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New Therea species could be coming to US hobby


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I've been hearing rumors lately that a new species of Therea is coming to the US hobby. It is rumored to be Therea bernhardti, and is apparently already (rarely) available in Europe. There's also this image that I have seen (I didn't find the image, that credit goes to HisserDude!) of a mystery Therea sp: http://www.karaczany...um.pl/therea-sp

I've also seen a few dealers list "black underwing domino cockroaches" as T. bernhardti. What do you guys think of these rumors? Is the USA getting a new roach, or is this all wishful thinking and hot air?

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The species in the link is not T.bernhardti, it is an unidentified species. The species pictured has a squiggly line in between two dots, which does not match any other species currently kept. Hopefully they make their way into the US hobby!

T.bernhardti seems to be identical to T.petiveriana except for the black underwings. All the T.petiveriana in the hobby may actually be T.bernhardti. Here is a link from the same site for T.bernhardti: http://www.karaczany.terrarium.pl/therea-bernhardti

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The species in the link is not T.bernhardti, it is an unidentified species. The species pictured has a squiggly line in between two dots, which does not match any other species currently kept. Hopefully they make their way into the US hobby!

T.bernhardti seems to be identical to T.petiveriana except for the black underwings. All the T.petiveriana in the hobby may actually be T.bernhardti. Here is a link from the same site for T.bernhardti: http://www.karaczany...erea-bernhardti

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I thought it was strange that there was that mysterious link you posted, and there were the "black underwing" dominoes. If everything we thought was T. peterivana is actually T. bernhardti, then what does the true T. peterivana look like?

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Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I thought it was strange that there was that mysterious link you posted, and there were the "black underwing" dominoes. If everything we thought was T. peterivana is actually T. bernhardti, then what does the true T. peterivana look like?

I don't know, maybe similar to T.bernhardti but with clear wings? Someone should take a look at their "T.petiveriana" and see if they have clear or black underwings. I would, but none of mine are adults yet!

By the way if anyone was interested, here is the description for Therea bernhardti: http://www.schaben-s...cont=bernhardti It even says at the bottom that T.petiveriana is probably not in culture.

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I'm curious about who's making this rumor. As far as I know Jorg (person who originally had this species) lost his culture, and it seemed that other people who've received them didn't do well. Did some random guy secretly kept this species hidden from other hobbyist and has just began releasing them back into the hobby?

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I'm curious about who's making this rumor. As far as I know Jorg (person who originally had this species) lost his culture, and it seemed that other people who've received them didn't do well. Did some random guy secretly kept this species hidden from other hobbyist and has just began releasing them back into the hobby?

Are you talking about T.bernhardti, or the unidentified species in the first link? Pannaking22 said on Arachnoboards that he had friends who said they may know of a fourth species that may be in culture, but that it was just rumblings.

I personally think that all the Therea petiveriana in the hobby are in fact Therea bernhardti, and now that people are labeling them as such, confusion has arisen for those unaware of the taxonomic changes and they think we have gained a fourth species when in reality we still only have three. There is that one unidentified species in the first link but that seems to be kept only by that one person in Europe, not anyone in the US.

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I don't know, maybe similar to T.bernhardti but with clear wings? Someone should take a look at their "T.petiveriana" and see if they have clear or black underwings. I would, but none of mine are adults yet!

By the way if anyone was interested, here is the description for Therea bernhardti: http://www.schaben-s...cont=bernhardti It even says at the bottom that T.petiveriana is probably not in culture.

We should start an unofficial little study here. It wouldn't be very scientific, and I doubt any serious entomologists (other than myself lol) would take any notice of this, but we could still learn something. If you own any, check the underwings of your dominoes. If they are black, you can say you have T. bernhardti. If the underwings are transparent, or another color, you can say you have T. peterivana.That way we can see which people/ dealers have the true dominoes, and which have the black underwing dominoes.

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We should start an unofficial little study here. It wouldn't be very scientific, and I doubt any serious entomologists (other than myself lol) would take any notice of this, but we could still learn something. If you own any, check the underwings of your dominoes. If they are black, you can say you have T. bernhardti. If the underwings are transparent, or another color, you can say you have T. peterivana.That way we can see which people/ dealers have the true dominoes, and which have the black underwing dominoes.

