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Hypopigmentation in cockroaches


Keith

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As many of you know with dubia roaches (and a few other species) sometimes we find individuals that are very light or even darker than usual. People are still puzzled by why this occurs, could it be severe inbreeding,genetic, improper diet/housing, or something else? I am currently breeding 2 hypopigmented dubia in an ideal enclosure with proper diet to see if the light coloring is passed on, in hopes to shed light on this puzzling occurance.

I also found this short excerpt online that might further explain this.

I have watched with a certain amount of amusement many people try to isolate various strains of dubias only for them to give up or the strains prove untrue in the end.

Some of these color differences may be genetic; for example, the dark and more-striped phenotypes appear to fit this mold. However, in the case of extremely orange individuals, the cause is more than likely entirely environmental. As dubias are often kept as feeders, they are also often kept in conditions that are not ideal for development (per say) and more oriented towards collecting nymphs and overall breeding. These tend to be drier than pet roach environments and thus individuals can molt with any number of physical anomalies. I have seen this in other species of Blaberid when crowding has been an issue; there are two sides of thinking involved. The first, which I believe, is that a lack of food, increased dryness, and decreased access to moisture other than ambient humidity causes a physiological defect in roach species that causes them to become hypopigmented. The other school of thought (which very well could be true but would need scientific experimentation) is that overcrowding in roaches causes them to emit pheromones causing effects similar to swarming locusts, signaled by a change in the coloration of the nymphs which can be molted out of. The reason I am inclined to think against this being the case is that it often takes several molts for roach nymphs to stop showing the effects of the coloration alteration.

However, in an argument for the genetic basis of these color changes, I have heard that in Germany they have isolated a light color morph of B. dubia (possibly another species but the news is relatively new), however from the pictures I have seen it does not resemble the orange dubias people have been finding in their colonies in the US.

I hope this helps clarify some things.

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for those who tried to isolate strains, it is possible that the color change is polygenetic and that the folks trying quit to early when the color change didn't seem to prove simple recessive.

Virginia tech has a bunch of Germans with var. color, eye color, and body mutations. I've actually been surprised that we aren't seeing more morphs in the roach community. the reptile community is obsessive about mutations and the roach/inverts community is closely tied with the reptile community. seems like only a matter of time before we start seeing super hypo dwarf giant cave roaches or something.

http://www.gcr.ento.vt.edu/pages/Cockroach.html

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I separated a male and female jet black G. portentosa (pure strain, 6 generations in, I keep no other all black species), they were the only two I have ever seen and I was lucky enough to get one male, and one female. So far the results have been really interesting, it seems that about 8/10 of their offspring are also jet black, I'm very interested to see what will happen a few generations down the line! I started it as a tiny experiment, but now I'm pretty invested in it, they seem to be bigger than average and are COMPLETELY black, I think it's very cool.

I also love that orange german, very interesting. I wish I knew more about genetics.

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The oldest cockroach variety isolated in captivity is the American white-eye from the 1940s. I'm still hoping to see an albino hisser or Blaberus stock one day.

If I recall there was a post about someone with discoids that had a high red color, it's a start but I think they culled their colony.

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I would love to see a solid white, large winged species in the hobby. I think it would be absolutely stunning. But don't the same genes that make them albino often cause horrible illness? I have heard that albino creatures don't live as long and tend to be very weak, but I don't know how true that is, I would love it if someone could shed more light on this for me!

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Some genes that cause albinism are lethal or sublethal, however, those wouldn't be the type of albinos you'd want. You can find all sorts of albino fish and reptiles that command (or at least at one time commanded) a decent price in those hobbies. Some are very beautiful.

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Is there proof of an albino cockroach ever existing?

Was there proof of an albino iquana before they existed? You can't exactly prove a variant which hasn't been isolated. Even in fish, most species do not have an isolated or known albino form. I imagine one has shown up in culture before but the person just fed it to something.

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I remember seeing a photo of albino desert locusts in culture in Japan. Albinism should be possible in any pigmented organism.

I wonder if it's more a difference in the hobbyists' opinions/goals or in the animals themselves that's made so many herp morphs and so few in inverts.

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I wonder if it's more a difference in the hobbyists' opinions/goals or in the animals themselves that's made so many herp morphs and so few in inverts.

I think it's 99% the lack of interest by hobbyists, lack of monetary value, and small number of hobbyists. I've developed three invert variants and I may be the only one (who gives a darn).

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I think it's 99% the lack of interest by hobbyists, lack of monetary value, and small number of hobbyists. I've developed three invert variants and I may be the only one (who gives a darn).

I'm trying to on a basic level, only time will tell if it works!

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Ever seen orange Porcellio, dalmation isopods, or albino Narceus in person?

Yes to the first two, they occur naturally in the wild, so saying you developed them isn't true, mabye you got a colony going but nature did all the work, and orange Isopods are commonly sold online by many companies.

Here is my orange isopod.

]http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/2345014/fullscreen

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Yes to the first two, they occur naturally in the wild, so saying you developed them isn't true, mabye you got a colony going but nature did all the work, and orange Isopods are commonly sold online by many companies.

Here is my orange isopod.

]http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/2345014/fullscreen

All varieties and albinos occur naturally in the wild, where do you think they come from? They are already in the genetic code. That's why I chose the word developed over made. There are other orange isopods but the only stock sold by dozens, possibly hundreds, of companies online all came from my line.

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It totally forgot a 4th invert strain I developed. It's a hypermelanistic form of Acheta domestica bred from normal pet store crickets that also hatches at a lower temperature. They're really neat but I forgot about them because nobody but me cares. I've posted photos a few times on different forums over the years. I think I also was the first or among the first to develop black G. portentosa but it's really easy to do and I don't think much of what's out there came from mine. Lastly, I had the opportunity to develop Panchlora nivea with a black pronotum but I messed up when I isolated the specimen and never saw one again. It came out of a 20-year-old nivea culture, photo here: http://www.roachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1678&st=0&p=6401&hl=panchlora&fromsearch=1entry6401

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