-species socializing daily, and some things have come more...

Yesterday’s livestream was a real pleasure, and can be watched here for those who weren’t able to attend. I wanted to thank all the new folks that show up and hang out as well...

This is a huge confirmation of something I’ve suspected all along: simple recessive traits can express very differently in different localities of the same isopod species. While this makes sense to some, “big isopod”...

It’s been a long time coming, but the days of fast n’ loose wild caught Phidippus regius may be coming to a close. In keeping with my sustainable harvesting values and the collector’s population...

Younger iterations of Kyle had some incredible roach luck. To this day I occasionally struggle with Deropeltis sp., Neostylopyga rhombifolia, and Eurycotis opaca, species I was able to produce in good numbers consistently in...

That most glorious day has finally come… I have produced an F2 of Hemithyrsocera vittata It’s been a little over a year since I started the colony, and in that time I’ve waited through...

Upon entering the office to do desk work today I realized I had left the window open overnight. Temps outside swung into the 50s last night, and even with the insulation of the surrounding...

Sometimes I get a little itch to crawl the bug room and catalogue all of my strains/species, and that feeling struck again the other day. About once a year it’s nice to have a...

Riding on the coat tails of Arenivaga apacha “Cave Creek Canyon”‘s success, sp. “Amado” are ready for an upgrade. However, this locality poses a unique problem: it is a mixture of two species! Arenivaga...

8 months ago Will and I set out on our Arizona collecting blitz, with my goal being to re-collect as many Arenivaga species and get them culturing once and for all. It has been...

Oniscus asellus “Mardi Gras Dalmatian” is an… interesting strain. From discussion with the creator, the line is allowed to contain some wild types, dalmatians of varying yellow expression, and intriguingly… piebalds. A few have...

The bounties of the wild and untamed state of Florida know no bounds. Following up from the collecting trip last March, colonies of many things collecting them are coming to maturity and giving an...

Hello again everyone! Another blog post, and another busy week down! Fortunately over the last few weekends I’ve gotten a lot of critical farm/yard work done, and weekdays have been going smoothly now that...

Perisphaerinae have received a lot of love lately with the expanding availability of Pseudoglomeris magnifica. There has been another species brewing in the shadows, though. Pseudoglomeris tarsalis seems to be magnifica‘s even easier-going cousin,...

Roach keepers in the United States have been ashamed to admit for some time that the “easiest” roach to keep, the one that can be found at infestation levels in apartments, dorm rooms, and...

Right before the Alabama trip I was sent a good number of one of North America’s most delightful boneless treasures: Megaphasma dentricus. This species holds the record for the continent’s longest insect and despite...

Michigan weather was in a bit of a stall for several weeks, but it seems temperatures are just warm enough for spring to kick into action. Numerous horticultural weeds have bloomed (and for many,...

Jumping back into the blog-o-sphere, this week famed Invertebrate Dude TJ sent me a lovely box of new roach goodies, many of which are gracing my presence for the first time. Among those goodies...

Hello again everyone after a drought of posts! This is a mid-depth update to bring you all up to speed with some current goings-ons at Roach Crossing. It’s been tough finding time to do...

Presenting another cool and entirely unbelievable bug, these millipedes are incredible! Found only in scattered localities in the southeastern United States, you won’t believe what happens when they’re exposed to a certain light: they...

The Alabama trip was incredibly fruitful and it’s been a chore to prioritize what things get put away first with everything that needs to be done. One thing I set up almost immediately was...

The dust is still settling from the Alabama trip as I hurriedly catch up on e-mails, blog posts (soon!), and putting away the many awesome finds we made, but amidst this I have some...

The winds of whim blow southwards yet again as Will and I depart on what may be our shortest expedition yet: a weekend blitz of ‘Bama for some miscellaneous bugs and a chance to...

My lovely lady Scolopendra heros arizonensis never ceases to intrigue. She’s grown quite rotund from the steady stream of feeder roaches, and considering she’s an honorary Texan having been found in Texas Canyon (Arizona),...

