Marco Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Hi all, Congartulations for this active and informative forum! I have reared some cockroach species many years ago, currently I am mainly interested in phasmid insects, but I have a general interest for orthopteroids. I work at the University of Siena where I study the sperm ultrastructure of the insects. The spermatozoon of the Blattodea has been documented in only a few species so far. I would be very interested to study the spermatozoon of a cockroach of the genus Cryptocercus! However, I don’t know if there are cultures of these interesting wood roaches. Would be very glad is someone can provide information. Thank you very much, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OBJ Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Marco, Welcome to the forum! Congartulations for this active and informative forum!Agreed. Many experienced people meet here with a high degree of information sharing. I would be very interested to study the spermatozoon of a cockroach of the genus Cryptocercus! However, I don’t know if there are cultures of these interesting wood roaches. Would be very glad is someone can provide information.Sounds interesting. Maybe you could explain more some time of the specific information that you gain from your study. About Cryptocercus, the latest publication of Invertebrates-Magazine had an article about this family as pets. I think Orin McMonigle wrote it. However, your question about whether cultures exist seems to be a no, since these species die easily. BR/ Ole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpet Roaches Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Hello Marco, In the right areas it's possible to collect Cryptocercus in numbers. However, it takes four to five years for the nymphs to reach adulthood and they're very sensitive to disturbances so it's not likely you'll find someone with extras who is culturing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Thank you both for the useful information! Comparing the sperm structure of different insect groups it is possible to drawn information about their affinities... Termites have a very peculiar type of spermatozoon, extremely different from that of other orthopteroid insects, including Blattodea, so that they are considered quite an enigma. However, it has been shown that Cryptocercus is closely related to termites! I would be very curious to see if the spermatozoon of Cryptocercus shares characteristics with that of termites Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OBJ Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 However, it has been shown that Cryptocercus is closely related to termites! I would be very curious to see if the spermatozoon of Cryptocercus shares characteristics with that of termitesYes, this familarity is very interesting! But the sample has to be taken from a live male (well, dead just instants before...)?? Otherwise one of the forum members could send a male to you, but that would probably last too long? Or is there a form of preservative method that could be used - like alcohol? BR/ Ole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 Yes, this familarity is very interesting! But the sample has to be taken from a live male (well, dead just instants before...)?? Otherwise one of the forum members could send a male to you, but that would probably last too long? Or is there a form of preservative method that could be used - like alcohol? BR/ Ole Hi! That would be great!!! The ideal thing would be a live adult male, and even a single specimen would be sufficient for the study I guess. The sperm cells are very very delicate, and unfortunately their fine structure is not preserved with the alcohol, because the tissues degenerate rapidly. An alternative is to preserve the insect with a specific fixative which preserves all the structures of the sperm cell. If someone is interested to collaborate to this project I can provide all the information and even the fixative if needed. The results of the study will be disseminated through a publication. I think would be an interesting work on the biology of the cockroaches. Many thanks, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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