The Mantis Menagerie

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/import-information/permits/plant-pests/330-web-lists/plant-pest-list Here are some published species-level exceptions, but then there are also plenty of general orders/families that do not require permits if native/naturalized. For example, while exotic mantids are illegal, native and naturalized species, such as Brunneria borealis and Tenodera sinensis respectively, have no federal permit requirements. My source(s) here are the two primary USDA senior entomologists in charge of issuing the permits to butterfly houses and similar captive collections of exotic insects.

Incorrect on 2. Plenty of insects do not require permits for interstate movement, in general, native/naturalized obligate carnivores and some detritivores, such as native/naturalized millipedes. The issue with restricting/inspecting interstate movements is privacy rights means that packages cannot be inspected in the same way the government can demand at Customs. Insects are small and easily smuggled through mail.

This seems to be a good year for them in NC. Someone else I know has already found at least 2 females that I know of.

Per my understanding, most entomopathogenic fungi are highly specialized. That does not look like entomopathogenic fungi to me, yet, even if that is indeed what it is, it is unlikely to jump from a fungus gnat to a coleopteran.

Also, it is technically illegal to get them from out of state. I want to see that changed, but currently.... As far as LEDs, I have had good luck catching lucanids and some scarabs with a 395-nm, 10-watt LED spotlight. This is in my pesticide-ridden subdivision, so it will likely be even better in a more natural area. Definitely not! Been searching my state for a few years.

INaturalist the All-Knowing says it is Laemostenus complanatus. I would offer it a pre-killed roach and maybe a snail. It reminds me a bit of a Scaphinotus species with its enlongated body, and those are snail-eaters.

Flake soil is not technically soil because it is made from sawdust. Since the pellets used to make it are compressed and sterile, there are no regulations on flake soil made from Traeger or similar products, at least not for interstate transportation within the Continental US.

Oh wow! Mine has taken 1.5 months already with no sign of finishing up soon. I will get some of those bags.

How long until it is ready for stag beetles once transferred into those bags? I have a ton of stag beetles, ran out of flake soil, and while I have a new batch of flake soil, it is taking forever. I keep my buckets in the attic, and I try to remember to take a spray bottle up with me in case it looks a little dry.

Did you get yours from @Peter Clausen? I managed to get four from him. I think I have at least one male and two females. There is one that I keep forgetting to check for the Harold’s Organ. I am weighing them weekly and keeping record of exact pellet counts every day.

I have three 5-gallon buckets fermenting in the attic. Hoping they finish before it gets cooler up there. My Lucanus elaphus breeding was way too successful, and I am completely out of flake soil and can only make it in summer.

I had not heard about using those polymer crystals before. What do you put them in? I assume a Ziploc is too flimsy to reliably prevent leakages?

I just received a package from Peter, and despite 90-degree temps, all six grubs I ordered made it (including 4 Goliathus!!!). The package had three layers. The first two were nested, small Priority Mail boxes. One was slightly larger, but they fit together tightly (I can measure them when I get a chance). These two nested packages were put in a large Express envelope next to an ice pack. The grubs were placed in cups of flake soil (even the Goliaths). I also sent some roaches recently in similar temps, and they were in a 12 x 9 x 7 Priority Mail box. The bottom of the box had a piece of high-density polystyrene insulation foam with a paper-wrapped ice pack on top. The roach container went on top (70 B. giganteus with slightly moist paper towels in a large, rectangular Ziploc Tupperware that had about a 2-in x 2-in mesh ventilation hole in the top) and it was also wrapped in multiple layers of paper. The remaining space was filled with reused packing peanuts and I put a piece of Styrofoam on top. All the roaches made it with Express 1-day shipping.

Actually, the native Dynastes, Lucanus, and many of the other common pet species also require a permit. The main difference is that the permits for native species are usually easier to acquire than the permits to own an exotic, even if they have the same requirements at the various stages in their life cycle. Unfortunately, I have been told by the USDA Senior Entomologist that all of those group are also regulated (dung beetles fall under strict Veterinary Service regulations), except for the three Goliathus. Those three Goliathus are practically the only members of Insecta that can be imported without a PPQ 526 permit, at least probably the only ones that would interest hobbyists. The necessary permit is the PPQ 526, and it is free to apply for. I hold several valid permits, and I am allowed to own a number of species of exotic millipedes and regulated native beetles. I am in the process of acquiring the permit to own Cyclommatus metallifer that was captive-bred in the US at a local museum. Because this species does not require living plant matter at any point and because I am getting a particular bloodline that has been in the US for multiple generations (as a museum volunteer, I have helped rear some of them), I have been told that the permit will likely be granted.

It was a nice, normal thread until this.