Leaderboard

Roachforum is the oldest of the existing invertebrate forums. Thanks to every member and especially Peter of BIC for keeping it alive. The costs and competing groups that come and go could easily have fizzled it out without such support.

Got the opportunity to draw some of my roaches for a school assignment These are just sketches, but I would love to do some nicely rendered art of them soon. I would love to see more art of bugs while I'm here! If any of y'all wanna share your art here, please do

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

No, I just never bothered trying to get the UCR strain. It's hard enough trying to keep every bug on earth without trying to keep every strain.

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!

I don't think Flamingswampert was offended but then I also don't know what his/her short, non-descript message meant. I think it meant ignore the chatter but it could mean feathers are lighter than stones. I don't remember anyone questioning the validity of the extinct designation before but of course we still can't prove big dinosaurs are extinct with 100% certainty. I recall a movie suggesting a lost world full of them is in the hollow earth beneath an artificial sun. There maybe some Simandoa there too.

First time ever available in electronic format. Available through Coachwhip Books https://coachwhip.com/collections/invertebrate-pets/products/invertebrates-magazine-2001-2002 there are dozens of cockroach articles and features.

All relative sizes should be correct as I tried to maintain same reproduction ratio while taking the photos. If any mistake exist, should be really minor.

In early May, I received material from Uzbekistan, collected in three locations: a clay desert near the city of Termez (extreme south), from the surrounding sandy massifs of the year of Bukhara and from the sandy desert of the Nurata nature reserve. Naturally, all the material came unnamed. I, the person involved in this group, have previously identified the material in my laboratory. As a result: an adult female from the vicinity of the city of Termez turned out to be Polyphaga saussurei; three females from the sands of Bukhara - Polyphaga indica vitripennis (why exactly ssp. vitripennis - because the nominative subspecies does not occur on the territory of the former USSR); two subadult females and a subadult male from the Nurata Nature Reserve are also P. indica vitripennis. The adult females from the first two locations were unambiguously fertilized in nature and began to lay ootheca on the way. Females from the Nurata Nature Reserve, and later the male, molted into adults. And now, just yesterday, I discovered that both of them immediately begin to form ooteca. We will conduct laboratory observations of this material. I think that with such a high productivity, there is a chance to introduce this material into laboratory culture. Вот самец P. indica vitripennis:

Two females with ootheca. Finally, I got the first results! The male did a good job!

Found about a dozen babies in the enclosure the other day, after a gestation period of approximately 6 months. I've officially bred all three Panesthiinae species in my collection, yay!

One of the females of Elliptorhina davidi gave birth to about two dozen nymphs. This is very wonderful, but of course there are well-founded fears for them, as well as for the whole group as a whole. We can only wait and hope My conditions are standard for all Gromphadorhini: humidity is minimal, like in the desert, a wick drinker is installed, the substrate is wheat bran, shelters are egg trays, food is apples, carrots and gammarus. In such conditions, I reproduce well - Aeluropoda insignis, Elliptorhina chopardi, E. cf. coquereliana, E. javanica, E. laevigata, Gromphadorhina oblongonota, G. portentosa, G. portentosa ‘Black’, Gromphadorhina sp., Princisia vanwaerebeki, P. vanwaerebeki ‘Big’, P. vanwaerebeki ‘Black & White’.

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:

Earlier this week, I was presented with 7 middle aged nymphs Therea nuptialis (Gerstaecker, 1861). This species is very rare in culture, and for me, collecting Corydiinae, this is a very desirable acquisition. I hope that after the nymphs enter the imago, I will be able to get a sufficient number of ootheca and consolidate the species in my culture.

Substrate seems to be mainly a difference of pets vs feeders. Standard feeder containers make maximum use of vertical space with egg crates to pack a lot of roaches into a bin. That's the only function of egg crates. Zero substrate, is very easy to clean the dry frass, dead, and molts while not spending much time on the maintenance. I think of this as how people feed insectivores with the least amount of space and effort spent. Extra moisture in a bin with only paper, frass, roaches, and food can quickly lead to bacteria, fungus, pest insects, etc. On the other hand naturalistic containers with substrate, bark, leaves, branches, etc are perfectly fine. You're just replicating nature. There are hundreds of pictures of similar setups in the forum here. It's how tons more people including myself have kept reptiles for years also. The big difference is that the feeder bin i described previously isn't bio active. A little extra moisture (for short periods) in a naturalistic bin is perfectly fine when roaches are low density, and in balance. If someone thinks dirt and moisture are what kill cockroaches, there isn't much point arguing with them lol.

