Sometimes, I wonder...

Hey ya'll!!! 

The weekend finally came and guess what I am doing? That's right, sitting in my office (the air cond is off for some reason and it is centralized so I can just switch it on for myself) struggling through essay after essay and trying my best to give them an appropriate (and altogether not too low) grade! Whoever might tell you that teachers have it a lot easier because they do not have to study/research/write the essay are completely misguided and out of their minds because I can sure as heck tell you that this is not the case!!! Then again... I suppose I used to be one of those persons which just goes to show us that the grass is always greener on the other side.

It has been awhile, I believe, since I've had any particularly wild or creepy adventures and I can't help but wonder if that is in some part due to my "growing up" and getting a job. Which is to say  that you shouldn't get me wrong (I absolutely love my job!!!) though... I will admit that there are times when I allow myself to fall into the rut of contemplation (which is sometimes easily mistaken for depression) to think about the "what if" question. "What if my life had gone differently. What if I had gone into zoology studies, instead of the arts and humanities instead?" Always these questions, but they are redundant questions... because you play the hand you are dealt and that is precisely what I have always done. No point crying over what might have been or what should have been, always better to live in, and try to improve on the now. Have I "failed" myself by not living up to this "dream"... this "purpose" of mine? I cannot admit it... in fact, I will not even allow myself to think it. I have grown so much as a person, I have learnt so much, and still I continue to learn. Despite all that may have happened, despite all that has happened differently to how I may have envisioned it, I have not failed. But still sometimes, I wonder...

I wonder if the human condition will ever be satisfied? People are always wanting something more than what they have, I am always wanting more. The question is, will it ever end? Can it? Is it really possible to live, to thrive and grow without a goal in life? Is it possible to live without wanting anything, without wanting more than what we have? Or is this desire... this need for desire, really such a central part of the human condition? We have so much, as the dominant species on the planet the world is literally our oyster, and yet because we constantly acknowledge and are aware of the limits of what we have,  we constantly strive to break those limits to attain more. First the world, next the outer limits of space, finally the universe. Awareness. It is our greatest strength, that can sometimes be our greatest weakness... possible resulting in the end of our species, because something that constantly wants, can never be full, and something that can never be satisfied, will only take and take and take until it has consumed everything including the very things it needs to survive. I really don't know why I am thinking like this. And on a Sunday too!!!

Clearly, I need to get out of this concrete jungle for awhile and get back in touch with nature, where the jungles are not mere monuments, where the "tallest" and "largest" and "greatest" things are more than impressive corpses, stone-cold edifices constructed by man. Instead where these things live and breathe and connect with each other in ways more complex and intricate than I, or even science, can possibly ever truly comprehand. I love my job, but I can't wait for SWOT vacs. 

Life is starting to get tedious, and the Forest, She is calling.  

Cheers,
Cyren.

Meet Archimedes!!!

Hey ya'll

Owning a reptile as a pet has always been one of the things that I've always wanted! Since I was a young boy I have asked my parents for various scaly animals I could keep as pets with varying results. I asked, for instance, when I was seven or eight, for a pair of red eared sliders from our local aquarium shop. These were readily given to me by my father who was no doubt reminiscing about his own childhood catching these things in the rivers and lakes in our hometown. When I was twelve it was the Indian Star Tortoise (these were not protected back then so we could get them fairly easily and for really low prices) which was later given to me as a Christmas present. Then, when I was thirteen I asked for an iguana and was refused on the grounds that it was too 'exotic' and I was too young to handle the responsibility of an animal with such diverse needs (I didn't see it then but I see the wisdom of my parent's decision now). And these animals just got wilder and wilder with each year I grew! At fifteen it was a snake (refused), at sixteen I asked for a pair of frilled lizards and a chameleon (refused again on the same grounds as the iguana from four years back), and finally when I was seventeen I tried my luck again for the iguana and quite nearly got one until my mother learnt from the shop assistant that the iguana could eventually grow to several feet long (six feet, was her precise guess) and this was probably a good decision too considering how I cannot even see how we could ever have the space to house a six foot long reptile and continue to fulfill all of its giant-sized needs!!! It began to be clear that perhaps reptiles weren't meant for me after all!!! Or so I thought until... 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a little cutie isn't he!!! I wonder who has lost their pet? Or whose pet has escaped and started reproducing in the wild (though I shudder to think of the environmental implications of this, it is perhaps fortunate that they do not thrive in exceedingly humid environment like the tropical rainforests of Malaysia). Well, whatever it is, he lives with me now and has been christened Archimedes, because of the contemplative look he has when he rests on his log (actually I think he's just being drowsy or sleepy). 

