# Dactylotum bicolor



## Derek (Sep 22, 2010)

hay all, i have don a tun of research/searching info on these guys so now before i start a culture,

i was just wondering if anyone has had any experience culturing Dactylotum bicolor, thank you in advance Derek P.


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## shorty (Sep 22, 2010)

I have no experience with these, but wow, that thing is absolutely beautiful! It's so vibrant and colorful. Let us know how your culturing project works out.


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## LauraMG (Sep 22, 2010)

Oh my gosh, that is BREATHTAKING! You breed and raise these?


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## kitkat39 (Sep 22, 2010)

wooooo that's nice!


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## Seattle79 (Sep 22, 2010)

Eh, reminds me of Darth Maul


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## Derek (Sep 22, 2010)

hay thanks for all the replies so far.

@ Shorty, i will keep posting on this project, but right now i am growing plants i have observed them eating in the field over the last year or so.

next summer or mid summer is when i will collect my adults.

@ Laura G (You breed and raise these?), no not yet if the plants do well next year i will be.

@ KitKat39, i am with you on this one.

@ Kevin sidious, is this not one of your apprentices. lol


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## Peter Clausen (Sep 23, 2010)

I've had them with limited success. My mistake was offering temps. too low (actually, the mistake was bringing more stuff back than I could reasonably care for;-). I recommend a lamp on top of the cage, as in my horse lubber video on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/bugsincyberspace


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 23, 2010)

There is no way that is real:blink:


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## thorhack (Sep 23, 2010)

That thing is sick! wow, It almost looks as if someone photoshop'ed some psychedelic colors onto a normal hopper. haha

However, i wasn't aware you could culture hoppers also. I've always tried to catch a couple for my mantids with no luck


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## Derek (Sep 23, 2010)

hay thanks all for the responses,

@ Peter, thanks for the insight &amp; nice vid with the Horse Lubbers also.

i kind of figured on offering higher temps considering the AZ heat &amp; season when i have seen them and high temps also worked well with a culture of local Plains Lubbers i kept going for about a year and a half but never the less thanks for the input.

@ hibiscusmile, lol yeah they are real.

@ Swifthavok, yeah they do look fake even in the field they look kind of unreal. lol


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## shorty (Sep 24, 2010)

I wonder what the evolutionary advantage is of having such bright and vivid coloring. You'd think it would just make them stand out, especially in a colorless, uniform environment like the desert. Anyone have any ideas?


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## Entomo-logic (Sep 24, 2010)

Bright colors = bad taste in nature if you flaunt yourself like that it usually means you are poisonous or not that tasty anyway. It is called Aposematic coloration.

I have a lot of success getting orthopterans from the Arizona area to oviposit in dry coco fiber substrate but i always offer sandy soil mixes and straight topsoil and let the animal choose what they like the best. Good luck with your rainbow grasshoppers.


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## Derek (Sep 24, 2010)

hay thanks Entomo-logic for the info on sub. i will try that instead of digging up the earth and baking it.


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## cuervo (Dec 27, 2010)

Hello Derek,what's the lates news on your Dactylotum project.I often wonder why none keep them before they are beutifull.If you are successful i love to buy some from you.


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## PhilinYuma (Dec 27, 2010)

Entomo-logic said:


> *Bright colors = bad taste in nature if you flaunt yourself like that it usually means you are poisonous or not that tasty anyway. It is called Aposematic coloration.*
> 
> I have a lot of success getting orthopterans from the Arizona area to oviposit in dry coco fiber substrate but i always offer sandy soil mixes and straight topsoil and let the animal choose what they like the best. Good luck with your rainbow grasshoppers.


I agree, Tony, that anyone seeing this grasshopper out in the open would think that such bright coloration would have to be a warning, though in fact, I don't think that there is any evidence that this grasshopper tastes bad. I live in Yuma county which shares the southern strip of AZ with Pima county, all the way to Tucson, and it is not particuarly uncommon to find them here. You will notice them flying, but when they land and "freeze", they blend in with the scrub background very well, so i think that theirs may be protective coloration. My view is shared by a graduate entomology student who has also seen them in the wild. I must write her and invite her to join MantidForum after posting this.

Here, though, is another possibility that is entirely speculative but interesting none the less. I have noted the black and white stripes on this grasshopper's femora, and it reminded me of the confusing camouflage presented by the stripes of a group of zebras, but the predominant colors here are red and blue. Some years ago, hundred of Japanese children developed headaches and confusion, and a few even seized after watching a kids' show that showed a face with flashing blue and red lights. That evening, there was a rerun and the same thing happened again:

http://webcache.goog...lient=firefox-a

(Scroll down until you see the blue face, and observe the warning!)

This is a migratory species, and I wonder if the flashing red and blue colors of a bunch of these critters might not have the same effect on predatory birds, who have tetrachromic vision like ours. Would that be cool, or what?


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## PeterF (Dec 27, 2010)

Our shield back katydid ate one of those this fall.


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## geckoboy3 (Jan 9, 2011)

Wow!!!! If you breed them, I'll buy some!


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