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I brought over 100 Polyphaga saussurei cockroaches from the Kyzylkum desert. These are adults and nymphs of different ages and sex. Females now systematically produce ootheca, which are incubated separately. I do not plan to sell my cockroaches, but my dream is to create a wonderful, full-fledged culture of this species, where there are both females and males. As far as I know, all existing cultures are parthenogenetic, so I have a unique experiment In the photo there is a male and a female from my collection

The boy`s

Got new species of Peresphaerinae. These are Corydidarum magnifica, C. tarsalis, C. pygmaeus, C. sp. Japan and Bantua sp. Namibia. In some cultures there are already adults and as a result, there is every reason to expect offspring Corydidarum magnifica C. tarsalis C. pygmaeus Bantua sp. Namibia Photo by C. sp. Japan I did not publish, since they are outwardly similar to C. pygmaea.

I have two subspecies Panesthia angustipennis - P. a. cognata and P. a. angustipennis. As you know, they grow and develop for a long time, but yesterday the first imago appeared (I think that the male, but did not specifically determine the sex). There he is : What Panesthiinae do you have?

I made this out of boredom. Hope you like them.

Now in culture there are adults of both sexes. Some females already have ooteca. I hope for a rich brood Male on the photo:

Voile isn't too strong! It doesn't take a lot to pull that out of shape either, and I wouldn't use it without a backing of mesh or similar. I wasted a few patches of it, trying to pull them over the back of the plastic vents that I had. They're ventilating a tubful of Archimandrita tesselata at the mo, and I still have a slight worry in the back of my head about those big bruisers pulling the warp and weft wide. There were a couple of times when I wished I had a scrap of muslin instead, not a million miles from cheesecloth. Oh well, they're getting another home anyway because I underestimated how much height they need.

You've certainly piqued my interest. I had been trying to reduce styrofoam waste by melting it down in a jar of d-limonene, though this method sounds more up my alley. But mealworms give me hay fever and my last parcel full of packing peanuts were the biodegradable starch kind. Curse these environmentally aware internet sellers!

I've only supplemented the adult beetles with fruit beetle jelly, but I think the meal beetle also eat styrofoam. I'm still testing this, but the mealworms seem to be living and pupating on just the styrofoam. Anyone (besides me) working with styrofoam and mealworms????

Yeah I always just use the dry stuff and never bother mixing it up, the roaches take it just fine.

really nice😊

These beetle breeding items are things you never see in the US (we just see the beetle jellies, holders, splitters and a few things) and some like the anti-mite bedding sound a little dangerous. I think the special substrate water is just water? Anybody use the orange gel beads or pellets?

Ok, thank you! Yes, he has darkened up and is on par with my tiger hisser in size. Very large roach! Hopefully I can get some pics with him and the other roaches some time.

Huh? UCR Ivory? No such thing lol. There are two death's head strains in the US, "Orin" stock (stock that Orin McMonigle made available in the hobby), and the "UCR" stock (stands for University of California, Riverside). This looks like a freshly molted UCR, the white will darken a bit more over time. Apparently the "Orin" stock has "higher contrast in its colors and a very distinct pronotum marking, but is smaller and more skittish than the University of California, Riverside cultivar". The UCR strain is characterized by "its larger size, overall darker coloration, and less distinct pronotum markings", and by not being that skittish and better for handling. Somehow I think you got UCR death's heads (Blaberus craniifer) and Ivory roaches (Eublaberus sp. "Ivory) mixed up, there are no "UCR" Eublaberus.

I've seen that in one of the online stores I looked at. You bring up another point too: it might be easier to dole out portions of the dry feed.

'Magnifica' - well named.

wow. so gorgeous

@Gromphadorhini Very nice, I currently keep Perisphaerus pygmaeus (they were moved back to Perisphaerus in 2018, and the rest of the "Corydidarum" spp. are now in Pseudoglomeris though the cockroach species file has yet to update the site accordingly), and Bantua sp. "Namibia". I had the Chinese "Gold" form of Pseudoglomeris magnifica once, though they came to me infested with entomophagous mold, and I briefly had a small amount of Pseudoglomeris tarsalis that I was holding onto for a friend, would really like to get some for myself one day. Eventually I'd like to have every Perisphaerinae in culture... But I suppose that will have to wait.

Ive been gone for ages, think its been about... 3-4 years. I had a big problem with my inverts due to location movement, unstable temps and ant invasions and i just couldnt bounce back from losing all my colonies and pets. But im back and ready to dive on in. Nice to be here again!

