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varnon

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varnon last won the day on May 7 2021

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  1. Hissers's favorite activity is sitting around and doing nothing, especially during the day and during cooler temperatures. Sometimes they are also pretty lazy about eating. If you only have a few, they might stay hidden a good bit. On the other hand, they seem to like to climb a bit, so if you have a perch for them to climb on instead of a bark slab for them to hide under, then you might see them chilling on their perch more.
  2. Interesting. I've noticed some extra social behaviors when moving orange heads from one bin to another. Wasn't sure it was really a thing before, but it sounds like it might be common.
  3. I'll second Roach Crossing and Bugs in Cyberspace (though I'm not sure I've ordered from them) and I'll also add Cape Cod Roaches. And also the buy/sell/trade listings here.
  4. Hi all, I'm looking for some roach stats. I'm mostly finding dimensions, but I would also like information on weight of Periplaneta americana, Blattella germanica, and Blaberus discoidalis. Thanks in advance if anyone has some estimates or data here. I added Eublaberus posticus to the title so interested people might see this, but I've actually got that one covered. If anyone wants to know, I'm looking at an average of 3.39 grams ± 0.79 g std, range of (1.54, 4.86). This is from one sample with 80 roaches. I have some other data sets I might add to this later if anyone else really just loves data like I do.
  5. My orangeheads will pounce on food thrown near them. I guess they feel the vibration. They quickly spin around and grab whatever it is. I can even get them to attack non food items sometimes. Love those little hungry bugs.
  6. Hi all, I do research in animal behavior. I just finalized my first publication with cockroaches and wanted to share. See: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/4/339 The article is open access, so its free for everyone. To give a simple summary, we studied the tendency of orange head cockroaches (my fav so far) to startle when lights are turned on or turned off. We call it the light-startle response (LSR). I'm really interested in how animals learned, so we used the LSR to study basic habitation learning. That is, the more you present a light-change stimulus, the less they respond to it. We went through four experiments with them investigating how they learn, and how it compares to other species. I think the abstract is pretty clear if you want more information, but I'm also happy to chat about it. The orange heads worked out really well for this project, and another one I am trying to publish soon, so I'll be continuing to do research with them. I got into them for practical research purposes, but I really do enjoy having them.
  7. I had not considered messing with their legs. Thanks. I actually have some data on the heated vs cool and male vs female topic. Warm male roaches are definitely the most vocal, at least from my colonies.
  8. Hi all, I have a student doing a project on the disturbance hiss in what are probably hybrid G. portentosa ish hissers. For part of this project, we want to know what causes the most disturbance hisses, or what is mostly likely to consistently produce the hiss behavior. The scientific literature is a little lacking on the topic. I have my own ideas and experiences, but I'm curious what your personal experiences are. What do you think? Say you were wanted to get the most hissing possible, like if you were doing outreach for example, how would you stimulate them to hiss? The two rules have to be: you can't hurt the animals, and you can't just select those that are most vocal.
  9. Super interesting and helpful. Also, the topic is kind of fascinating. I wonder what we will know about hissers in another 20 years. Our understanding of the various species may be very different.
  10. Very interesting. Time to automate data collection!
  11. There is a study with, I think American cockroaches in new york city, showing that they evolved an aversion / lack of interest in certian sweet flavors that were commonly used in pesticides. Natural selection doesn't mess around.
  12. I did a roach research project with a student, and later her mother did the name a roach thing for us, and got us roach mugs and beanie hats. It sort of surprised me, especially because I already had plenty of roaches I could name, but it was a nice gesture. I would be all for more merch, and yes, especially non-American cockroach things. People just have the idea that American cockroaches are what everything are. More varied merch could help dispel that.
  13. I found lots of wood roaches growing up. A few years ago, I found pale bordered field roach in my yard. I was not able to contain it or find another.
  14. I feel like I need a beardie just to help me with my population control. Also they are adorable.
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