macbrush Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Since I ran out of medium size dubia for my geckos, so I went out to bird shop for some. I didn't check the bag carefully (stupid me), but i didn't know they have other kind of roaches for sell, and look through the bag they do look like roachy enough for me... They are some kind of burrowing roaches judging by the shape and legs similar to their other burrowing cousins, can't climb at all, egg laying, adult size just under 1", adult colour dark brown. Can someone id them for me, please? Their shell is far too hard as feeders for geckos, so I am going to keep a small colony of them for the heck of it, well... maybe feed off some just molted if I caught them. Thank you very much in advance Cheers Kenneth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Polyphaga sp.? Probably aegyptiaca is my guess. There's a possibility they could be a Eupolyphaga species but I'm not familiar with the size etc of that genus. **Edit- I don't see any males. You'll have to raise some babies to adulthood; those might be P. obscura which is reportedly parthenogenic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froggy Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 looks like a polyphagid of some sort.... i want!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 Now that you mentioned it, I just took another look and yeah, there seems to be no male. But I will take a close look at each of them tomorrow after work since it is quite late now. I'll set them up properly tomorrow try to raise them, now they're just in an empty bin with a piece of lettuce which I am not even sure they'll eat or not. I guess they'll be fine for a few days as long as there is a water source, after all, they were raised as feeders, so they have to be hardy. In the mean time, I'll try look up info on polyphagid sp. see if I can find a match, thanks for the suggestions. Froggy: depends on where you are, i can mail you some if it is legal. They cost just $2 for 2 dozens of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 Oh.. if they're indeed Polyphaga aegyptiaca, the none of them have wings, so there is really no males. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 just took a look at one of my female aegyptiaca and there is a small difference in color my aegyptiaca are almost completly black where as yours have the sort a sort of brown on the edges. thay actually look more like what zephyr suggested (P. obscura) at least from the photos of them i've been able to find. ether way cool little find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 This is most puzzling... when I come home from work today, more than half of them are already dead, the rest don't seem active at all, in fact I have to turn them over to see if they're still alive, otherwise they just sit there not moving, even if I poke them... I'll see if a substrate will help them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 If you keep them too wet they will overhydrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 I threw them some sand/eco-earth mixed substrate, and they immediately came "awake", not playing dead anymore. Digging, eating, running... And the good news is that not all of those dead ones are really dead, but they play dead really well, you can be fiddling around with it for a minute or two, and still think its dead, about 1/2 of what I thought were dead were really dead though, probably due to over-hydration as Kyle suggested, or stressed out due to really rough transportation and nothing to burrow for over 24 hours, as well as it just turned autumn about a week ago here so the temp isn't exactly optimum for them I guess. What i did was to put them on the sand, those still alive would quit playing dead and dig right away. I am keeping the dead ones one more night see if they would give me any more surprises, but I really doubt that since this time, I even squeeze them a bit to make sure they're not moving at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscusmile Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 What stinkers! and I see an egg sack out of one of the females, so babies comin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscusmile Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Actually relooking at pic, a couple of egg sacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 I am feeding them dried leaves, carrot, and lettuce. I also have a half soaked watermoor in the bin for a water source. Do you guys think this is good enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I am feeding them dried leaves, carrot, and lettuce. I also have a half soaked watermoor in the bin for a water source. Do you guys think this is good enough? They actually don't need a water source; they have mouth parts that are designed to allow them to take in atmospheric water, so as long as the container has a slight amount of moisture, they'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Thanks, throwing the watermoor into the cricket's bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 I just checked on them before I go to work because the temperature has dropped to below 70F, and I found a strange looking male! It is smaller than others, and have wings! I'll upload some pic of it after work today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbrush Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 He's dead by the time i get home. Temp dropped from mid 80s to high 70s today, probably that's what killed him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Eupolyphaga sinensis! Assuming they were all in the same mix, the females are probably that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpet Roaches Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 We're throwing sticks at watermelons here but since when are E. sinensis females black and that male doesn't seem to be fully sclerotized, he might be black if he hadn't died prematurely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 The venation doesn't look right for a male Polyphaga sp. I assume that if the two were sold together in the same batch they came from the same breeder/breeding facility, and E. sinensis is apparently widely used in traditional medicinal treatments in China. This pic shows a black adult female E. sinensis: Though I do admit the females pictured don't seem like they're Eupolyphaga... Perhaps two or more species were mixed into this feeder roach deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vfox Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 http://www.cic-net.co.jp/blog/cat6/cat75/ has some good images of male and females. I venture they really are E. sinensis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpet Roaches Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 The E. sinenis male has a notable, defined yellow margin at the front of the pronotum that doesn't seem to be on that one at all. What special vein structure are you seeing in those images? So how big are the females? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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