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Parcoblatta molt


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Ooh, very cool. I love Parcoblatta.

Do you have any idea which species? ID'ing these guys is really complex.

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It looks like virginica. I've raised a few different species, and pennsylvanica seems easiest to culture.

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Looks like a nymph to me. If you could get a pic of the underside of the abdomen, we can know the gender for sure.

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Thought I would share this with you guys. You were right. That individual in question molted today (another male of course). They just look so alien when they molt.

so I have three adult males now. And I looked at the other three. They look like they still have one more molt until they become last instar nymphs, and then another molt after that to adulthood. This is not looking great for my chances of breeding them :(

IMG_9220.jpg

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Zephyr, thats sounds like a good idea. I might try it with one or two of them. What kind of temps are we talking?

BugManPrice, I don't know much about roach anatomy. Where exactly is the heart? Is it that spot in the abdomen?

The cooling is a common mantid technique too. I think 50's (F) would be appropriate, but even lower is very possible. The heart is the gray stripe along the center of the abdomen.

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A good question would be, when deciding the lower limit of temperature, is how they overwinter in their temperate climate. Maybe Orin or somebody would know whether they are inactive adults or ootheca that is surviving during the winter months.

It seems I read a paper where they were out collecting some sort of ‘roach (maybe Parcoblatta spp. or Ischnoptera deropeltiformis) as inactive adults during fall, but who knows what happens during winter…

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I started my colony from some pre-sub nymphs I found in February (there were also oothecae present, but the ones I collected didn't hatch). They were sluggish but warmed up and grew normally afterward. Adults should be fine with 40's.

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Periodic warming would probably be a good thing. After all, they would be slightly active in January thaw-type weather. Just not too warm.

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Here is a photo of two of the nymphs. I cannot tell if they will all be males and my hopes to breed them would be gone, or if at least one will turn out to be female

sorry the image is not good quality. My photobucket account is broken and i had to drastically resize the pic to upload it here

post-615-1264811538_thumb.jpg

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They are for sure subadult? If so, then they are females. Could you try to get a pic of the underside of the abdomen? Males will have the tip divided into two segments, whereas females will have one large segment.

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