# A few cockroaches



## Vfox (Nov 27, 2010)

I was playing around with my wifes camera again. 

Naupheta cinerea











Panchlora nivea 






Blatta lateralis female





male


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## madamoisele (Nov 27, 2010)

I am beyond grossed out.  How can you bear to touch them?


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## Vfox (Nov 27, 2010)

I've always loved insects. These guys are not even a tiny bit gross to me. I keep ten different species and handle all of them fairly regularly during cage cleaning and feeding. I find them quite beautiful in their own right.


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## Bugs In Cyberspace (Nov 28, 2010)

One of the best shots I've ever seen of the lobster's pronotum--nice photos!


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## Elytra and Antenna (Nov 28, 2010)

madamoisele said:


> I am beyond grossed out.  How can you bear to touch them?


 You should not post cruel comments on other people's work. How old are you?


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## robd (Nov 28, 2010)

Yeah seriously. Just because it's got the name cockroach does not mean it is a disease carrying pest. To each their own. Dude didn't put it in your face and ask you to hold it, he just showed off some detailed pics.

On that note thanks for sharing, Vfox. How did the lobster roach get that name?


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## Vfox (Nov 28, 2010)

Thanks guys I appreciate the comments. Doesn't the lobster roaches pronotum look like a hooded man sitting in the lotus pose btw? Lol. As for how they got that name...no clue. I would assume it's something to do with them being a known ship pest in the carribean...or maybe they are colored like spiny lobsters? Not sure, just speculating.


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## Matt K (Nov 28, 2010)

Nice photos.  I'd never noticed Buddha on the pronotum of a roach before.... maybe that means something!


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## Roski (Nov 28, 2010)

Great shots! The color of that lateralis female is just beautiful. 

And RE the lobster roach pronotum: I see a lamp. (jk )


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## 5HiddenLizards (Nov 28, 2010)

Great photos! I am not a fan of roaches, but I DO photograph my lateralis & dubia colonies often. They are fascinating to watch.


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## KnightinGale (Nov 29, 2010)

Yes, I saw the hooded man when I looked at that picture too. Kinda looks like he's wearing shades.  Pretty colours on some of those.


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## zonbonzovi (Nov 29, 2010)

I see a Rorschach Unabomber in photo #2.  How do those get those nanner roaches to stay on your fingers?  Mine always take flight the moment freedom allows.


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## TheBugBarn (Nov 29, 2010)

madamoisele said:


> I am beyond grossed out.  How can you bear to touch them?


This is the arachnoboards. If you own a T or are thinking about it, please understand this. Any of those roaches would make an awesome meal for your spider. Compared to crickets, they are a steak dinner. And, you can cut your T feeding bill in half. Then use that money to buy more spiders
....and what Orin said.
Those are some really nice pics. How do you get them to stay still that long? I never post pics because mine are always blurry.


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## Vfox (Nov 29, 2010)

Well it takes a while of manipulating my hand to firstly keep them on top. Secondly it's luck of the draw for when they stop moving. I use a Nikon P90 that my wife has and I use its built in flash. It has a decent macro setting but the focal range is pretty low. 

My wife helps me take the shots from time to time. The lobster roach and banana roach pics above were shot by her while I held them. It's a lot easier with a second person, controlling a fast moving roach AND taking it's photo can be a bit difficult lol.


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## ZephAmp (Nov 29, 2010)

Beautiful.
Love the lobster roach pronotum; apparently they get their name from the marking, which is supposed to look like a lobster.


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## Vfox (Dec 1, 2010)

Yay, one of my Schultesia lampyridiformis finally molted into adulthood! I changed their enclosure from deli-cup to small sterilite container and found my first adult rummaging about in the coco fiber.  

I also move my Panchlora nivea into the same type of enclosure from the small one they had and found out I have 4 adults! I thought I only had two lol. Also a good thing.


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## crixalis (Dec 3, 2010)

i love those shots, and i love cockroaches too!!
kudos :clap::clap:


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## bluefrogtat2 (Dec 3, 2010)

great shots,i have a hard time getting them to pose as well,having someone else shoot is a great idea....lol
great shot of Schultesia lampyridiformis ,they are on the top of my current want-list,i love finding hidden adults you didnt know you had,i had given up on my therea culture,hadnt seen any in forever,and when i was feeding the other day found an adult..very nice find,now i want a bunch more
andy


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Dec 5, 2010)

How do those Panchlora nivea produce? I would love to get some new species of roaches other than the Dubia I got accidentally...but I'm limited to the few legal species. Buying roaches in Florida sucks. I doubt half the species on the market can infest Central Florida longer than a few weeks. It's already freezing.


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## Vfox (Dec 5, 2010)

1Lord Of Ants1 said:


> How do those Panchlora nivea produce? I would love to get some new species of roaches other than the Dubia I got accidentally...but I'm limited to the few legal species. Buying roaches in Florida sucks. I doubt half the species on the market can infest Central Florida longer than a few weeks. It's already freezing.