Six months have passed since the Arizona trip, and the last of the projects acquired therein have started to come to fruition. Having spotted shimmers of green through the sides of the enclosure, I...

As with any interest, the tumor-esque quest for more leaves many victims in its wake. The isopod hobby, much like the Big Bang, witnessed unparalleled growth in a short time period, and has been...

Getting back into mantids has been a mixture of elation and frustration. Progress with some species has gone swimmingly, with growth being rapid and feeding a breeze with typical feeder fare. Others have been...

Surely, in the coming days roach keepers will face an inflammatory schism: which is cooler, Lanxoblatta rudis, or Phortioeca sp. “Ecuador”? There has been a consistent struggle over the years to perpetuate Lanxoblatta rudis...

It seems like only yesterday I received a healthy sampling of Florida invertebrates from Kai and Alan, and now some of the little lads and lasses they collected are all grown up. I took...

Last Sunday I was willingly dragged down to that most cursed place, the state of Ohio, by Kai to pick up some bugs from vanguard invertebrate master Orin McMonigle. Orin has been around the...

The weather is warming, the sun has been shining, and every winter morning is a lot less gloomy with a bright tank full of Hemithyrsocera vittata! I got off my butt and got a...

Back in January I took a day to get away from the hustle and bustle of the bug farm to go pet store (mostly fish store) hopping with Will, Brandon, and Kai. We had...

The lone female Embaphion contusum from New Mexico wasn’t the last Arizona trip’s only lucky lady. I posted before about a lone female Dynastes grantii, seemingly out of season at our Cave Creek Canyon...

Myself and many others have witnessed the shift in captive invertebrate importation over the last 20 years, and it is a well-known fact that things that are common one day may be coveted rarities...

I reserve the right to go on and on about past collecting trips, long and short, productive and barren. Part of the thrill that keeps on giving is finding something one-off, or not particularly...

Relatable behaviors (and a ounce of projection) are what naturally draw the majority to certain animals. We think it’s very endearing and precious to see a mother duck with her babies in tow, a...

Since discovering that different lines of Panchlora may not be what they seem, I have made it a mission to accrue stock from multiple places in the United States. Florida is an infamous cesspool...

Greetings once more from frigid Michigan! The last 10 days have been a mix of very productive and very much the opposite. While I was finally able to finish setting up all the new...

Winter is always my grind time for getting projects going, lots of orders out, and catching up on administrative stuff. Spring through Fall has its distractions and other commitments, though my focus now and...

Cold weather, incessant USPS delays, and a backlog of standard and project work have been weighing me down the past week, but there is something very tangible for me to look forward too! I...

It seems I do a lot of blog posts about Florida trip content, but that’s because there’s always a new Florida project getting established to discuss. During the March 2021 Florida trip I was...

I’m not one to turn down free bugs, and taxa that become new favorites are even better. Over the last few months myself and a few other bug vendors at the local expo have...

We’ve hit the dead of winter, and that usually means I get antsy and want to reorganize everything. I’ve put off organizing racks by taxa, but with the growing additions to the bug haul...

I chronicled at length last year my attempt to streamline goliath beetle husbandry, as well as my successes and failures therein. This year, armed with that knowledge, I’m giving them another go. I’m determined...

It only took nine months, but I have finally propagated Pseudoglomeris magnifica “Cuc Phuong”! A few days ago while raiding the bin for springtails, I noticed some chubby babies hanging out near the food...

Almost four months have passed since the Arizona collecting blitz trip, and I have some mostly positive updates regarding the very reason I went: Arenivaga! I don’t think I ever put out a full...

With the new isopod enclosures nearing completion, I’m eagerly looking forward to a care-free and low-maintenance isopod experience this year. Among the many projects finally coming to fruition is one I’ve been calling Rainbow,...

Another year, another bug! May your cultures be ever bountiful as we scuttle into 2022! All orders time stamped/submitted today with a brief explanation of why you’re looking forward to your new species will...

At the uptick of the modern isopod age circa 2016, I was extremely vocal about tracking various isopod lines. Having isolated many popular mutants and crafted numerous strains (among them mainstays such as Porcellio...

