7/`16/2022: A crop of baby Florida false wetas

One of the projects I’ve been intimately documenting on the livestream has been progress with Tafalisca eleuthera, known to hobby keepers as the Florida false weta.

My experiences are well-detailed on the Youtube channel, so I won’t prattle on, but a few nights ago I received the project affirmation I was looking for.

I usually check my invertebrates during the day time, but this go around I needed to finish a few things before bed and was eyeing some enclosures with a headlamp. Tafalisca eleuthera are pretty shy during the day, hiding in burrows, under bark, or other retreats. With the adults it was easy to find most of them just poking around the enclosure, but with a mix of tiny and small nymphs this proved more challenging. They also have a tendency to climb when disturbed, and since I didn’t add a barrier to the enclosure (who uses roach barrier for crickets?!) this would result in some jailbreaks. All these factors considered, my initial reaction was that I’d had sparing success getting hatches.

However, in the beam of the headlamp I was treated to a crowd of mixed age small nymphs, circled around the fish flakes and apple chunk. My satisfaction was immense and my evening made!

I’m debating how I’ll make them available. Starter colonies are my usual suggestion, but this group was started with two pairs so perhaps adult pairs will be the primary sales option. As a Caribbean species with restricted range, inbreeding is likely even less of a factor than it is with other invertebrates… so pretty much a non-issue. I likely won’t put a page up for them until after the out west trip this year, but do send an e-mail before then if you’re interested!

-Kyle