#Blaberidae

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

could you do Panchlora regalis?

Sure thing! Photos were a little limited, looks like it's very rare to see!

[herpsandbirds]

Ball Cockroaches (Perisphaerus spp.), family Blaberidae, Singapore

photograph by Melvin Yeo

[bowelfly]

i'm thinking about bugs

[crevicedwelling]

cockroach appreciation time!

a big and beautiful Blaberus giganteus seen in Costa Rica. I removed it from someone else’s cabin, and it posed nicely on a palm (after prickling me with its leg spines), then fluttered off into the jungle

a cockroach this size makes an audible thump when landing, a wonderful presence to these beasts

look at those big eyes almost meeting on top of the head!

[creatureimages]

la cucuaracha epilamprina 👍

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

The rhinocerus cockroach got its name for a good reason-- it's the largest species of cockroach in the world. These guys can be as long as 80 mm (3.1 in), and weigh a whopping 35 g (1.2 oz). Because of their large size, they are also one of the few species of cockroach that lack wings.

(Image: A rhinoceros cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros) by Steve and Alison Pearson)

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[rattyexplores]

Native cockroach species.

30/09/23 - Laxta sp. - Eubenangee, swamp, under rotting wood

[rbade-art]

[platyhystrix]

Appreciating: Blaptica dubia!

Blaptica dubia, known commonly as the Dubia cockroach, are by far my absolute favorite insect of all time. On that note, I feel like it's fitting that they are the topic of my first post like this!

These appreciation posts will tend to be quite long, so I hope you keep reading! I'm prone to rambling about invertebrates, and cockroaches even more so

Commonly kept by those who own reptiles as little more than livestock, Dubia roaches are often overlooked. While they can do fine with egg cartons, they truly thrive when given a variety of natural resources.

Dubia cockroaches can be found in the tropical rainforests Brazil, Argentina and Costa Rico. They are frugivores, and love moist and sugary fruits like mangos, watermelon and oranges. They are avid decomposers, grazing on anything from rotting leaves to fallen fruit.

I adore Blaptica dubia so much because of their laidback demeanor, clustering behavior and affinity for fresh ripe fruit. Like most cockroaches, they are sensitive to bright light and prefer a dark spot to hang out.

Dubia nymphs act very different than their parents, as do most blattodeans. While the adult roaches will happily graze on the surface, nymphs are frantic and very alert. Adults will climb around on elevated surfaces and often cluster together, while juveniles prefer to hide under any available item.

If one observes the same individuals over and over again, it's clear that they have some sort of personalities! Some adults are very brave and will always be the first to check out a new foodstuff, while others are lazy and spend their days lounging around.

Personally, I keep a very small colony of Blaptica dubia as pets. They exhibit some very fun behaviors like food and nest preferences! My three adult Dubias like to eat papaya, mango and avocado while the countless nymphs prefer banana, sweet potato and grapes!

The adults live by themselves, alongside a few assorted isopods and a few very young juveniles, in their own vivarium. The older nymphs live in the other two tanks, digging around in the rich soil. Very young nymphs feed on their parents' frass (the arthropod equivalent of dung) in order to build a healthy gut microbiome!

Thank you for reading! I love cockroaches more than anything else on Earth, and Blaptica dubia being my favorite species! I really hope you liked this post!

[impgall]

My mom is trying to work at her wfh job but I'm standing next to her showing her images of beautiful cockroaches.

[typhlonectes]

A Taxonomic Revision of the South American Trilobite Cockroaches of Parahormetica Brunner von Wattenwyl 1865 (Blattodea: Blaberidae), with Description of Parahormetica museunacional sp. nov. from the Atlantic Forest

Leonardo Polizeli & Ângelo Parise Pinto

Abstract

The taxonomically intricate genus of trilobite cockroaches,  Parahormetica Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865, is revised based on a comparative morphological analysis. The goals of this study are to review the nomenclature, propose hypotheses about specific delimitation, and provide diagnoses to allow identification of the taxonomic units in the genus. Based on the revised status of Parahormetica, we transferred Parahormetica hylaeceps Miranda-Ribeiro, 1936, and Parahormetica punctata Saussure, 1873, to the genus Bionoblatta Rehn, 1940. Therefore, the genus includes now four species of giant cockroaches which are predominantly distributed on the Atlantic Forest: Parahormetica bilobata (Saussure, 1864), Parahormetica cicatricosa Saussure, 1869, Parahormetica monticollis (Burmeister, 1838), and Parahormetica museunacional sp. nov. (holotype male deposited in DZUP: Brazil, Paraná). Diagnoses, key, distribution maps, images of living, non-type, and type specimens are made available. Our results make clear that the status and limits among Brachycolini genera pending a full revision.