Adding to the pile of quirky Florida finds, Alan and Kai were nice enough to slip me a pair of unidentified Zophobas sp. they collected on Key Largo. Low maintenance darkling beetles are quickly...

Although I love spending time with loved ones during the holidays, it’s also nice to get back to bug work. I’ve found sticking to a schedule has been very helpful in keeping projects organized...

Wishing everyone a very Merry (and relatively stress-free) Christmas! I’ve been busy the last few days with inventory, putting away new cultures, and prepping my new style isopod enclosures. With Will away working on...

One of the downsides about nocturnal animals is that while we’re up (at least, normal human beings without over-saturated schedules), they’re not. But, just like when you gotta go, you gotta go, sometimes there’s...

At long last, I have confirmation that my set-up is working holistically for Hemithyrsocera vittata: second instars have popped up! This has been the stopgap for this species (for me) in the past; first...

While collecting in Arizona this fall I strived to collect fewer species of Eleodes, but greater numbers per species. This can be difficult because often you will find one or two species abundantly at...

It’s roughly 4 PM on a Monday, and I’ve already been up since 5 AM. Amid some family commitments, Tuesday shipping day on the horizon, and unpacking from an expo on Saturday, the last...

Against most odds, I have initiated the culture of Gryllus firmus once more! Desperate to get out and collect during our long and tedious drive to Arizona, Will and I visited a Nebraska rest...

Gonatista grisea is Florida’s best-known (and previously only known) lichen-mimicking mantid. It has competition, though. Liturgusa maya was discovered in Florida around 2016, hiding out in several south Florida neighborhoods and parks. How it...

I’m going to make a bold and veritable claim: cockroach hobbyists are the most devoted and passionate in the world. The ends that some of the lovely folks I share this hobby with go...

Thanks to my wonderful and capable assistant William Samojeden, I’ve been able to plow forward with setting up new species and putting more time into culture maintenance. He has been an indispensable help and...

One of those moments that really stuck with me from the March 2021 Florida trip was stumbling upon Alan and Will eviscerating a small fallen tree branch, frantically collecting beetle larvae and termites respectively....

Continuing on my mantid kick, I’ve been amassing Phyllocrania paradoxa from multiple sources to create a breeding colony. Kai was able to find a young female for a good price at a local expo,...

Two collecting trips were enough for me this year (my most ever in one year, as I sigh typing this), however ardent bug collectors Alan Jeon and Junkai Wang went on a blitzkrieg collecting...

Have a pleasant and bountiful Thanksgiving everyone! If you’re crazy enough to be reading my blog today (perhaps even dreaming of roaches crawling all over as you dig into some sumptuous food), you’re in...

It has been a blast getting back into the swing of things the last… two months? When the short days and below freezing temperatures hit, there’s nothing more delightful than tending to my bugs...

I’ve sent Will off to the leaf litters outskirts to collect new springtails a few times in the last month, and despite his efforts (and finding boatloads of a single Entomobrya sp.) this has...

Circling back to my renewed intrigue with the predatory roaches known as mantids, this is a species I’ve been infatuated with but haven’t been able to find both in captivity or the wild: Phyllovates...

It’s been an absolute delight to go live every week and I’m really enjoying the range of topics that have been brought up. Tonight will be a special event with a giveaway at some...

Over the years I’ve unfortunately had to take various species off of the site due to losing cultures. Unfortunately not all species can be ironclad and those that are may suffer when “real life”...

Adding to the list of things I’ve been propagating for a while but continue to put off/keep forgetting to add when I do species dumps is a third traceable line of pure Blaberus craniifer....

Well I’m finally doing it. Going off the mental deep end and working with mantids again. I’ve always been fond of mantids (feels weird to say that out loud) and they were definitely one...

Those who’ve been tuning into the livestream may already have heard this, but I wanted to do a larger formal announce since this means a lot to me: at long last, I have Hemithyrsocera...

Last weekend I spent some time hanging out with Michigan bug folks Brandon Thomas and Junkai Wang, and Kai was nice enough to bring me an adult female Taeniopoda eques he had recently acquired....

