Walking Leaf

@Mantis Man: Not, quite, it's not an american species. Look closely on the curved leaves around the nymph. Do you recognise them? It's a popular species so it's not hard. @Zephyr: thatks for the excellent examples, I did not know the one about Cryptocercus surpressing the development of their young.

Hi, I can recommend Whip Spiders. They don't need a lot of space and happily feed on active, climbing roaches and crickets. They are no thread to people and very unusual. I keep a group of five Damon diadema since two years and they recently mated for the first time.

Hello, as far as the moisture of substrate goes, there is more than one way to sucessfully breed roaches. Cockroaches are very adaptable. Make sure to ask the breeder you get them from how he/she keeps them. I keep my Panchlora damp and the Gyna I had some time ago I kept very dry and they had a very good reproduction rate. Other than the moisture, I use the same way of housing for them: I use airtight plastic boxes (the ones used for food items) because in both species are good climbers an fliers. Of yourse you need to cut in ventilation holes. I use about 3 to 4 inches of cocobrick substrate and coconut-halves as hiding places, which are mainly used by big nymphs and adults. The young use the subtrate to hide. Hope that helps.

Hi, I haven't heard about predatory mites eating Humpback Flies before. Do you have a source for that? Predatory mites seem to be very radical feeders when the conditions are right. If you use springtails in your tanks the mites can spread to other tanks and viciously feed on them, too. I don't know if they can feed on bigger pray like roach nymphs. I carried in Humpback Fies from other breeders in the past and I managed to get rid of them by removing dead insects whenever I found them in my tanks. I checked them every couple of days to make sure my tanks were clean. That seems to be the only thing working for me. I also don't own tanks with several hundred feeder roaches like other breeders do, intentionally because I get allergic reactions to some species, especially Blaptica and Blaberus species. What I observed so far: if you have a lot of roaches, Humpback Fies are there to stay.

Hello, I can confirm you that orange-looking Dubias are currently bred by german breeder Joerg Bernhardt as a new varaition that seems to be genetically. I have seen single animals pop up with other breeders to. Additionally, when the Blaberus-species available as "Blaberus spec. Pantanal" first bred in culture, there were many light colored animals among the normal ones. I still have some photos comparing the colorations. Sadly, the bright roaches all died. Apparently, they were not well adapted for keeping them in culture. Since then, the culture got a lot more more stable and is now very easy to breed, and always hungry.

Thank you. Interresting, I will try that out too.

Hello, nice to hear your roaches do so well and I hope you do too. The crushed Eucalyptus torelliana, was that just crushed leaves or also crushed woodpieces? Did they also like the hay?

Hi, it's really not that hard with these. The female is bulky and has short wings, it also has a broad last segment, while the male has one small segment extra. The male has much longer wings. Very nice, big male btw. Weird that he doesn't have spots on his wings.

I ordered this book a while ago and I'm happy to own it. The name "Cockroach Bible" is not exaggerated. It's a very good, detailed book for the roach enthusiast. Not much informationon that is helpful to keeping roaches, but rater to understand their behaivor and biology. Sadly, no detailed exterior anatomy drawings of the body and no no color photos.

Hello, this is an Australian species. Exporting new animal-species from Australia can be next to impossible, especially roaches, because not many people are interrested im them. As far as I know, they have never been in culture. You would need to find someone who has an export licence for these. I heard that you are allowed to export animals from Australia if you breed them for 3 generations, but I have no source for that. So IF someone would be able to export some, it is my concern that they get into hands of expierienced breeders first to get them going. I myself would love to see Polyzosteria, among other Australian species, in culture. But we are lucky to have have Macropanesthia rhinoceros.

Hi, I got a few of these at home. When I asked the breeder about special care for them, he didn't tell me anything about feeding funghi. I feed them like every other roach. They are breeding ok but it could be better. I keep them in a small, airtight box (with aluminum gauze at the top) on damp substrate of cocobricks and leaves for them to hide in. I spray every week and water the substrate.

I noticed this behavior with my Blaberus giganteus some years ago. I actually thought they were dead so I put them aside. I left the room and when I came back, the nymph was gone. I found it some days later on the floor and put it back in the roachbox. They don't even move when I dig in the substrate or pick them up, very convincing!

Hello, I'm sorry to say, Zephyr, that those 3 species all look like hybrids to me. G. portentosa is supposed to look like this: http://www.schaben-spinnen.de/Data/Article...tosa%20neu1.jpg There is also a black variant of portentosa. G. oblongonata should have more red than yours: http://www.schaben-spinnen.de/Data/Article...blongonata2.jpg The nymphs have white stripes on their abdobmen. This is P. vanwaerebecki: http://www.schaben-spinnen.de/Data/Articles/0000%20big.jpg There is a "Black&White" variant, also known as Tiger Hisser. Hope this helps. I do have to add, hissing roaches are variable in their coloration, but usually not as much as hybrids.

Hello! In Europe, we have a species called Gigant Hisser that is not a hybrid. It's Princisia vanwaerebecki "BIG". This strain was selectively bred from big, dominant males of P. vanwaerebecki. They get over 9cm long.

Hello, thank you or the warm welcome! Yes, I can post a few pictures sometimes. @ Pharma: Ist mir schon aufgefallen, aber reingucken kann ja nicht schaden, dachte ich mir