As you may have surmised, Archimedes is my first gecko so any help or tips that you may wish to contribute would be awesome! Right now he lives in a medium sized glass tank in my room (with the screen top and the swinging door from Exoterra), gets access to a heat source on one end of the terrarium (moonlight night heat lamp and thermometer to moniter the temperature from Exoterra also) and is fed daily with water, calcium supplements and mealworms (which are all placed in bowls in a corner of the tank for him to munch at his leisure. I hope I've not left anything important out but if I have, as usual... feel free to send me a shoutout!!! 

Cheers, 

Cyren 

Butterflies of Fraser's Hills pt. 2

Hey ya'll 

How time flies. It seems like just yesterday that New Year's Eve was just around the corner and now here we are... almost through with the month of April! Life goes on, as they all say, but it is rather scary thinking about how many months have passed and how one barely even notices it! Those are the seconds of our lives if you think about it which is rather scary when you put things into perspective... which is why I made a decision today to step away from all other obligations to focus on what I want out of life!!! Sounds like a pretty good choice, I know, but we'll see how it works out for me in the long run! Trying not to be too optimistic here, but what would be the point of being pessimistic anyway? In other news, though ironically this is the main purpose for today's update, the last of the butterflies have come off of the spreading board which probably means (for you, the readers as much as for me) that we will be going through another butterfly hiatus for the time being. I'm still trying to get my hands on those Attacus atlas pupae though so maybe we'll come back to lepidoptera for a bit when I begin breeding my moths... but ANYWAY, before I digress much further: Ladies and Gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, from the tropical Rainforests of Fraser's Hill... I present to you: 

Hebomoia glaucippe

Appias nero

Graphium doson

Graphium agamemon which is incidentally my favorite of the graphium sp. I think I did a better job with spreading the second specimen I caught though, which is a pity, because this is the one with BOTH its wing tails intact.

Graphium agamemnon see what did I tell you. 

Also included in this collection, although I did not find it up in the mountains but in my own front yard, is the five barred swordtail I caught earlier this week. These truly are a beautiful species of butterfly so it is quite a pity that this one turned out to be so tattered... which reminds me... I am STILL on the lookout of my beloved, but proving to be oh so elusive, Papilio demolion!!!

Graphium antiphates

In addition to all of this, I would also like to inform you guys about the new album on my Facebook profile entitled C's Critters which you can go to (it is a public album) to see the pictures of all the animals currently in my ever-growing menagerie! Note, I am still trying to organize the "Insect Awareness Week" and draft my proposal for a butterfly garden in Sunway so please stay tuned for those. Meanwhile, I am really having trouble wrapping my head around the administrative side of all of this so anyone who would be able to help me... well, I'd greatly appreciate your contribution.

Butterfly collection from Fraser's Hill (minus the Banded Puffin Appias pandione lagela and the moth Kranada lucidaria which are both stored in a separate container). 

Take what you must, and give more than you take.

Cheers,
Cyren

Unexpected visitor: The Five Barred Swordtail

Hey ya'll 

I know I mentioned a couple of days ago that it seems that the swallowtails have not yet returned to our garden this year, but perhaps I spoke to soon for just within the past three days I have counted no less than 8 individual swallowtails inspecting one of our multiple lime plants! The swallowtails themselves are of relatively common and widespread species (Papilio demoleus and papilio polytes) and because of the large quantities of citrus plants I grow, are generally quite numerous and expected during certain times of the year. What was quite unexpected of our butterfly visitors, however, was this particularly attractive one (I could not resist collecting it) which made an appearance yesterday as it fluttered over and settled, most obligingly, on a bougainvillea bush. 

The butterfly in mention is of the family papilionidae, which is perhaps my favorite major group of all the butterflies, and is specifically a five-barred swordtail (Graphium antiphates) which, as it's common name suggests, actually possesses a pair of slender, and rather impressive tails on their hind wings (something this specimen was lacking, unfortunately). They are relatively common and widespread across South East Asia where males can be found in groups sipping precious salts and minerals from river banks but what baffles me most is how this particular individual ended up in my garden (miles away from any forest clearings, rivers and/or streams). In fact, I can say with confidence that this is the first time a butterfly of this particular genus (Graphium) ever found it's way into my garden! A change in their habitat perhaps? But I think I shall monitor my butterfly visitors more closely from now on and see if any more of these wonderful insects show up, before I hazard a guess... or even make any speculations. 

