Mixed colony, how to tell them apart?

port513

port513

First Instar
My new colony of P. nigra is not pure P. nigra, it contains alot of P. surinamensis.

How do I tell them apart?
Does it matter that I have a mixed colony?
They don't cross breed since they don't have males, right?

/Henke

 
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They can't crossbreed, no, and it should be easy to tell them apart when they mature, as the adult P.nigra will be black and the P.surinamensis will be brown. 

 
So if I keep them as a feeder roach this doesn't really matter and I can create a "clean" colony by taking the black with red legs to a separate container later then?

Not sure why they are mixed, probably because they need the exact same care and are same size etc but I'm a little bit picky of clean colonies some times so I will try to create two separate colonies later.

My hissers are mainly for my own pleasure but these little girls will serve as a food for my T:s but also for my own viewing pleasure.
They are in peat at the moment so it's a little bit hard to see them all the time if you don't put your hands in and disturb them.

/Henke

 
Exactly, and I assume the Surinams will eventually out-compete the P.nigra in the mixed colony over time, so it's likely that culture will eventually become all P.surinamensis, given time. 

Surinams apparently have an affinity to end up in other cages, I keep mine pretty secure so that has not happened with me, but I've heard of other keepers who had theirs get into other roach enclosures, and even isopod and millipede enclosures too. 

 
Why do they out-compete the P. nigra?

If they have plenty of food and everything they should get the same ammount of food, water, hiding places etc or is the P. surinamensis faster?

 
The Surinams breed and grow faster, P.nigra in my experience take almost twice as long as the P.surinamensis to grow, so I think the Surinams would take over your enclosure, given time. 

 
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Then I will try to sort them out. 

Nigra is all black? 

Then I probably have most of them right now, no brown adults here ?

/Henke 

 
Yup, P.nigra are black and have red legs, and in my experience are a little longer than P.surinamensis. :)

 
Then I will try to sort out my mix to two pure colonies. 

The seller told me it might contain nymphs of surinamensis so I have to start sorting. Will keep the mixed colony for feeder purpose. 

 
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