I'd say remember to feed and water them regularly, it may not seem like great advice but care is usually the only really important thing. I also recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Cockroaches-Husbandry-Biology-Blattodea/dp/1616464275

Cockroaches are resilient and all, but their resistance to nuclear radiation is a bit exaggerated I think... If any animal group could be considered the "chosen ones", it's gotta be Tardigrades, those things can survive the vacuum of space and are quite radiation resistant.

Also check out Pycnoscelus surinamensis, they have rapidly consumed anything I've thrown into their bin. Tolerant of bone dry to quite literally soaking wet substrate. extremely good at aerating the soil, have yet to do further testing but so far I've found they can dig to at least 8" of substate.

Thanks! I have not been out to collect much yet but I know there is great potential in the area based on what I've seen while outside wandering around. My best find has been an eyed click beetle, which had gotten into my house and was making a racket in the hallway

Not sure about @Mwewe's species, but at least some of them do also provide.....exploratory bites. 😅 They're not TERRIBLE, but shocking enough to where I've involuntarily jumped on the 1 or 2 occasions where I was bitten and hastily went back inside my house to contemplate why the bug gods had forsaken me so. 😢🤣

I've got three adult males and an adult female now! The males are much more yellowish than I expected, only a very faint green, but they also have two reddish brown stripes going down the first half of their tegmina, kinda neat. The females on the other hand lack any such markings and are definitely more green, but still very pale, with an almost silvery sheen to them. Here are some pictures, first of a male: And now here is a female: Wish me luck in breeding these beauties and getting them established in US Blatticulture!

Here is some of the color variation from my colony. Now that I have over 500+ individuals, i am prep to separate them by color/tone.

Yes, they are very beautiful, males look like ghosts)))) It's a pity that we won't be able to communicate in the messenger, I don't know English, but I speak Spanish very badly. But we have already found a common language and even made a little friendship We also have a common acquaintance, my friend - Philip Byzov Don't you want to learn Russian?

In my collection there is a culture that we designated as Ergaula sp. Kinabatangan, Borneo, as the material was collected by one of our Russian keepers along the Kinabatangan River, in the east of Kalimantan Island (Borneo), several years ago. These cockroaches differ from the species already present in culture - E. capucina (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893) and E. pilosa (Walker, 1868). These are smaller cockroaches, the males of which have an almost solid black (rarely with a small light spot in the middle) color, capable of rapid active flight. Females have a more prominent pronotum and sculpted surface of the first pair of wings. This material is very similar to the photographs (not typical) of the samples presented on the E. pilosa page of the site [http://cockroach.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1177988]. In turn, these samples are not at all similar to what we usually call in culture as E. pilosa. There are two opinions: either the site has not correctly identified the material, or what we have called E. pilosa is not. What are your opinions? Here's my sample:

The conditions of our laboratory: the temperature is in the range of 25—30 (they do not suffer from fluctuations at all, if they are smooth). Humidity not less than 80%, absolute ventilation, that is, through holes in a plastic container (on opposite walls) with a diameter of 15 cm, tightened with a thin steel wire mesh. Substrate 1—2 cm (coconut peat), food — apples and food for cats and/or dogs, gammarus. Cannibalist. Ooteca incubate under the same conditions, but in separate containers, the maximum incubation period is more than a year, but they may come out earlier. Nymphs grow for a long time, more than a year.

In my laboratory it is 25-27 ° C during the day, and at night it drops to 22 ° C. In general, of course, the most favorable daytime temperature for all crops in general is from 30-35 C °, but I do not use heating devices due to energy savings. A friend was in the south-west of Madagascar and said that the temperature there is monstrous, the heat is unbearable, and the humidity in the area of these very thorny woodlands is practically zero, that is, it is actually a very dry desert. Where cockroaches sit, it is also dry, but at least cooler by 2-5 C °. There is no available water or food containing moisture, except for the leaves and stems of succulents.

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?

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.

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):

I was very surprised when I noticed my Eurycotis lixa scratching their backs on objects in their enclosure, similar to cats. 😅 I might have observed the same behavior with other species too, but that's what pops to the top of my head. I was also quite bewildered when my Blaberus species hissed at me for the first time, without having read about the behavior prior.

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

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.