With the proliferation of blog posts I’ve noticed the website search feature is becoming less useful. Considering it pulls up results from all posts on the site, it’s becoming harder to find the sales...

About a year ago something whimsically horrible happened. One year ago I realized that one of our most common captive roaches was not what it seemed. After pestering Satchell Watts-Kerr to collect some of...

It’s fascinating to find aberrant roaches and work backwards to see if they’re the result of some weird genetics, deformity, or getting monched by their conspecifics. Sometimes these determinations can (disappointingly) take years to...

Considering many hobby mainstay species have been propagated from untraceable sources for several decades, people have not been very interested in locality information until the last few years where it has become increasingly important...

Among the many things I’ll be working on this fall/winter is a revised Cockroach Husbandry guide. It’s been… Quiiiite a while since I’ve updated it, and I’ve learned a lot since then. Apparently one...

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, though unfortunately I’ve been so busy with bugs this year I haven’t had much time for decorating. I suppose it’s the thought that counts though. To celebrate,...

With elated heart I’m happy to announce that my ridiculously full inbox has been cleared! If you didn’t get a response, it may have been filtered out or from my semi-arbitrary answering cut-off date...

When the site first went live, I had a lot more time for graphic work and adding that extra little something to some of the pages. Unfortunately in order to continue providing the newer...

I decided to bite the bullet and stop teasing all of the trip Arenivaga by finally getting a picture of one! In some ways this is one of the most and least exciting localities,...

Social. Spiders. These are definitely not two words that usually go together. There are only two examples that come to mind, those being communal housing success of Monocentropus balfouri siblings into adulthood (though not...

Diploptera was sort of a buzz word a few years ago while some intense headlines about the future of “cockroach milk” were being circulated. For those who don’t want to mire through them, Diploptera...

Way back in April I did an awkward April fools’ day post about some unbelievable beetles. Absolute hilarity aside, it is time for an update. For a species with reports of incredible fecundity I...

Continuing with another Florida updates (half a year later seems to be a good amount of time to see if projects take off or flop), I have some wonderful news from my Paraphrynus cf....

This has been my most trip-iferous year and it’s hard to believe I was able to haul my carcass to both Florida and the southwest within 6 months of each other. I find myself...

Another project I almost didn’t take up has again become quite fruitful. While sweep-netting for miscellaneous bugs in Homestead, Florida, I was amused to find a mating pair of Euphoria sepulcralis. I was tempted...

This update didn’t take long. It seems these darkling larvae grow exponentially. Since my last post on them, the average larva size in the container seems to have quintupled and they have entered the...

After avoiding serious illness throughout the covid-19 situation as well as for the last few years, it seems my luck finally ran out and on Wednesday I fell grievously ill. Though I tested negative...

Some may remember a page that made a short appearance on the site a few years ago. I had ambitiously added cf. Puliciphora sp. under the common name “twitchy litter fly”, though within a...

A few weeks ago I wrote about a large darkling beetle from west-central Texas. I’m happy to report abundant larvae in the colony! When I say abundant… I mean REALLY abundant. There may be...

William Samojeden’s old publication perusing skills have shined through once more with another ridiculously tiny invertebrate: book lice! Will was kind enough to share the husbandry techniques he’d compiled from various literature and I...

This weekend was a whirlwind vending the local Michigan reptile show. It was great to see some familiar faces and do some networking with some new bug folks. E-mails are getting a little more...

Kim Wismann has been a wonderful friend and mentor, especially with his 30 years of experience living in Arizona and finding all the best spots for every living thing therein. Kim was able to...

Springtails are like teeny, tiny indigenous cockroaches that can be kept in a relatively standardized manner and come in a lovely array of colors, shapes, and textures. In addition to a season that lasts...

Although I’m a fan of beetles (insomuch as they’re basically more armored roaches) I’m not enamored with the extra husbandry required for some species. My efforts streamlining goliath beetle care are a good testament...

It’s been about a month since the Arizona trip and I have some favorable to good updates on the Arenivaga I’ve collected! Overall the cultures have been doing well in captivity. To guarantee success...