Cheers,
Cyren.

Butterflies of Fraser's Hill!!!

Hey ya'll 

A full week has passed and it is finally time for those butterflies form Fraser's Hill to come off the spreading board and into their respective storage/display cases. And about time too!!! I have simply been dying to remove these from the board and appreciate the full beauty of their wings without the tracing paper covering!!! It is a pity that I was only at Fraser's Hill for a day and, whether it was because of my mediocre butterfly-catching skills, severely inefficient equipment or a little bit of both, these were only some of the butterflies that I managed to catch... and there were more! So much more fluttering and flying around... just out of reach, and I would have liked to at least have obtained one of each butterfly that was fluttering around  Fraser's Hill square that day. Oh well, there is always next time!!! And I like to think of these occasions as me giving the butterflies a sporting chance!!! For everything that I take, there should be at least several dozen more than "get away". And that is how I avoid over-collecting these fine and beautiful insects. Anyway without further delay, please observe some of the more "common" butterflies that can be found quite regularly around and about Fraser's Hill.

Graphium sarpedon

Parantica sita

Terinos clarissa

Melanocyma faunula 

Besides these butterflies, I also managed to find a rather small but quite attractive moth that nearly got away (I have not caught a butterfly/moth in so long I momentarily forgot the method of storing them and it fluttered out from between my fingers as I stood in a temporary daze) but I managed to find it again eventually as I crossed the road and it (or another individual like it anyway) fell from the tree and into my hat!!! Talk about one stroke of good fortune! 

Kranada lucidaria

Now all of this aside, I'm afraid that I must turn to the online community once more to help me with some identification work here. I found this butterfly just as I was about to leave Fraser's Hill, on the walls of one of the resorts in the area. I can place it in the family pieriidae but that's as far as I am willing to hazard a guess so I would be most grateful for any help here with identification of this species.

Dorsal view

Ventral view

Hey guys, the butterfly has been identified as the Banded puffin (Appias pandione lagela) courtesy of Khalid Fadil.
Thank you! 

In the meantime, I suppose you can guess that this has turned out to be a very good month for butterflies indeed so do stay tuned and do expect a lot more butterfly-posts from now on. The amateur lepidopterist is back in the house! 

Cheers,
Cyren

The Web pt. 1 ~ Losses, Gains and New Friends

Hey ya'll 

It has been quite awhile since my last update, hasn't it? And while the Fraser's Hills' butterflies continue to spread and dry on their styrofoam boards (I really can't wait to take them out to show you) I must say that a lot has been happening here regarding our eight legged arachnid friends as well!!! The orb spiders that I brought back from Fraser's Hill, for instance, seemed to coexist rather peaceably within the same enclosure for the better part of the week. That is, until I noticed the smaller spider tying up the larger one with swathes, and pulling it up into it's magnificent orb web. Whether it was the sudden change of temperature or the nauseating drive down (I'm sorry dad, your car IS very difficult to sit in), the larger of the pair did not seem to adapt well to her new home and stayed only on the lower levels of the enclosure. The smaller spider continues to display good health, I'm happy to report, but I can't help but wonder in retrospect if better management of the living arrangements could have helped us to avoid the unfortunate loss. 

And speaking about losses, we in fact experienced the misfortune of not one but two arachnid deaths this week when the Honduran curly hair (Brachypelma albopilosum) that Michelle was kind enough to send to me as a contribution to my growing collection arrived dead in the mail. As you can imagine, it was quite a downer for all of us. 

My poor Curly Sue... rest in peace. 

