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Lanxoblatta rudis


wizentrop

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It's time to welcome another new species into the hobby - Lanxoblatta rudis!
This beautiful bark roach is native to South America. They are flat, and I do mean *flat*, because they spend most of their time on tree bark, feeding on moss and fungi.
Adults are dark maroon in color and bullet-shaped (photo is of a female, males look the same just flatter). But the nymphs... oh, the nymphs! They bring me much joy. They have body extensions that give them a disk shape. This is an adaptation against ants - nymphs will hunker down and merge with the bark when provoked. I will post more photos below.

This species requires some experience in husbandry, but once you get them going they are very rewarding to watch. They are active despite their cryptic appearance. I would rate their breeding difficulty as intermediate. They require a smooth bark substrate (cork is not a very good alternative, it is too rough), high humidity, and minimal ventilation. Not very picky eaters. Not good fliers, but excellent climbers. Females give birth to 20 nymphs or so.
 

Lanxoblatta-rudis-low.jpg

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Wow very neat, is some of the skirting see through? It almost looks like it is. When will these be avalable? I look forward to seeing these established in the US market.

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So beautiful man, so beautiful!! :D

Some questions regarding care:

You mention that they eat moss and fungi in the wild, do they need these in their captive diet?

Do they prefer bark hides that are arranged vertically or flat on the ground? And will curved bark pieces work, or must they be flat?

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Wow, you don't understand how fast this species jumped to #1 on my wish list; for some reason I never noticed how cryptic the nymphs were! :D Well, now I know what I'm going to start saving up my pennies for. lol

BTW very interesting on the substrate; first species I've heard of that requires bark instead of something like coconut fiber 

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What soil would you recommend for this species?

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44 minutes ago, All About Insects said:

BTW very interesting on the substrate; first species I've heard of that requires bark instead of something like coconut fiber 

I believe they do require a moist substrate like coconut fiber in addition to smooth bark hides.

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4 minutes ago, Hisserdude said:

I believe they do require a moist substrate like coconut fiber in addition to smooth bark hides.

Probably should have realized that, but didn't see a glimpse of any in the pics. :unsure:

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13 minutes ago, All About Insects said:

Probably should have realized that, but didn't see a glimpse of any in the pics. :unsure:

Well that's probably because leaves make a more attractive background than coconut fiber/peat moss lol! :D

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The photos are a visual aid only, don't take them as a literal expression of how the enclosure should look like.

A base substrate is needed to retain humidity, it can be peat or coco fiber or soil. It does not matter because the roaches will not be using it.
As for the bark, it needs to be vertical, and not too rough because the nymphs like to lay tight on the bark. A rough surface makes them stressed and restless. Both flat and curved barks work. I will even go one step further and say that a flat wood board (like MDF) should work too. I have not tried it, but from what I learned about this species, they will probably accept it.
I mentioned they feed on moss and fungi but it would be difficult to replicate this diet in captivity. They do well on a fruit diet, I did not notice any issues. In fact, the F1 roaches are way bigger than the wild ones I originally collected, I see this as a good sign that there is no nutritional deficiency.

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46 minutes ago, wizentrop said:

The photos are a visual aid only, don't take them as a literal expression of how the enclosure should look like.

A base substrate is needed to retain humidity, it can be peat or coco fiber or soil. It does not matter because the roaches will not be using it.
As for the bark, it needs to be vertical, and not too rough because the nymphs like to lay tight on the bark. A rough surface makes them stressed and restless. Both flat and curved barks work. I will even go one step further and say that a flat wood board (like MDF) should work too. I have not tried it, but from what I learned about this species, they will probably accept it.
I mentioned they feed on moss and fungi but it would be difficult to replicate this diet in captivity. They do well on a fruit diet, I did not notice any issues. In fact, the F1 roaches are way bigger than the wild ones I originally collected, I see this as a good sign that there is no nutritional deficiency.

Ah OK, good to know! :) So how tall of an enclosure would you recommend for this species then? Do they like it when various bark pieces are leaning on each other, providing many crevices to hide in, or do they need more room than that for molting? 

OK, good to know, not that picky then. Will they even touch dog food or similar dry protein feeds, or is fruit the only thing they seem to accept? 

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Do you go collecting in South America then, or have collectors in South America?

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@Hisserdude A container 10inch tall should be enough. And definitely yes to barks leaning one against another, they like to hide. No special space is needed for molting, they are already extremely flat. No signs of cannibalism. They don't go for dog food.

@Redmont I am not a collector, if that's your question. I do research there from time to time. Whatever I post here are remnants from surveys I did in the past.

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2 minutes ago, wizentrop said:

@Hisserdude A container 10inch tall should be enough. And definitely yes to barks leaning one against another, they like to hide. No special space is needed for molting, they are already extremely flat. No signs of cannibalism. They don't go for dog food.

@Redmont I am not a collector, if that's your question. I do research there from time to time. Whatever I post here are remnants from surveys I did in the past.

Alrighty, good to know! :D Thanks for the detailed care information, hopefully I'll be able to get some nymphs once you have them available, knock on wood!

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@wizentrop man I want some katydid from there so bad, especially spike headed katydid

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@Redmont I tried with several conehead katydids (among those were the spiny devils), they are very prone to bad molting (not to mention the cannibalism, even among adults). And then, they are very reluctant to lay eggs. So not worth the investment until I figure out a better way to keep them, maybe one day in the far future. Other groups of katydids are easier.

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3 hours ago, wizentrop said:

@Redmont I tried with several conehead katydids (among those were the spiny devils), they are very prone to bad molting (not to mention the cannibalism, even among adults). And then, they are very reluctant to lay eggs. So not worth the investment until I figure out a better way to keep them, maybe one day in the far future. Other groups of katydids are easier.

That stinks, I’d be interested in any other katydid from there anyways 

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36 minutes ago, wizentrop said:

A group of nymphs on beech bark with a freshly molted one

Lanxoblatta-rudis-nymphs-2.jpg

Nice, I love that you can see just how much the segments stretch out from the main body of the nymphs from that freshly molted individual!

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Those are so neat 

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