Sometimes I think about perceptions of the bug hobby, especially the ones beginners have. A while ago (when I was still using the abomination known as Facebook) I came across a comment about how...

The time has finally come, regular content! Starting October 14th Roach Crossing will be streaming from the new Youtube channel weekly. Be sure you’re subscribed/using the new channel; the old one that many have...

Taking another look into some projects that have been brewing in the background, I’m happy to report that most of my magnificent emerald roaches have been growing and are all at or near maturity!...

It’s time to magically travel back in time to this spring’s Florida trip. There’s still much to say and share about the experience, but most importantly are the roaches we found along the way....

For years I have been a huge fan of hemimetabolic insects (holometabolic ones just seem soooo overdone) and among them the classical dictyopteran, with their universally buggy body shape, are an easy pick for...

It’s hard to believe the deserts of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico are home to several endemic species and/or color forms of desert isopod, but where proper conditions exist they can be...

I’m very pleased to announce that after the sudden and tragic loss of my beloved three and a half year old laptop I’ve finally acquired a new one! The specs are way better (though...

Here’s the post you’ve all been waiting for: notes on my failure with goliath beetles! Well, kind of, but not really. I posted a while ago on trying some experimental rearing methods with goliath...

I had high aspirations for blogging over the summer, unfortunately cut to a stump by a combination of overbooking my schedule and running out of energy amidst a bunch of yard projects. Maybe next...

I have always been a fan of Tenebrionid beetles (and surprisingly Silphids too), perhaps due to some formative experiences early in my bug keeping lifestyle wherein Alobates and similar good-size darklings would fall out...

I had hoped to give this sort of thorough treatment to the Arenivaga floridensis localities we had collected on our last Florida trip, however circumstances dictated otherwise. I may eventually loop back around to...

Despite the chaotic summer there are many projects I began when bug work was still at a full-time pace that are starting to come to fruition. Although I love sharing new projects, I try...

Sometimes you get a second chance with a species you didn’t think you’d see again. Some time in 2016 I received a group of Alloniscus perconvexus, or as the collector Ben Senigaglia nicknamed them...

In the past I have gone on record purporting a disdain for mammals (and I will continue to reserve the right to be extremely judgemental especially with those of the feline persuasion), but I...

I have gained quite the reputation for myself over the years as the burrow-fister. This mythos is… fairly well-earned; my appetite for new Arenivaga acquisition by questionably safe means does require me to put...

Jumping back into the serialized blog post game with a whammy: sand roaches in the mountains? More likely than you think. My first trip to the Chiricahuas was in 2016; my first self-planned and...

I never really know where to start this big “return to business” blog posts, but I think I have a few main points to bring up. First of all, it’s good to be back...

If you haven’t already given the Summer Mode at Roach Crossing post a read, please do so here! Plant work has started and I’m already feeling the tight squeeze for time. Granted, there are...

I may come across as pretty straight edge in a lot of my site work, but the truth is in person around a lot of other invertebrate people things tend to get pretty ridiculous....

With some code edits thanks to my good friend Maddie I’ve had the opportunity to post some pictures from my insect and other related travels. The current background picture was taken in Redland (Redlands...

Even though I posted about some of the roaches collected on the Florida trip, I feel I haven’t really done many roach related blog posts despite that being the primary focus of this site!...

It’s finally here. The time of year I simultaneously love and dread: spring. The last few years I’ve partially disappeared over the summer. Starting with 2018 I’ve had a lot happen in my life...

Several years ago I began offering large milkweed bugs, Oncopeltus fasciatus. Although hardy captives, due to their messy habits and the frequency of required care with old techniques I would often lose the colony...

Just when I thought we were out of winter for good, around noon today it started snowing. It’s quite surreal to see all of the flowers and leafing out trees under a dusting of...

The last few weeks have been a real blur. Spring bug orders have been coming in (including some cool new roaches I’ll be posting about after their arrival) and going out, and I have...

Science may be confirming what some of us fanciers have known for a long time: when it comes to insects, cockroaches are smart cookies. A new paper by Christopher Varnon and Ann Adams shows...