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Parcoblatta molt


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Ok they look like females to me based on what you said!!!! I will have you know that I put these poor little things through a lot of stress with the capturing and photographing. :D they are not used to being handled like that.

Once again, sorry about the bad pics, i had to resize. by the way, the two underside photos are two different individuals (the last one is a cropped version of the second one)

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Looks like you have a couple of females!

Parcoblatta aren't especially fond of handling though :lol:!

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Mature Parcoblatta spp. females have reduced wings…REALLY reduced wings and from the picture (at least) I can’t see any.

I wanted to make sure the small size of the wing buds were due to the gender and not the age (since a pre-sub male wouldn't look much different from a female).

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Well the largest (and my favorite) of the males escaped into my house today. I was airing out the cage since I saw a tiny bit of mold, and I left the lid off for a bit. I am used to doing this when they were all nymphs because the nymphs cannot climb the sides. But apparently the adults can, and he was gone in a flash. I looked all over but there are just too many places for him to hide

my only hope of seeing him again is if he comes to our lamp at night. I hear that they come to lights

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We probably should've warned you about this... :unsure: Fortunately, males are indeed attracted to lights. It shouldn't be terribly difficult if you have a few suitable lights. Putting out bait might be a good idea too.

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Stupid me made another fatal mistake and the last two males escaped. :( :(

The only good news is that one of the females molted again and is now either a last instar or an adult. But if I can't turn up one of the males, it is hopeless. I am so mad at myself for letting this happen

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Aw! Set up some lights, turn everything over, and block any exits.

Are the female's wings squarish and covering half the abdomen, or do they look like the wing buds in your previous picture?

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I will setup a bait in the bathroom this time. We leave a night light on in the bathroom plus there is a sink in there so that might be where they show up. This time I will tell my parents to be on the lookout (and hopefully they won't be mad)

I have looked all over, I cant find them. I think they escaped last night.

The female still has wing buds it looks like. I ill try to get a photo. her color has drastically changed though; she is much darker now

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I wish we knew the exact species, but I'm gonna say she's subadult. My parents weren't too happy when my first hisser nymphs escaped, but they got over it. :mellow: Make sure you look by a heating vent or similar installation.

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Yeah I was planning on pinning the males when they died and spreading the wings so that we could determine Sp. But unless I find one that is not going to happen either

Their cage is on the counter in my living room, which is right next to a large heater. They could have gone anywhere in the house if they wanted to

I am telling my parents they are "orange beetles" since that is what my mom called them. sounds much better than roach

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Lol, orange beetles. I didn't consider that they might be in a part of the house with such free access. I sure hope you find them! Also, make sure you tell your parents that they can't infest the house or anything.

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What kind of lights are they attracted to? and what kind of bait do you suggest (apple?)? I might just have to stay up all night and turn all the lights out accept for one in the hopes that they will make an appearance

Parents said they will not kill them if they see them. :)

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Unfortunately, I know nothing about types of light. As for bait, try anything aromatic, like dogfood or fruit. Mine are really drawn to cereal.

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If you're going for the light, I'd just use a normal white light (soft is probably best); they can’t see the red end of the spectrum well and can probably pick up UV but they’re pretty expensive bulbs. You may also want to try a molasses/beer mix (Really Dad, it’s for my beetles! ;) ) for your bait, that could work to attract them but if there’s too much they may get stuck (could work to your advantage if done right) or drown. I assume this is a live recovery operation…?

Congrats though, welcome to the coalition of kids who told their parents that they got a new pet beetle… Seven years ago I got my first colony of African hissing beetles!

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Y'know, I'm surprised more people don't notice the roachy appearance. Now if these were Prosoplecta or Diploptera, that's another story. Back to the search party, how'd last night go?

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Extremely disappointing is how last night went :( No sign of either of them. I left the lantern on (which is a soft white light like you said) and placed apple slices in various parts of the bathroom and kitchen. I stayed up until 3 in the morning with all the lights off in the house accept for the lantern. No sign of them at all. Parents did not see them either when they got up at 4 to get ready for work (lol)

Every day that goes by is less and less of a chance I will find one of them. I hear they don't survive long in houses :(

Haha thanks for the advice, I think we do have some beer mix (got dad a home brewing kit for chirstmas). But i don't think he wants me to open the can

Its a good thing parents bought the whole beetle thing because my mom would have probably refused to step foot in the house if she knew the truth

Are they attracted to or repelled by the scent of citrus? We have a load of orange peelings in the kitchen that are very pungent

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How long do the females live? especially if they are not breeding? maybe in the next month I can turn up another male nymph in the firewood, but it would take a while to mature. Right Now i can't do anything to find another nymph because we are buried under almost 2 feet of snow

Does not look like I will ever see my two males again. It has been 3 nights since they escaped, and no sign of them at all. I stayed up each night to try to lure them out and I am dead now.

Here are photos of the light setup I tried in various places around the house.

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Sorry about how this is going. :( Females live around 5 months, I think.

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