This vendor is good for Hemithyrsocera and should ship to Ireland: http://www.schaben-spinnen.de/Content/shop.php?cat=11&start=60

haha yeah. But I do make sure there are no possible escape routes.The top of my enclosure is a tight mesh screen that slides in and locks in place.

Boy is my face red. And my google-fu must be weak, too. I went down through dozens of results on two different search engines before I found one seller in Germany. Anyway. Good to know. (HarbingerWolf, let us know if you solve your breeding woes and end up with a surplus. 😄)

Congratulations, I really hope these do well for you!!!

They are actually WAY more common in the European hobby, H.palliata only recently got established here, and H.vittata have yet to get a foothold in the US hobby...

I've already gushed about these in a couple of places, but I've got some more in me. Man, what an excellent-looking roach! Their bright colours and bold patterns are irresistable. Well done for boosting these in blatticulture and letting us know.

Very nifty. If I saw these under a log, I'd completely mistake them for pillbugs or pill millipedes. (And wonder why all those flies were hanging around them, into the bargain)

Finally gave birth! About (or more) 20 nymphs. Another female also had mating, now we are waiting for her to give birth Everyone is not visible in the photo, since they are smartly hiding:

BABIES!!!

Finally got some of my pinned bugs framed, before they were just thrown into one big frame. It was worth the wait to display them like this! Hopefully I’ll be able to frame the others soon. All specimens were collected from breeders after a natural death, were raised by me, or were found dead in the wild. Enjoy!

The P Metallica has always been one of my favorite tarantulas. A couple months ago, I fulfilled my dream of owning one, and yesterday I was able to get one tattooed on me. I've been wanting this tat for years and it turned out pretty good.

super nice. I too have recently gotten myself a bug- related tattoo as well. I`m not sure if this is too personal, but I engaged in self-harm from a pretty young age (starting under the age of 10) and it progressed into a lot of deep cutting that has left me with permanent thick scarring covering most of my body. I tried many times to quit, but nothing really worked until I got my first tattoo. Now I am working on covering all the scarring with artwork that makes me feel happy when I see it instead of ashamed. It will take awhile, but I sure do plan on doing many, many different species of inverts as that`s what makes me happy. Honestly that`s really the only criteria for tattoos. get what will make you happy when you see it. once again, your tattoo is really, really beautiful.

Yes, they sure do each have their own interesting personalities. 🙂

I used rolls of gutter guard recently, the roaches climb all over it.

Thank you so much!! I appreciate it

My pair of Rhino roaches may or may not have matured recently, it seems too soon but after a recent molt I'm seeing adult coloration and the male has a noticeable scoop. Both are around the same age, being born in Spring (April/June) 2019 or so. Looking at pics the male seems most likely to be mature, not sure about the female. Does it seem like I have a few molts to go or should I cross my fingers for nymphs in the next year or so? Here's the male Sorry for quality but the scoop is pretty obvious. Here's a quick snap of the female

They are pretty easy but not very fast. They like to hide under wood and part of the substrate should always be damp. I think sucincta is less finicky but mostly because they are slower, verrucosa I've had to use as feeders to try to keep the colony from crashing but never subcincta.

My Simandoa all started to go out in adults, one pair has been in imago for several weeks already and the female is already plump. I really hope for a brood. The comrade had only two broods, despite the fact that in the first there are much less than thirty babies, and in the second there are only two. This is upsetting. But let's hope for the best In the photo, a pair of adults (male and female):

Finally, I decided to acquire this wonderful species of the subfamily Eumenophorinae! Since childhood, I dreamed of such a spider, for the first time I saw a small photo of it in a book about wildlife, however, it said that it was a spider from the genus Lasiodora But then I did not have the Internet to find information about this species. And only many years later I began to search the Internet for a spider from the genus Lasiodora, but naturally I did not find anything similar, since this is an Old World spider, even belonging to another subfamily. Quite by chance, I came across photographs similar to what I was looking for, and after reading the name I realized that it was Pelinobius muticus. Now that I knew the exact name, I began to look for information about it, as well as to find out if such spiders are for sale. But in the 90s we didn't have such spiders. After a few years, I saw very rarely this species for sale, but the prices were monstrous and I could not afford to buy this spider. And then I gave up the idea of buying for many years. And now, quite recently (just a little less than a month ago) I was presented with a young female. I put it in a plastic container with ventilation holes, filled it with coco peat, and placed a hollow piece of cork bark. She settled in this makeshift burrow and entwined with cobwebs. Now he sits there, but does not eat, because the abdomen is very thick, and maybe it will soon shed. Now I have a lofty goal - to raise a big and beautiful girl, then buy her a male and try very hard to breed this species. I know that they are very rarely divorced, but I will retreat anyway Here she is, my beauty. She is already three years old and she is about 5 cm in body