Bad all this sadness aside, I do have some rather exciting new arrivals to report and they are three ALIVE and kicking beautiful tarantulas that have come into our home just today! For some reason or other, I had always imagined that I would be raising Keric to full maturity before attempting any more arachnids, but it seems as if these little creatures have sunk their fangs into my heart and given me the Spider Fever!!! As such our current role call of eight legged critters are: 

Name: Keric
Species: Chilean rose  (Grammostola rosea)

Name: Thalia
Species: Honduran curly-hair (Brachypelma albopilosum)

Name: Aurea
Species: Mexican red-knee (Brachypelma smithi)

Name: Pasithea
Species: Brazilian black and white (Nhandu coloratovillosus)

As you can see, they are really quite small individuals for the time being, but (or so I have been told by experienced breeders) the two species B. albopilosum and N. coloratovillosus are rather fast growing so I suppose it won't be too long before new accommodations are required!!! Am severely excited (I love landscaping terrariums!!!) In the meantime, though, I will admit that the one I am most looking forward to raising to adulthood is the Mexican red-knee (B. smithi) as it is probably the most "colorful" spider I've attempted to raise yet!!! In the meantime, I suppose the addition of so many new arachnids into my collections marks the end of the "Anthologies of Keric the Arachnid" series. Instead, do look out for our future eight-legged updates through The Web!!! 

Cheers,
Cyren

Fraser's Hill and Butterflies

Hey ya'll 

Just got back from my short day trip to Fraser's Hill today, which is about time because we have been talking about making this trip for over a year already!!! Turns out, there really isn't much to do in Fraser's Hill, not even to eat, for the shops were sparsely located and many were not even open. Of course, for someone like me, this is never a problem when the location is set against the mountain forests (for where there are trees and flowers, there is sure to be insects and butterflies) but for my parents (who drove us up) ... well, I suppose you could say that they enjoyed each other's company very, very much. 

Fraser's Hill has always been known among entomologists in Malayisa, as a haven for butterflies and moths (and with good reason too!) for the delicate and beautiful insects were everywhere! No sooner than after the clouds parted and revealed the sun that the butterflies started coming out in droves!!! Common grass yellows (Eurema hecabe) and various shiny blue Lycaeniids numbered among the more numerous of them but if one were patient (and what is there to do but sit and enjoy nature anyway?) one might perhaps catch the glimpse of the trailing tails of the female great mormon (Papilio memnon), or perhaps the striking blue-green wings of the common blue bottle (Graphium sarpedon). Of course, heading into such a paradise for butterflies and moths, you might imagine that I came prepared!!! And all afternoon I swung my net: swish! Swish! Swish! and caught myself quite a number of butterflies. Most of these I released (I was not there to hunt as much as I was for recreation) but I did keep a number of the more unusual/less common of my catches. 

In any case, I think I will wait until the butterflies have all spread and dried before showcasing their pictures one by one, but perhaps for now this will suffice as a teaser of sorts!!! 

In addition to butterflies, I also took the opportunity (of being so close to nature) to hunt for Nephila spiders as well. Unfortunately, I had no luck, but I did manage to find two smaller orb spiders with beautiful markings on their abdomens which I suspect may be Orchard spiders (Leucauge sp.). More updates on those later as well. 

Cheers,
Cyren

MHR Colony pt. 5 ~ Black or White

Hey ya'll 

so I have been aware that my roaches have been molting en masse lately (I know because the cage floor was littered with nibbled bits of exuvia these past few days) but I have not actually seen the process happening. Indeed though I found evidence of their molts I did not even manage to see any of the roaches in their soft and white forms... until today, that is!!! 

Madagascar hissing cockroach displaying "white color" post-molt form

Personally I thought that the roaches looked rather fetching in their white outfits, but Jeremy commented that they freaked him out and reminded him of giant sized creepy termites and that he hoped it would "turn brown soon"! >.< Oh, I suppose all have different preferences and tastes, but alas, this beautiful white coloration IS only temporary and the roach in question is already starting to darken as we "speak". In the meantime, I'll be  turning in early tonight as it is an early start tomorrow for the rituals and traditions of the "Ghost Festival!!!" Sounds exciting doesn't it? Well, it's really quite not. =) Till our next update (and I do have something positively exciting to show you)

Cheers,
Cyren

Not so little anymore

Hey ya'll 

What a week! And what a weekend too!!! I ended the teaching week yesterday by heading off for a game of badminton with some of my colleagues and the PhD students. I must say, having not exercised properly in quite awhile, two hours of non-stop serves and smashes have left my body "thanking me" (despite it feeling a LOT healthier) with muscle aches and sores!!! I swear, I can barely climb the three flights of stairs it takes to get to my room. More than once I was tempted to crawl up instead, but imagine how awkward it would be if someone caught me in such a compromising position!!! In other news, our mantis Dian-Dian (which means Little One in Chinese) molted today, and while this is most certainly a cause for celebration, it came to us as a bit of a shock I'm afraid as I was not expecting it to happen so soon and had hope to power feed her for at least a few more weeks in hopes that she will grow to an even larger size!!! I wonder if the injury she sustained from her previous molt has anything to do with this. Naturally, a crippled mantis would have next to no hope of surviving in the wild, and I'm curious to know if it is some sort of a evolutionary mechanism that "rushes" them into their next molt when this happens... you know, to increase the probability of survival or something like that. Hmmm. Something to research in to, no doubt. In the meantime, do take a look at these photographs of her. 

