"Lucihormetica verrucosa do not possess bioluminescent organs" Says Study

[Tenevanica]

I've been looking at L. verrucosa for a while now, and during my research, I stumbled upon this 2013 paper on "Courtship, Mating, and Organisation of the Pronotum in Lucihormetica verrucosa." There is a slew of information and research on glowspot roaches that is presented in this paper, but the thing that most intrigued me is the structure of the "glowspots" that are present on the pronotum. Anyone who has kept this species knows that the spots do not bioluminesce in captivity, but there are still some anecdotes and theories floating around the internet of people who have managed to get the spots to glow in the dark. People say that feeding the roaches glowing mushrooms will work, and others recommend the addition of specific bacteria to stimulate bioluminescence is the real key to getting the glowspot cockroach to finally glow. However, when the pronotum was actually looked at under a microscope, no bioluminescent properties were found. The glowspot cockroach will never glow. It was however confirmed that different foods can change the color of the spots on the pronotum. The tissue underneath the spots is rich in carotenoids. This is why feeding the roaches carotenoid rich foods like carrots changes the color of the spots.

The paper: http://www.academia.edu/7243261/Cou...on_of_the_Pronotum_in_Lucihormetica_verrucosa

So much for calling them "glowspot cockroaches." This thread will also be accepting ideas for alternate common names for the species

 

[Hisserdude]

Well, this is just verrucosa, I believe people have gotten subcinta to glow.

 

[Tenodera]

I don't know about subcincta, but L. luckae (now likely extinct) was the one that has been confirmed to glow. I just always figured that some Lucihormetica bioluminesced and others didn't, but they all have the spots for mimicry/display purposes.