Corydidarum magnifica..and other beauties..

jasonic

Ootheca
Corydidarum magnifica is one of those amazing looking species I wish was available in the hobby. It seems theres many increadible brightly colored species out there. i know its dificult to generalize. Is it typically a matter of international regulations, or not knowing the right people to get them collected? Maybe its a bit of both.

Any one know?

Just curious, thanks!

-jason

 
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I don't know what region C. magnifica is native to, nor do I know anything of its biology. However, I can say that it is illegal to import any insect species into the United States without a permit. The USDA inspects shipments from other countries and I know a couple of people who were fined for importing exotic insects (not realizing it was illegal). Another important factor to consider is the extreme rarity (and endangered status) of many insect species. In this case, it is simply unethical, as well as difficult, to collect individuals from the wild.

There is also, of course, the fact that an immense number of species are nearly impossible to raise or breed in a captive setting. For example, the vast majority of ant species will not mate in captivity (due to inbreeding avoidance, need for certain environmental stimuli, etc.) and most termites (especially the Termitidae) require very specific environmental conditions that are challenging or impossible to replicate in a captive setting. Indeed, this is no doubt the case for most insect species, and is probably true for many roach groups as well.

 
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very interesting! I'm sure every species we have available now has its own story of how it managed to find its way legally into the hobby. You'd think someone would be looking into some of the more beautiful species that had potential to do well in captivity. I'm going to hit up a wholesaler friend that has import permits, see if he can reach out to some of his contacts abroad to see whats available..maybe I'll hit pay dirt ;)

thanks again for the intel.

-j

 
Let us know how your query goes, I'd love to see something like C.magnifica or any of the Eurycordia sp in the hobby! :)

 
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