@Hisserdude wrote a great care sheet on Arenivaga spp. care. 🙂 Invertebrate Dude Caresheets: Arenivaga spp. (idcaresheets.blogspot.com)

Hi there I'm Bandi, long time invert lover and keeper from Southern Arizona. I was never really fond or roaches, more of a phobia actually, until I was given a starter colony of Gromphadorhina portentosa. I'm now hooked. I ended up also rescuing a group of Dubia nymphs that were in a pre packaged, sealed container at a big box store. I use their offspring as feeders for my 2 tarantula slings. I also now have a large group of Pycnoscelus nigra, and have one adult female Arenivaga genitalis that I'm going to be getting a male for in the summer when they come out to my lights. (crossing fingers that I can get a group started.) I also keep a number of Isopods and true spiders. I plan on keeping more species of roaches, and I hope to be acquiring a starter of Archimandrita tesselata with in the next week. I'm hoping to get some care tips for my female Arenivaga genitalis. That was what actually brought me here was an older post from 2016/ 2017 about this species. Thank you for letting me join. I hope to learn a lot.

@HisserdudeThat's interesting about the booklice! Have they been used at all before in drier roach enclosures to help keep things clean? I don't know if they could pose issues or not but I was curious if anyone in the hobby has intentionally introduced them to enclosures before. Sorry if this is a rookie question, I'm still somewhat new and have only kept roaches for a year, half that if we're talking seriously keeping them for the purpose of helping the hobby. Thanks for any info you can provide in advance!

Congrats on getting this beautiful species! Though Orin and Peter are the definitive experts on them in the hobby, I've been keeping them for about 7 months now, with a fair amount of success. The starting culture I work with is quite large due to its long term purpose, but I know of people who have successfully been able to culture large amounts out of groups as small as six. You'll get anywhere from 15-30 babies out of one successful pairing, though god knows it takes a while. In most cases adulthood takes about 8 months to reach, and gestation ranges 3-5. I have been told however, that these periods can be shortened if greater heat is provided, though I have not tried this myself. I keep my two groups in highly ventilated bins on a few inches of coconut husk topped by leaf litter, with slightly moist sphagnum in one corner to increase humidity. I provide both cork bark and egg cartons which serve (along with a high protein diet) to decrease antennae and wing biting. I will lightly mist the substrate once daily, and provide varied produce and protein sources, along with a consistent container of calcium fortified cricket gel. This setup has allowed me to see significant growth in my group of nymphs, and I have observed continued breeding in the large mixed colony I was able to purchase last month. Hopefully I will be seeing more babies soon! Oh, and I'm sure you've already figured this out, but your enclosure need to be crazy secure. Crazy secure. I hope this is a helpful report of my experience with this species, I want to end it by thanking the people from whom much of this care information came. A huge thank you to @Peter Clausen@Allpet Roaches@pannaking22@Hisserdude and the many, many others both on and off this forum who have contributed towards my work with this species. I wouldn't be able to work with these incredible roaches if these folks hadn't. Thank you all!

Here's a care sheet that @Hisserdude wrote up on the species: Invertebrate Dude Caresheets: Pseudoglomeris magnifica (idcaresheets.blogspot.com)

Glad to have you! @Hisserdude made a great care sheet on Arenivaga, with some specifics on A.genitalis, if you'd like to give it a read. 🙂 Invertebrate Dude Caresheets: Arenivaga spp. (idcaresheets.blogspot.com)

