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Eublaberus sp. Comparison!


Zephyr

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My favorite genus by far! Easy to care for, easy to breed, great feeders, and a voracious appetite! :P

All these individuals are the largest adult females (in the case of E. posticus, with wings unchewed) I could find in each colony with a representative pronotum marking. E. distanti and E. posticus have very subtle variations in pronotum patterns, whereas E. sp. "Pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" have several other patterns.

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Top; Eublaberus distanti. Middle; Eublaberus sp. "Pantanal". Bottom; Eublaberus posticus.

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Top; Eublaberus sp. "Pantanal". Right; Eublaberus sp. "Ivory". Bottom; Eublaberus distanti.

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Starting at the top left and going clockwise; Eublaberus posticus, Eublaberus sp. "Pantanal", Eublaberus sp. "Ivory", Eublaberus distanti.

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Starting at the top left and going clockwise; Eublaberus posticus, Eublaberus sp. "Pantanal", Eublaberus sp. "Ivory", Eublaberus distanti.

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Great pictures and comparisons - it's nice to see them all side by side = )

Remind me to pic up a couple of these species from you sometime; my E. posticus are rapidly becoming a favorite amongst my colonies and I think I'll need at least one more Eublaberus...LOL

Have any shots of the nymphs as well? I recall you telling me that the E. sp. Ivory nymphs had more vivid markings and coloration than those of E. distanti.

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Great pictures and comparisons - it's nice to see them all side by side = )

Remind me to pic up a couple of these species from you sometime; my E. posticus are rapidly becoming a favorite amongst my colonies and I think I'll need at least one more Eublaberus...LOL

Have any shots of the nymphs as well? I recall you telling me that the E. sp. Ivory nymphs had more vivid markings and coloration than those of E. distanti.

I'll try and get pics tonight.

Orangeheads and Pantanals have very similar large nymphs; the young Pantanals have Six-spot markings, though. Six-spots and Ivories have very similar nymphs but the Ivories seem to retain more of the color on their spots as they grow.

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They are indeed very similar looking - as you continue to see individuals your eye gets a little better at differentiating them. The same can be said for several species in the Blaberus genus (amonst others) as well, as they appear nearly identical at first glance.

Take a closer look at the pronotum of each species - this is usually a good way to identify the species at first glance. I'm sure Zephyr could probably ID them using other methods being so familiar with them, but to the average person the patterning on this part of the body usually gives away the species.

Quote: "E. distanti and E. posticus have very subtle variations in pronotum patterns, whereas E. sp. "Pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" have several other patterns." -Zephyr

As he claims, there is always some room for deviation - but E. posticus (Orange head roach) has the bold orange pronotum with some dark markings, and E. distanti generaly has six dark spots generally arranged as the picture shows. This species yields the common name "six spotted roach." I'm not as familiar with E. "pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" but it would appear that E. pantanal has dark patterning that covers a large mass of the pronotum and the latter seems to yield a completely different pattern itself. I'm sure Zephyr can elaborate on the finer details.

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They are indeed very similar looking - as you continue to see individuals your eye gets a little better at differentiating them. The same can be said for several species in the Blaberus genus (amonst others) as well, as they appear nearly identical at first glance.

Take a closer look at the pronotum of each species - this is usually a good way to identify the species at first glance. I'm sure Zephyr could probably ID them using other methods being so familiar with them, but to the average person the patterning on this part of the body usually gives away the species.

Quote: "E. distanti and E. posticus have very subtle variations in pronotum patterns, whereas E. sp. "Pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" have several other patterns." -Zephyr

As he claims, there is always some room for deviation - but E. posticus (Orange head roach) has the bold orange pronotum with some dark markings, and E. distanti generaly has six dark spots generally arranged as the picture shows. This species yields the common name "six spotted roach." I'm not as familiar with E. "pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" but it would appear that E. pantanal has dark patterning that covers a large mass of the pronotum and the latter seems to yield a completely different pattern itself. I'm sure Zephyr can elaborate on the finer details.

Good explanation!

To dumb it down, look for the pattern on the "head"

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I'm not as familiar with E. "pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" but it would appear that E. pantanal has dark patterning that covers a large mass of the pronotum and the latter seems to yield a completely different pattern itself.

E. sp. "Pantanal" have nymphs and an "odor" similar to E. posticus. The black line on the elytra (wings) trails further down than that of the other species.

E. sp. "Ivory" has a few other pronotum forms, mostly variations on the one posted. The males often do not have such a full marking, though (see the bottom right ivory in the comparison photo.) They can be tricky to distinguish from E. distanti but their markings are generally more "line-based", as opposed to the circular/curvy markings on the pronotum of E. distanti. I haven't really used color as a means of distinguishing the two, since E. sp. "Ivory" can be just as orange as E. distanti:

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(Pic by AmdPhenomX4)

Here's a comparison pic that Matt K posted a while ago with some of the variations:

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And here's a really odd pattern on E. distanti (found on Google):

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And, if you really need to tell them apart, E. sp. "Ivory" has different looking male genitalia.

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^Eublaberus sp. "Ivory"

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^Eublaberus distanti (For some reason it reminds me of an Oviraptor's head. lol)

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Excellent photos, particularly of the last two of the gentitalia. Very clear and concise.

Eublaberus = the original 'giant cave roach' I think. Can't recall the reference right off hand though, but no doubt Zephyr can and will find it someplace... ;)

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Eublaberus = the original 'giant cave roach' I think. Can't recall the reference right off hand though, but no doubt Zephyr can and will find it someplace... ;)

I've heard them called that by university professors too :o. I believe the person who originally imported the Eublaberus sp. "Ivory" even called them death's heads. lol

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This thread has been incredibly useful to me. I thought I had unusual looking E. distanti, or a hybrid type, but now I know they are in fact E. sp. 'ivory'. I went to the US (from Portugal) to get them. I think these are very rare in European collections. Thanks Zephyr,

I also have E. pantanal and E. posticus. I keep them pretty much all the same in a moist soil substrate with a diet of various fruit/veg and some chicken pellets and bran too. The Later two species seem to like to eat a slightly higher protein diet and I give them some boiled eggs from our free range chickens every so often.

What I have noticed is massive differnces in their reproductive potential. The Pantanals I bought last December,they seem to reproduce the best for me. The Orange heads (posticus) are close but not as productive for me. The Ivories are are a very clear 'third' for me and seem to be only about 1/3 as productive as the orange heads.

Is this what the rest of you find ? I read somewhere here that Ivories like to eat oak leaves. Is this a deciduous type ? Dead leaves or live (green) leaves ? Any other dietry or care advice would be welcome. Thanks

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