Not as large as some of my other mantises, perhaps... but isn't she a beauty nonetheless?

Now, the arduous task of finding her a suitor. 

Cheers,
Cyren

The Sphinx and the Mime

Hey ya'll!!!

I can't believe it's halfway through the week again (how time flies!!!) but while I'd normally by now, be anticipating the upcoming weekend, I'm afraid that things might be a little different this time for the ghost festivals are coming to a close, you see, and it is tradition and culture which demands that I pull myself away from whatever it is that I am doing and devote some time instead to more "otherworldly" matters such as ushering on the dead! But enough about that (it's really not as 'exciting' as it sounds and just talking about it makes me dreary thinking about all the smoke I shall be forced to inhale during the ceremonies) and let's look instead, at the moth and butterfly that were on the spreading board over the past week. The butterfly, as you may recall, was the one that Ray found quite surprisingly on his way to dinner while the moth is something that I picked up on one of my night-time "hunts" in my own backyard. 

Privet Hawk Moth (Psilogramma menephron)

Psilogramma menephron, or the Privet Hawk Moth as it is commonly called is not an exceptionally rare moth (indeed, it is rather common around here) but it is certainly one of the more impressive in terms of sheer size!!! As with most lepidoptera, it is the females that are the large ones, and you may recall a particularly large specimen of this species which I obtained some time ago. The moth in this particular picture is, of course, the male which means I now have a complete set. (Yay!!!) 

Common Mime (Papilio clytia)

The butterfly was a rather recent find (you can search for the original post by scrolling just a few posts down) and so I won't talk much about it. Rather, I would like to appeal to the online community once again for their help in identifying this new butterfly that I caught today. 

From the shape of its antenna and the positioning of the wings, it is obviously a butterfly from the Hesperiidae family although what struck me most about it were perhaps its size (it was really quite large... one of the largest "skippers" I've ever seen!) and the semi-transparent orange/brown spots on its fore-wings. I know, for the better part that Hesperiidae butterflies can be most difficult to identify (which is why I have generally stayed away from the entire family generally) but I was thinking that with its distinctive size and markings that it would perhaps be noted by someone. Help?

Cheers,
Cyren

Anthologies of Keric the Arachnid pt. 9 ~ Sexing Spiders

Hey ya'll!

With regards to the matter above, I need your help!!! And NO!!! I do not want you to have sex with my tarantula (you perverts!!!). Rather, I need help determining its biological sex! I know some of you have written in to tell me that this is still too young an age to determine anything but others have told me that experts can tell nonetheless. So I'm just testing my luck here to see if any of you kind, and learned persons on the internet know a thing or two about determining the biological sex of arachnids.

I think you can enlarge the picture by clicking on it. 

Thanks in advance for the help!

Cheers,
Cyren

Back to Butterflies

Hey ya'll

I was clearing out the extra files in my camera's memory card today when I came across these.

Common mormon (Papilio polytes) female

Common mormon (Papilio polytes) male

It's been so long since I last raised butterflies and seeing these pictures just makes me want to start all over again!!! Unfortunately, I did not breed any from my latest stock... in fact many of them died from fungal infections... and the swallowtails have not seemed to return to our garden yet this year... I suppose this just goes to show that no matter how much I may "stray" with my interest and captivation of other creepy crawlies, it would seem to be that my number one passion will always be my winged obsession with butterflies. 

Cheers,
Cyren

Anthologies of Keric the Arachnid pt. 9 ~ Sharp and Daper

Hey ya'll 

Just a quick shout out before lunch. 

