stanislas

The video as promised:

What temperature do you keep these? And how big do they actually get?

I couldn't find finer stainless steel mesh (<0.5mm holes).

I used a canon 70D with a 50mm lens. No external microphone. I wish I had used that to make a better quality recording. I had to amplify the sound as these roaches hiss fairly faint.

? Well, mine tend to do that when hungry... Yours do so as defence? Creepy

Well, at first I kept them moist and room temperature was at/below 20C/68F. They didn't do well at all. Once I switched to a heat mat in winter and start keeping them nearly bone dry with fruit or agar cubes and fish food, I got an explosion in numbers. They are now at room temperature 22-25C/72-77F without heat mat. I'm pretty sure they can survive outside their enclosure until winter comes. If they manage to escape and find their way to the kitchen, they might live for a while. My wife might not be pleased if that happens All my other roaches bigger, have a hard time getting under doors and in cabinets, are very slow to reproduce (I will have years to catch escapists), want to burrow and prefer hard wood leaves... I thing you're right Hisserdude. I just need to get used to small, fast climbing species. It also does not help that there are very few people keeping these roaches. So no other experiences on-line. I certainly won't have the courage to get the likes as Blattella germanica. I guess I won't sleep well if I have the faintest idea that their bin isn't tightly sealed...

I finally took the time to photograph some of my Dipteretrum hanstroemi roaches. I had to take some precautions, because of their skittishness and good climbing capacity, but I managed! It's still not clear to me what 'pest' capabilities they posses. Do do not fare well at lower temperatures (< 20C / 68F), but can do quite well in dryer habitats. They can climb well, and have a high reproduction rate. So far I have managed to keep them contained to their enclosure... Video will follow soon!

Today I managed to capture a video of another of my Archimandrita males hissing when disturbed. Anyone else with hissing Archimandrita roaches?

Indeed, dirt and scratches combined with a determined roach. One of my adult Archimandrita tesselata males managed to climb out a plastic enclosure... Found him a few days later hidden under a cabinet.

Oh, I envy you! Beautiful pictures of very nice animals. I wish I could get some these! Thanks for sharing these pictures!

My experiences with roach barriers: * Vasiline: Works, but gets messy with higher temperatures. Roaches don't like to walk over. * Silicone: I have the feeling that it's more 'sticky' and works better. It also keeps its consistency with higher temperatures. Roaches don't like to walk over. * Teflon grease: No experience with... * Fluon paint (teflon /PTFE suspension): This is a milky like water based fluid with teflon particles. I use it diluted and paint it on the top of enclosures. It works very well, but after a while it get's a kind if dirty and effectivity decreases. So I need to repaint it every few weeks (just put it on a cotton and swap it over). Roaches cannot walk over as they cannot get a grip on the surface. But small nymphs of good climbers tend to be able to cross it if it get's older. Larger roaches have a very hard time. And yes, I have applied silicone and teflon paint many times with the roaches inside the enclosure. It's only hard if you have daring escape artists.

Is it pure coconut fiber? Or is there any organic fertilizer added? I know that if I add organic fertilizer (dung based), I get mold all over the substrate (and loads of gnats soon thereafter).

Indeed, try to provide some airflow. And as Mattoadman suggested, put things like stones, large dried oak leaves or pieces of wood or bark on the substrate to reduce evaporation. Also keep in mind that these roaches live in a dry shrub forest habitat in South India. Like for example Tamil Nadu (they are mentioned in here: http://faunaofindia.nic.in/PDFVolumes/sfs/061/index.pdf). That region has a dry period from December to May (and a lot of rain during the Monsoon rains in October - November). So they can handle some drought. I keep 1/6 of the enclosure moist and the rest bone dry. The top of the enclosure is provided with a mesh. And at times the moist part also dries out for days to more than a week. They do fine. So don't worry too much.

I second that. Springtails are a good option to clean molds. And they are small enough not to bother the roaches. But how come you have a lot of mold? I tend to keep my domino roaches rather dry. The spingtails only survive here in the 'moist corner'. The rest is bone dry...