Hello, I have been railing about this for the last year....stop feeding poultry feed, medicated, unmedicated, organic, non-gmo....all of it. Poultry feeder manufacturers add a synthetic chemical known as DL Methionine which replicates the natural "methionine" found in the DNA of most if not all of God's creatures. Natural methionine is a needed amino acid protein....known as a "limiting" AAP because it limits the other AAPs found in nature's genetics. Imagine a wooden bucket made up of slats if you will, methionine is the shortest slat of the buck "limiting" its ability to hold water. If you increase the slat length, which is what the synthetic version DL Methionine does, you increase the ability of the bucket to hold more water. DLM is put into poultry feed to increase the proteins allowing for faster growing and meatier birds. The problem is DLM has been patented by the University of Florida as a pesticide. It targets pests with an alkaline gut physiology including mosquitos, termites, cockroaches, and other insects and larvae. It has been sprayed on stored grain for decades, which is why you will find it in tortoise food, guinea pig food, rabbit feed, the list is long. By law the producers of all these other feeds have to include the "ingredient list" of their suppliers, in their own ingredient lists. Having been sprayed on stored grain, grain which is used to make these other products, you will find DLM in these other products. I recently found it in my cat's food. There is the concept of "concentration" levels.....I make the assumption that products made with stored grain that has had DLM sprayed on it, has less concentrations of DLM than poultry feed which actually puts DLM into their product. Its a positive addition to market via advertising if you make poultry feed...not so good if you feed roach. (ahem...Mazuri...whom I've contacted and was surprised at their e-mailed reply) If you read the patent application, which was granted, concentration levels of .01 % were enough to immobilize and kill larvae affecting orange grove trees. These types of pesticides are known as "green" pesticides because they only target specific pests leaving the host healthy, last up to 3 generations in the genetics of the pests, making them a great pesticide and cheap. They greatly affect the 1st and 2nd instars, slow the growth of nymphs, and limit the reproduction of breeding females. Having bred and sold Dubia roaches for the last 10 years I can attest to another aspect, the females tend to be smaller...like not much bigger than a quarter. There are other consequences to raising methionine levels in the bucket....like raising other amino acid proteins like Histidine...which is responsible for creating "histamine"....we all know why we take anti-histamines right ??? I learned about DLM through an experience in early 2018 wherein I purchased 25,000 dubia females.....its quite the story but the vast majority were all small, had issues I have come to call "white wing" disease which is often pawned off as a molting issue, and "blistering" which I believe is caused by the increase in Histidine levels. (referenced in a text book about Zoology I believe it was) Within 6 months all of the purchased adult bugs were dead with not much reproduction at all, and the thousands of nymphs I had acquired began to mysteriously disappear. I would take 10K and place them in a tub all their own thinking that 30 days later I would have some smalls, 60 days later mediums, etc.....we vended 28 reptile shows in 2019 so a managed inventory was important. I thought...my God...I have forgotten how to grow Dubia roaches. I had done this experiment multiple times with the same mysterious loss of nymphs. If you consider our tubs aren't really more than an Easy Bake oven with a clean up crew...the lack of carcasses isn't all that mysterious. I talked with other breeders both large and small and was hearing about similar disappearances. Many if not all were feeding poultry feed if not alone then mixed with something else..... It wasn't until 6 months after the bugs died that I began to look at diet...the seller had told me when I purchased them he had fed nothing but poultry feed for years...sang its praises so much that I too started to feed my other dubia which numbered around 10K at the time, poultry feed too. They also died off prematurely but at the time I did not know with confidence their age to begin with.....that's how I got on the trail of DL Methionine. Today....our chow is completely pesticide free...you can eat it yourself...and I have done it in front of many people at shows as a testament to my claim. It contains barley, not the sprouted kind which can go rancid and not "pearled" barley that has had its bran power washed off of it basically. It also contains oat groats and wheat germ. We also dehydrate our own fruit as store bought dried fruit has had Sulphur or Sulphur Dioxide sprayed on it to retain its original color. Sulphur is the oldest pesticide known to man. I can tell you more about the needs of Dubia adults being different than growing adults and the benefits of a 1 to 8 protein to carbohydrate diet for preproduction. Thats a whole 'nother story.... https://patents.google.com/patent/US7181884 Mike

Good guess but sadly no

Two males have matured, so now I have adults of both sexes!

Posted by cj on 12/25/2006, 5:41 am 71.38.75.227 We have all white roaches taking up residency in our house. now i don't know much about roaches other than i can't kill them because i find them to be quite cute ( and i truly believe that roaches are psychic) anyway i was just wondering what the white ones were. and also there are the other ones here that look like crickets/roaches...i call them croaches. the lady that lives upstairs has a tree frog..she feeds it crickets and roaches and i think they interbread ( i know interbreading between species is possible, infact my grandma had a cat that bread with a dog and had babies..they didn't live very long at all, only a few days but they looked beyond this world!) anyways i just wanted to know what made the roaches white. cjwirth3@yahoo.com