I started photographing Keric again (my little model!) as he recovered from his recent molt and I must say that tarantulas are the BEST to photograph during this period when their exoskeleton starts its hardening process again... their colors seem extra bright and vibrant somehow! I've been looking at Keric's molts until my eyes turn red with magnifying glasses and all other sorts of equipment in an attempt to "sex" him (I'm still hoping I got it wrong with the gender and that he will in fact turn out to be a "she") but considering the size of the molt... this is proving to be a most daunting task!!! But regardless of Keric's actual gender, raising spiders is still quite a rewarding process and who knows, I might be expanding my retinue in the near future!!! Stay tuned for updates. The other thing I wish to report is that my woodlice have seemed to start breeding. Already!!! I transferred the toadlets and their tankmates/meals on legs into a new container today, one that would retain moisture more effectively than the mesh-top tank and discovered (underneath the water bowl) a mother wood lice and her brood of white colored, minuscule offspring surrounding her. I tried my best not to disturb them as I transferred the soil over but they scattered into the new dirt once I did. No pictures though, as they were really too small to be photographed. In the meantime, take a look at Keric, handsome devil that he is. 

Cheers,
Cyren

Mysterious Larva pt. 3 ~ Gossamer Wings

Hey ya'll

One of the most interesting and exciting things to do, for a person who shares my preoccupation with butterflies and moths, is when you find a mysterious caterpillar and raise it in anticipation of what might emerge at the other end of the life-cycle! You may recall that it was barely over a week ago that our "Mystery Larva" finally crawled to the top of its container where it spun for itself a copious cocoon of silk and hairs  and truly we were not expecting an emergence anytime soon. So you can just imagine my delight and surprise at receiving an SMS from Ray this evening to tell me that a "beautiful white moth" had emerged from the cocoon and was drying its wings on the top of the box! Why, I was quite simply ecstatic and told him to upload the pictures immediately. Half an hour of painful waiting later, the pictures were uploaded and my joy and delight were further compounded by the fact that our "Mystery Larva" had turned into a medium sized moth which I have never before seen in my life! Indeed, a comment from our dear lepidopterist friend Khalid confirmed that it must be quite an uncommon specimens since he, too, had never seen one quite like it before (and TRUST ME, he sees more than his fair share of moths up in Fraser's Hill and Cameron Highlands annually!). This is perhaps one of the best and most rewarding part of studying wild insects: the diversity of species is literally so high that one is bound to stumble upon something "new" from time to time. I'm still hoping to get it identified though, and while I will be doing my own research, it would simply be swell if one of you guys out there may be able to help me out here. 

I know these are possibly not the best pictures to go by, but I will most certainly upload more pictures when the spreading has been done. In the meantime, all I can say that it is most definitely from the genus Calliteara, though specifically which one, I'm not sure.
\

Cheers,
Cyren

Cootie Catcher

Hey ya'll 

So in case you missed it (and I think I mentioned this at the end of the Keric post), I set up a wood lice trap yesterday night in hopes of snaring more of those delightful little crustaceans for my culture. The trap is really quite a simple contraption and consists of nothing more than a plastic container that has been half-buried in a fairly deep hole that I have dug in the ground. Typically the rim of the container should be no taller than the level of the soil and around this I placed four small rocks to hold up an even bigger rock that would pretty much shelter the opening of the container from view.

Wood lice, you see, like dark and covered spaces (I'm sure they feel the most safe there) and so, when the sun rises and they are forced to retreat back to the covers of the undergrowth, I'm hoping they will take a look at my rock and scurry over for cover only to fall into the plastic holding chamber below!!! To entice some of them further, I even put in a slice of carrot.  They have small little feet which are terrible at climbing and could never possibly hope to scale the sides of the container in order to escape. As you can see, the trap is really quite ingenious in its simplicity and all I really need to do is leave the container overnight and return in the morning to find my little hordes of captured woodlice!

AND IT WORKED!!! I returned to the spot this morning (or rather, very early on in the afternoon) and overturned the rock to find my trap positively crawling with all sorts of small little creatures. Of course there were wood lice, but I could also detect various other animals as well. I decided to do a species count and found that in just one night I had managed to catch 

• 20 wood lice (Armadillidiidae) 
• 7 small unidentified beetles
• 1 wolf spider
• 5 small snails (possibly Achatinidae)
• And one juvenile centipede that appeared to have only just molted in the trap

Of all the creatures, I only kept the wood lice and the centipede (I would like to see how large it can grow to be) and released the others which were of no use to me. I did set up the trap again though. I'm just abuzz with anticipation to check tomorrow, what might lumber in tonight!!!

Wood lice galore!!! The toadlets will feast tonight!!! 

Cheers,
Cyren