That a nice pattern. Only I suppose it will take some time before the market is flooded with this form, as Redmont mentioned But nonetheless worth trying to culture. Btw has anyone very tried to make / did by accudent create a Therea olegrandjeani - Therea petiveriana hybrid?

Most fungi won't harm cockroaches. So probably it isn't a real problem for the roaches. You could add springtails as they eat mold or try to reduce moisture.

This is a very interesting topic! I've read a number of articles on the condensation / water collecting system. One thing I'm wondering is how the Polyphaga obscura/saussurei/aegyptiaca manage to get moisture from their environment. If they do not have a condensation mechanism, do they manage to get it from moist soil by eating it? I find it hard to believe that they can only collect from liquid sources. I have the feeling that there is some 'white space' on the knowledge map of the Polyphaga genus. Or what about species as Heterogamisca chopardi (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196305800369)... And yes, place an order together has also been on my mind. I'm interested in any of the Arenivaga species.

The price of that book is indeed a bit excessive... Although I managed to find a pdf version online simply through google with something like: Handbook Urban Entomology 2005

Welcome here! I'm pretty sure your collection will grow quickly... with all those roach temptations you'll be exposed to : )

Thanks for this excellent care description. I can learn from it, certainly as I'm trying to culture Ectobius sylvestris. Perhaps they also need cold/dry ootheca treatment? In any case, you gave me some ideas!

Bummer... I hope the survivors see the need for increased offspring production!

Very nice option! If one can find a Chinese supplier that sends 25 of these for 5 dollar...

Same problem here... I haven't found anyone in Europe selling these roaches, or let alone having them in the first place. I have been considering to order them by Kyle, but the costs and the minimum amount to spend, I've so far refrained from doing so. But perhaps if several people place an order together? Or if someone can send you an ootheca? It's a shame that we here in Europe haven't managed to get Arenivaga species. Or one of the many African desert species. No one seems to consider some serious digging on their holidays in Egypt or so in search for some interesting beasts You want to investigate the water collecting mechanism as described in Arenivaga? Do you have any idea how Polyphaga species can derive water from the soil?

I would love to have males of this species! Here is a link showing them: http://cockroach.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?ExpandImages=1 A link to a book with some info regarding males and life cycle: https://books.google.be/books?id=aluUgDVYJ8wC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=polyphaga+saussurei+male&source=bl&ots=HuxAnH2GRr&sig=N2G_iS_J1cla3aZ7kgjKpSAy1bE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVu-mMgf_UAhVGJlAKHQI0AkkQ6AEISTAJ#v=onepage&q=polyphaga saussurei male&f=false And another (Russian through google translate): https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmedic.studio%2Fmeditsinskaya-parazitologiya-kniga%2Funichtojenie-tarakanov-43572.html&edit-text= Yes, they're slow going. It's only this spring that mine became adults (after a long wait, but that you do know ). I found some info on Russian websites and Chinese articles. Put the pieces together, I finally understand their life cycle. Eggs are produced in summer and fall. They live in rodent and turtle burrows. The ootheca are deposited in there as well. After the winter, which can be quite hard in their home range, the nymphs emerge in spring from the eggs (8 months after). After that it takes two years at least before they become adults. In spring males fly out and search for the females, fertilize them and a while after the new ooths are produced and the next cycle starts. Wish I could travel to their habitat and catch some males They can best be caught with a flood light at night, as they are attracted to the light. A cockroach expedition

Once they have an ooth hanging out, they stop wandering around like that. The reason I think this is because that the never before started to 'climb' and wander for hours, while food is available. They also are not easily disturbed if they are in 'wandering mode. (I can touch them gently). Once they have found a higher spot, they sit silent and upright for a while, waving around their antenna. Once the ooth is hanging out a month after, they return to their 'normal' behavior. So preluding an ooth? Yes, but it might be to get the eggs fertilized. Which would be a sensible strategy if a male is available. I rather see the parthenogenesis as a backup option. We see them as parthenogenetic, but in nature, males fly around. As as these roaches live in desert habitats, the change of finding a mate isn't always an easy task. So my hypothesis is that these females are kind of 'on the lookout' in the hope of being found by a male. Why else would they 'expose' themselves like this? But to know that for sure, one needs to observe them in their habitat with males around. A video of their wandering: