Hisserdude Posted July 26, 2021 Report Share Posted July 26, 2021 Eleodes obscura glabriuscula from Fort Stockton, TX, this is the dominant subspecies of E.obscura in that area. I've worked with (but failed to breed) the subspecies present here in ID, E.o.sulcipennis, however as I learned early this year, the large larvae need a winter diapause to continue development properly... I found that out too late though, and was unable to rear any to maturity as a result. Hopefully this southern subspecies will be much easier though, since no diapause should be needed for them at all. I'll do my best to breed these and get them established in culture! These darklings are huge, one of the largest in the genus Eleodes. Females especially are quite bulky! The difference between this subspecies and the more widespread E.o.sulcipennis is that sulcipennis have fairly deep grooves in their elytra, whereas these glabriuscula merely have irregular lines of fine, shallow pits on their elytra. E.o.glabriuscula are also much more glossy in appearance than sulcipennis are. E.o.glabriuscula is pretty much exclusively found in west Texas, though they have been collected in far southern NM, AZ, and northern Mexico too. Adult female: Male: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratmosphere Posted July 27, 2021 Report Share Posted July 27, 2021 Beautiful creatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 On 7/26/2021 at 8:01 PM, Ratmosphere said: Beautiful creatures. Thanks, I think so too! Seems the females have been digging around, so hopefully that means oviposition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teneb Posted July 31, 2021 Report Share Posted July 31, 2021 Woah, These are awesome! We have nothing like that in contra costa county. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 On 7/31/2021 at 11:29 AM, Teneb said: Woah, These are awesome! We have nothing like that in contra costa county. Yeah these things are pretty impressive! Though in CA there are lots of large, neat Eleodes as well, like acuticauda, armata, grandicollis, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teneb Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 On 8/5/2021 at 1:04 AM, Hisserdude said: Yeah these things are pretty impressive! Though in CA there are lots of large, neat Eleodes as well, like acuticauda, armata, grandicollis, etc. Yeah I know over here there's a lot of cool stuff but I'm scared to take a trip to SOCAL Because of covid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted August 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 On 8/5/2021 at 9:09 PM, Teneb said: Yeah I know over here there's a lot of cool stuff but I'm scared to take a trip to SOCAL Because of covid Ah, totally understand that. Well hopefully when covid finally dies down you can go out and find some neat stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teneb Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 On 8/5/2021 at 9:09 PM, Hisserdude said: Ah, totally understand that. Well hopefully when covid finally dies down you can go out and find some neat stuff! For sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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