Read the paper here:

A Taxonomic Revision of the South American Trilobite Cockroaches of Parahormetica Brunner von Wattenwyl 1865 (Blattodea: Blaberidae), with Description of Parahormetica museunacional sp. nov. from the Atlantic Forest | Neotropical Entomology (springer.com)

[herpsandbirds]

have you ever seen photos of Panchlora regalis? they're an underrated cockroach imo

Wow, this is a new cockroach for me!

We have the closely related banana roach, P. nivea, here on the gulf coast of texas but i've never heard of this species. Gorgeous!

Panchlora regalis, family Blaberidae, found in Suriname and French Guiana

photographs: Maruyama-M. & Jérémie Lapèze

[bowelfly]

rotating my sleek metal briefcase around on the table to face you, i click it open to reveal an assortment of bugs

[crevicedwelling]

these photos were taken on May 24, 2018!

happy roach and orb day, here’s some more of her. her descendants live on today, although I think Iost the orb

roach and orb

(female Blaptica dubia, orb. 2018)

[creatureimages]

beautiful women named laxta are going to sleep in your firewood

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Cozy Up to the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

One of twenty hissing cockroach species, the Madagascar hissing cockroach or simply the hisser (Gromphadorhina portentosa) is found only on the island of Madagascar. There, it prefers the dry leaf litter and rotting logs of lowland tropical rainforests, though it can also be found in cool, damp, dark areas of buildings. These habitats are ideal as they can offer both refuge from predators like rodents and birds, and food: hissing cockroaches are detritovores, feeding exclusively on decaying plant and animal matter. This makes them important members of the ecosystem as they recycle nutrients back into the soil.

G. portentosa is one of the largest species of cockroach in the world, reaching up to 7 cm (3 in) and 24 g (0.8 oz) when fully grown. Unlike other cockroaches, the hisser lacks wings and travels exclusively over the ground. Fortunately their hard, dark brown exoskeleton provides excellent camoflage against the forest floor. Males and females are nearly identical; the only difference is the pair of horns, or pronatal humps, found just behind the male’s head.

Though they may live in close quarters, madagascar hissing cockroaches are largely individualistic. Males fiercely guard small territories, only leaving occasionally to find food and water. Females and young are somewhat more social, and move in and out of these territories freely. As their name implies, hissers communicate primarily by hissing. This sound is produced by expelling air through their bodies. Four distinct hisses have been identified, each with different meanings; territorial displays, mating calls, and an alarm hiss to warn away predators.

Hissers reproduce all year round, provided the weather is warm enough. Males attract females by hissing loudly, and fight off rival males through hissing competitions and posturing. When a female enters a male’s territory, she emits a chemical to attract a mate. When the pair meet, they enter a brief courtship ritual involving vocalizations and touching each other’s antennae; they then position themselves end to end and remain there for upwards of 30 minutes.

The female will carry her fertilized egg case, or ootheca, for about two months. Up to 40 nymphs will hatch from the case while still inside their mother, who then expells her young all at once. These nymphs resemble adults in structure, but are smaller and lack reproductive organs. Initially they are white, but quickly turn brown or black as they grow, molting about once a month until fully grown. Sexual maturity is reached at about seven months of age, but individuals can live for up to 5 years.

Conservation status: The Madagascar hissing cockroach has not been evaluated by the IUCN, and populations are considered to be stable. In addition, many zoos and private collectors maintain hissing cockroaches for display or food for other animals, as the species is low maintenence and easy to breed in captivity.

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Photos

Liz West

Lincoln Park Zoo

Alexandria Zoo