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Blaberus colloseus


Zephyr

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I thought they just looked like a different culture stock but if they are from the same stock that's odd they'd have the dark wing areas. :blink:

Well, I'll assume Matt got them from you. :P

I do know that in Europe, and for a time here in the US apparently, there were two cultures; I a bigger, light-colored stock that originated in Peru, and a smaller stock which originated in Ecuador (presumably what these are?)

Could this be from diet? I've only had these ones for maybe a month; All the adults I currently have were shipped to me from Roachman26 (except one of the adult females; this may have molted out from stock straight from Matt K or you) during a heat spell and most of the others with them died except a large nymph or two.

I haven't really been giving them that much dietary variety (the ones from you were fed carrots, banana, apple, etc during the first half of their nymph life but this was changed to mostly apples during the second half) and within the past month I've been feeding mostly apple with one or two pieces of dog food.

Maybe the heat from shipping caused hyperpigmentation of some sort? I know older B. discoidalis turn darker with age as well; maybe something comparable is going on here.

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Mine are a solid uniform color, amber, and the body is not clearly visible through the wings and somewhat more elongate overall. If you got yours from him and his came from mine, then either:

a) its husbandry related and would be interesting to know what caused that.

B) they were accidently hybridized between the two of you somehow.

c) they did not originate from me.

Mine came from one of two sources that brought them in directly, but I could not say for sure what country they originated from as I did not ask at the time, which was a great while back now.

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My B.colloseus went straight out of the shipping container from Matt and into their bin. I've never moved or messed with them other than to pull the bin down and throw in some food. There have never been any escapes or questionable incidents of any kind and they are on the other side of my roach room from my other Blaberus with 4 hungry tokays, glue traps and roach bait in between.

It is within the realm of physical possibility that "something" happened, but very very unlikely. Even if they found a way to climb up and out of their smooth-sided bins, they would have to run the gaunlet, cross the room, get back up to the shelves, climb up the smooth sides of the other bins, and squeeze in through the closed lid. Its also possible that I wouldn't notice two different species in the same bin, but again, not likely.

These are pretty old specimens. Probably the originals as this species is one of the few that didn't do well for me. I've got fusca, craniifer and discoids coming out my ears, but these, the giganteus and E. decipiens just haven't done well for some reason.

Also, I've only ever received three shipments of roaches, the last one was in January of this year. One from James T., one from Matt K. and one from Zephyr.

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Mine are a solid uniform color, amber, and the body is not clearly visible through the wings and somewhat more elongate overall. If you got yours from him and his came from mine, then either:

a) its husbandry related and would be interesting to know what caused that.

B) they were accidently hybridized between the two of you somehow.

c) they did not originate from me.

Mine came from one of two sources that brought them in directly, but I could not say for sure what country they originated from as I did not ask at the time, which was a great while back now.

Alright. Let's break it down. :P

A. This is the most likely answer and would explain the variety of shades and colors in my roaches. I feed an incredibly diverse staple diet (oats, fish pellets, ferret food, parrot food, dog food, and chicken poultry mash) to my roaches, so they may eat more of one of something than another. My B. colloseus are kept in an approx. 12"(w)x20"(l)x15"(h) container with more ventilation than my other roaches. Although I currently have slanted egg crates for molting these are being replaced tonight with plywood pieces. The substrate is about 75% coconut fiber chunks, 20% cypress mulch, and 5% sphagnum moss strands plus plenty of crushed sycamore and oak leaves. Temps are about 82 during the day with a crescent of basking light hitting the container. As stated before, the humidity is probably very low compared to my other containers; maybe 40-60%. I have seen preserved Blaberus wings that are darker due to solution getting between them and the body; maybe something of this effect is happening to mine?

B. They could be hybrids, but with this specie's reproductive and growth rates, there hasn't been enough time between owner transfers for these to be the babies of hybrids. They must be pure.

C. We have traced the origins.

So, I guess it's husbandry. o_o

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Also, I've only ever received three shipments of roaches, the last one was in January of this year. One from James T., one from Matt K. and one from Zephyr.

If you got some from James, they are likely from me too. Or Orin. Would be interesting to know why they are that color. I'll try to post a photo here later....

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