Kirk

The silver ones

I'm back from a 10 day trip in the Costa Rica Rain forests. I saw a large number of beetles and actually got pictures of some of them. These I saw on the first night at Monteverde. They are all Chrysinia species. They may be isoforms of the same species. They have seen the silver and gold ones mating together, I'm not sure about the green ones. I'll post the gold ones first. Enjoy

They get those in occasionally, but do not breed them. I didn't even post the roaches,ants, walking sticks and grasshoppers that they also breed. They also have a number of tarantulas and scorpions. The keeper, who has lots of stories, told me the brown recluse spider is just found in the crawl spaces of the insect house. When one dies, they just pick up another one in the back.

I went to the Cincinnati Zoo to practice with a new camera that I am taking on a trip next week. I thought I would post the beetle pictures. My entomology professor told my class that the Cincinnati Zoo housed the largest living insect collection in the US. Whether that is true or not, it is an impressive collection and they are breeding many different species from around the globe. My son and I always stop by to check it out every visit. I posted some. I'll post others later. The jade headed buffalo beetle http://beetleforum.net/forums/uploads/monthly_07_2012/post-4894-0-61535200-1342282355_thumb.jpg The yellow bellied beetle http://beetleforum.net/forums/uploads/monthly_07_2012/post-4894-0-63672700-1342282421_thumb.jpg Taxi Cab Beetle http://beetleforum.net/forums/uploads/monthly_07_2012/post-4894-0-03560500-1342282461_thumb.jpg Sunburst Diving beetle http://beetleforum.net/forums/uploads/monthly_07_2012/post-4894-0-82999900-1342282492_thumb.jpg The emerald beetle http://beetleforum.net/forums/uploads/monthly_07_2012/post-4894-0-34923500-1342282554_thumb.jpg

Hi everyone, I'm a high school biology teacher. I took a class on insects last summer and became hooked on the inverts. Last year, I brought predacious diving beetles and water boatman into my classroom. I prefer water organisms as they don't go very far when student "accidently" release them. (there always seem to be one). I also keep crawdads as well. This year, I want expand into non swimmers. I'll probably start with superworms and T. molitor, just because they're available and cheap. I thought it would be a good place to start. I was amazed by the wealth of information on this forum and decided to join. I'll be going to the rain forests of Costa Rica next week for a ten days. It for a grad course I'm taking at Miami University (Ohio). I'll post any pictures of insects I come across, provided they sit still enough for me.