8/7/2023: Breaking my Microtomus curse

Almost a decade ago Alan Jeon sent me my first Microtomus purcis, one of North America’s prettiest assassin bugs. I got immediate results as babies popped up by the dozens and thrived for a few instars before dying off. This was during the youthful ignorance phase of my bug career and so I didn’t know what was to blame, though now I’m sure it was a humidity issue.

I have tried to get Microtomus purcis going again multiple times, losing groups due to my own negligence but also to the whimsies of fate such as mismolting individuals despite identical conditions to successful ones and female-stacked sex ratios with no male for long periods of time.

Finally Alan was generous enough to get me a wild caught adult female, and my hope for breaking the curse is at an all time high. This is the largest Microtomus female I’ve ever seen and I hope to pamper her for a deluge of eggs. If I can’t even get nymphs from this female, I may hang up my hat on Microtomus purcis for another half a decade at least…

-Kyle