Well my colony of Panchlora nivea is not established yet but they seem to thrive in warm damp conditions. I got a small culture from Zephyr/ZephAmp a while ago, the adults just recently molted out so I'm hoping to see many more soon.

Because these are native to Florida you should be able to find them in the wild during the spring. If not, I'm unsure of he grey areas that Florida laws encompass...it seems only Hissers are really prohibited by any specific legislation. Native species may not be an issue since they are already established.


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## Alireza (Dec 5, 2010)

I really do like coackroaches and may get some of them to have as pets in future


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Dec 5, 2010)

Vfox said:


> Well my colony of Panchlora nivea is not established yet but they seem to thrive in warm damp conditions. I got a small culture from Zephyr/ZephAmp a while ago, the adults just recently molted out so I'm hoping to see many more soon.
> 
> Because these are native to Florida you should be able to find them in the wild during the spring. If not, I'm unsure of he grey areas that Florida laws encompass...it seems only Hissers are really prohibited by any specific legislation. Native species may not be an issue since they are already established.


I've never recalled seeing any of these, nor or much of a variety of roaches where I live. The Panchlora have always been native - I believe Blaberus discoidalis and the giant cave roach are the 2 introduced species. Now established, they are legal. Dispite that I've still had people turn me down just because I'm in Florida, which doesn't make since at all for discoids. Crickets suck and will always suck. 

On another note, how many of the Panchlora do you have? How is their growth rate?


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## ZephAmp (Dec 5, 2010)

Just thought I'd chime in... 
_Panchlora_ grow and reproduce incredibly fast. Assuming the smaller _P. nivea_ reproduces faster than the larger _Panchlora sp. "Giant"_... I have a _P. sp. "Giant" _colony that had babies crawling around in it only a month after the adults matured. I'd assume _P. nivea_ females can pop out babies every 3 weeks. 
The nymphs grow extremely fast; you can go from little pinhead sized babies to plump 1/3" nymphs in no time. They're an excellent species to have around.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Dec 5, 2010)

ZephAmp said:


> Just thought I'd chime in...
> _Panchlora_ grow and reproduce incredibly fast. Assuming the smaller _P. nivea_ reproduces faster than the larger _Panchlora sp. "Giant"_... I have a _P. sp. "Giant" _colony that had babies crawling around in it only a month after the adults matured. I'd assume _P. nivea_ females can pop out babies every 3 weeks.
> The nymphs grow extremely fast; you can go from little pinhead sized babies to plump 1/3" nymphs in no time. They're an excellent species to have around.


Neat. They seem like a great feeder as well as a pet, the adults are good lookers. At the lowest amount...how many would one need to start a small colony in a couple months?


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## Vfox (Dec 5, 2010)

ZephAmp said:


> Just thought I'd chime in...
> _Panchlora_ grow and reproduce incredibly fast. Assuming the smaller _P. nivea_ reproduces faster than the larger _Panchlora sp. "Giant"_... I have a _P. sp. "Giant" _colony that had babies crawling around in it only a month after the adults matured. I'd assume _P. nivea_ females can pop out babies every 3 weeks.
> The nymphs grow extremely fast; you can go from little pinhead sized babies to plump 1/3" nymphs in no time. They're an excellent species to have around.


You need to keep me posted for when you want to sell some of those giant morphs. 

I'm not sure how well mine are reproducing so far, they stay buried most of the time. From what I can tell though they are doing okay...about as fast as my low heat dubias.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Dec 5, 2010)

The Panchlora are tempting me....anyone have them for sale for a good price?


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## Vfox (Dec 6, 2010)

Some more to the fray. I just picked the orange heads and death heads up at this past Saturdays' show in Hamburg, PA. 

Eublaberus procticus






Blaberus craniifer


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## Israel2004 (Dec 6, 2010)

They're all so pretty. Big problem I had when I kept Eublaberus procticus was wing chewing. No matter what I fed them could I get them to stop wing chewing


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## boonbear (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm definitely jealous of your Panchlora nivea.

And ease up on Madamousele everybody.  It wasn't the most eloquent response, but it is her opinion.  Let's not run someone off from the board.

Awesome death's heads also Vfox.


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## Vfox (Dec 6, 2010)

Thanks guys. The E.procticus are terrible wing biters but the females in my small group don't have bitten wings as bad as the males. These are new to me so I'm not certain of that's normal.


As for the P.nivea, they are so small but I love those little critters. The death heads are just so cool, you just gatta own some if you're into roaches.


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## Dravensmom (Dec 9, 2010)

The Panchlora nivea is very pretty.  How big do they get?


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## Vfox (Dec 9, 2010)

Dravensmom said:


> The Panchlora nivea is very pretty.  How big do they get?


Sadly only about an inch. There is a giant morph though and I will be getting a starter colony this spring hopefully...they are said to be almost twice as big.


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## Dravensmom (Dec 9, 2010)

Cool  Good luck with getting that colony in the spring.


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