Don't tell @Dragozap, ha ha, he's always after more Reticulitermes. Do share some photos when they arrive though, such an interesting genus. Thanks, Arthroverts

Gotta agree with you there, those Tardigrades put all roaches to shame. The "roaches can survive nuclear radiation" statement is true, but every arthropod can resist radiation. If any arthropod would claim the Earth, it would be the ants, with their complex hives and specialized casts. But roaches IMO still are the best to keep, as long as you have that barrier

One of them molted to L5, hooray! 😁 Some pics while it was still teneral: Now fully darkened:

Actually it's ammonia buildup because they don't bind it in uric acid but even if they understood what they were talking about they'd be wrong.

Thanks Martin. I've always wanted to get an electronic version up but I couldn't convert the old files to something usable and didn't have anyone who would be able to host them. I'm not sure I would have the money and certainly not the time to build and pay for a hosting platform. Coachwhip gave the opportunity to get them up just a week or two ago. They are combined and translated from 2000.pub files (2 or 3 files per issue) and each file is 25-65 MB which you still can't send in an e-mail. The reason for multiple files and why the oldest ones have b/w pics in the text is the color ones took too much memory and for a long time anything above 30 MB would crash and could not save as a file.

A few days ago, several adults and about two dozen Elliptorhina coquereliana (Saussure, 1863) nymphs from Moscow will come to me. They were caught in the north of Madagascar - the natural range of this species. Earlier, I carried out identification using material from this culture (external morphology and preparation of the genitals). Based on this data, I can confidently say that the culture is Elliptorhina coquereliana. Photo of a adult male:

Agreed... but yet again it seems the autocorrect has struck me down! And embarrassed me on the internet... I have no idea what it autocorrected to US, but I originally said "for the roach hobby" (at least before my computer decided that it writes better than I do)

I've heard these are being cultured in Europe, such a nice species! 😍 Another hisser that will hopefully make it to the US hobby in time, hopefully they aren't too difficult to culture! Best of luck breeding them! 😁

December 2020 Invertebrates Magazine Issue This issue we begin with a relative freshman to Pachnoda culture introduced to us by Hes of Sklipkan arthropod magazine fame (sklipkan means spider, or more specifically tarantula, in the Czech Republic). Next, we look at culturing a pretty, little, Nearctic tortoise beetle, 2020’s imports of camel-spiders out of Egypt, and a contender for the largest of the terrestrial isopods, Titan A. E. (After Entomology as crustaceans have taken over the bug hobby). We review three decades of experiences keeping the heaviest non-colonial invertebrates on earth, giant clams (the beautiful Tridacna and Hippopus) and finish up by solving the identification of Poe's gold-bug.

Bantua sp. Namibia Corydidarum magnifica (Shelford, 1907) Corydidarum pygmaea (Karny, 1915) Corydidarum tarsalis (Walker, 1868) Hyposphaeria sp. South Africa Pseudoglomeris glomeris (Saussure, 1863) Pseudoglomeris terranea (Walker, 1871) and several more indeterminate Perisphaerus species from Southeast Asia. This is what different keepers have.

Quite excited to find a roach forum.:) Forums in general seem to be dying out :(, but there obviously still is good stuff to be found I've been keeping invertebrates of various kinds for over two decades now. My main interest are arachnids, but all arthropods are cool. My first roach was some South American species that I planned to feed to my tarantula, but it turned out to be so very cute, I simply couldn't! After that I've kept on and off a handful of different species. ATM I have only A. tessellata. I'm growing them as pets and also, if they start breeding well, to be dissected on the university animal morphology course. (Some may also end up to be fed to the spiders, but these are not exactly fast breeders, so I'll use them only if there is serious shortage of other feeder animals.) I find roaches fascinating. They are much more complex behaviourally than average people realize. I'd be superinterested to know if subsocial species of cockroaches, like Cryptocercus spp. are kept in captivity.

I've read that fresh peanut butter will glow under a black light too! But I've yet to test it out. It seems that at least one Cubaris species will glow too: (Cubaris sp. ‘Blonde Rubber Ducky’ from dartknightexotics reddit page)

I ended up with babies

So my partner and I were cleaning their tank for their Madagascar hissing cockroaches and we came across this girl. Put her aside since she looks different from any of the others and waited a night to see if it was just because of molting. But nope, she's retained this light caramel colour. My partner dubbed her "Candy Apple" and we've decided to select our prettiest male and try to breed to see if there is any chance it's genetic. Thought I'd share here!

I don't think I've shared this specimen here before.