Yes, anyone who has adult domino roaches, please check the underwings! We need to know! I need to know! :lol:

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I've been hearing rumors lately that a new species of Therea is coming to the US hobby. It is rumored to be Therea bernhardti, and is apparently already (rarely) available in Europe. There's also this image that I have seen (I didn't find the image, that credit goes to HisserDude!) of a mystery Therea sp: http://www.karaczany...um.pl/therea-sp

I've also seen a few dealers list "black underwing domino cockroaches" as T. bernhardti. What do you guys think of these rumors? Is the USA getting a new roach, or is this all wishful thinking and hot air?

Just because the spots are a little different doesn't make it a different type of cow (not necessarily anyway).
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Honestly, I believe that to be mistaken taxonomy, or a hybrid species. There's just not that amount of variation between individuals of T. peterivana.

I've had T.olegrandjeani turn out like that, it's a different color morph, not a different species.

Checkbout this link: http://invertebratedude.blogspot.com/2015/07/more-roach-adults.html?m=0 For some reason it won't let me post the picture by itself on my kindle.

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I've had T.olegrandjeani turn out like that, it's a different color morph, not a different species.

Honestly, I believe that to be mistaken taxonomy, or a hybrid species. There's just not that amount of variation between individuals of T. peterivana.

Here's a new one:

Therea stillpetiveriana

It's a joke.... notice the species part "still petiveriana"

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The unidentified species in the first link. To my knowledge, that species/strain is no longer in captivity.

Aww, that sucks. Hopefully it will show up again. :(

Is that one of your specimens? If it's not, then we could all still have T.bernhardti. Someone needs to look at the underwings!

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Yes, I saw that. I don't think that the claim of it being T. peterivana is correct. If anything it is a morph of T. olegrandjeani.

It is a color form of T. petiveriana and its offspring can look normal. Just like yellow lurida and black hissers, an unusual color form within a colony does not become a new species. I did not think anyone would be confused by the name still petiveriana.

If you look at the CSF photo link posted earlier from a specimen holding you will see T. petiveriana have black underwings so you're placing a lot of stock in the wrong feature.

I think Peter would be happy to see you named a roach after him.

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It is a color form of T. petiveriana and its offspring can look normal. Just like yellow lurida and black hissers, an unusual color form within a colony does not become a new species. I did not think anyone would be confused by the name still petiveriana.

If you look at the CSF photo link posted earlier from a specimen holding you will see T. petiveriana have black underwings so you're placing a lot of stock in the wrong feature.

I think Peter would be happy to see you named a roach after him.

Yellow lurida show up frequently in cultures though. Same goes for black hissers. If this is indeed a color morph, it is an incredibly rare one at that.

I think Peter would be happy to see you named a roach after him.

Smartass... ;)

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It is a color form of T. petiveriana and its offspring can look normal. I did not think anyone would be confused.

If you look at the photo link posted earlier from a specimen holding you will see T. petiveriana have black underwings so you're placing a lot of stock in the wrong feature.

I think Peter would be happy to see you named a roach after him.

Those underwings look a little more brown than black, but maybe that's just me.

These wings look black: http://www.schaben-spinnen.de/Data/Articles/025.JPG

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Yellow lurida show up frequently in cultures though. Same goes for black hissers. If this is indeed a color morph, it is an incredibly rare one at that.

Smartass... ;)

It is not rare at all. I cropped another two out of that photo and I've seen maybe 50. I've been selecting for it.

Some people may say I am both words but it is important you keep the language PG. I'm guessing you know now you were spelling the name wrong.

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Those underwings look a little more brown than black, but maybe that's just me.

These wings look black: http://www.schaben-s...rticles/025.JPG

1. Dead specimens fade with age. 2. If you could make a new species out of a shade difference in the rear wings you'd have like 50 Arenivaga from the southwest (ha ha).
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1. Dead specimens fade with age. 2. If you could make a new species out of a shade difference in the rear wings you'd have like 50 Arenivaga from the southwest (ha ha).

Ah, yes I forgot about that, sorry. Well then, is there any difference between T.petiveriana and T.bernhardti at all?

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Ah, yes I forgot about that, sorry. Well then, is there any difference between T.petiveriana and T.bernhardti at all?

Based on the description of the species, it appears that wing shade is the only difference between species. Perhaps they are all the same species, and wing color is the equivalent of hair color in humans, and should not have been enough to warrant itself a different species in the first place. A genital dissection would be more reliable in determining if it should be classified as its own species. For being a science, taxonomy is highly subject to opinion.

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