# My Blaberus species



## Vincent (Oct 23, 2008)

My favorite cockroach genus  :worship:  

*Species:* Blaberus atropus (Stoll, 1813)
*Origin:* Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana
*Size:* about 40 mm






*Species:* Blaberus boliviensis (Princis, 1946)
*Origin:* Bolivia 
*Size:* 40 – 50 mm






*Species:* Blaberus colosseus (Illiger, 1801) **
*Origin:* Ecuador 
*Size:* to 60 mm






*Species:* Blaberus craniifer (Burmeister, 1838)
*Origin:* Mexico, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, USA (Florida)
*Size:* 50 – 60 mm











*Species:* Blaberus craniifer „ Black Wing“ (Burmeister, 1838)
*Origin:* Mexico, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, USA (Florida)
*Size:* 50 – 60 mm











*Species:* Blaberus  discoidalis (Serville, 1839)
*Origin:* Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, ,Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, USA (Florida) 
*Size:* about  35 -  40 mm











*Species:* Blaberus giganteus (Linnaeus, 1758)
*Origin:* Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana
*Size:* to 80 mm











*Species:* Blaberus parabolicus (Walker, 1868)
*Origin:* Colombia, Suriname, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia
*Size:* about   40 - 50 mm







** I also have several subadults of Blaberus colosseus 'Peru Giant'. As soon as I have an adult I will post a picture


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## Rochelle (Oct 23, 2008)

Incredible! :clap: 
Let me know if you ever wanna sell or trade... I'm flush on the B.giganteous and the cranifer... but am VERY interested in the colossus.


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## Matt K (Oct 23, 2008)

...Since he is in the Netherlands, yoiu may have a problem importing those into the USA.


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## dtknow (Oct 23, 2008)

but all the above should be available here.


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## Rochelle (Oct 23, 2008)

Thanks  Matt... 
I appreciated the pm...and am Very interested! :clap:


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## Matt K (Oct 24, 2008)

Also, the picture above labeled B. craniifer is not correct.  B. craniifer only come with black wings.  It looks really like Blaberus fusca.  Additionally, the picture of B.crannifer does look to be a hybrid and not a pure strain craniifer.
Just to note this is a photo of one of my pure strain Blaberus craniifer:






Note the solid black wings without discoloration or translucency which comes from hybridization.


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## Vincent (Oct 25, 2008)

thanks all

@ Matt  Blaberus fusca is a synonym of Blaberus atropus. How do you know that B. craniifer only comes with black wings? I have heard from several people otherwise.


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 25, 2008)

Vincent said:


> thanks all
> 
> @ Matt  Blaberus fusca is a synonym of Blaberus atropus.


That's not possible since there's no such thing as B. atropus 
Check your spelling on that species name.

B. atropos is also a synonym of B. craniifer.

Even if you prefer to call your brown wing animals craniifer (which may or may not be) you have your ranges messed up. The 'black wing' isn't found in the same countries, maybe just FL. Lastly, your 'black wing's do look a little  bit odd for a pure culture.


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 25, 2008)

Vincent said:


> My favorite cockroach genus  :worship:
> 
> [*Species:* Blaberus parabolicus (Walker, 1868)
> *Origin:* Colombia, Suriname, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia
> *Size:* about   40 - 50 mm


Is that a male? Visual on Blaberus is not the most reliable identification tool but that looks a bit different from the _B. parabolicus _I've seen from Peru. Maybe it's just a bad photo.


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## Matt K (Oct 25, 2008)

Elytra and Antenna said:


> Is that a male? Visual on Blaberus is not the most reliable identification tool but that looks a bit different from the _B. parabolicus _I've seen from Peru. Maybe it's just a bad photo.


Thanks for chiming in Elytra and Antenna!  I was hoping you would provide input and correction to this thread.

Here is a pic from one of mine, which are _supposedly_ originating from Peru":


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 25, 2008)

By "bad" photo I meant unrepresentative. The dark spot on the pronotum appears too small for that species and the wing to body ratio appears too high.


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## Matt K (Oct 25, 2008)

Elytra and Antenna said:


> By "bad" photo I meant unrepresentative. The dark spot on the pronotum appears too small for that species and the wing to body ratio appears too high.



Did you mean on the photo posted by Vincent ??  If so I would agree.  Compared to the ones I have, body/wing proportions are quite different, and the pronotum is obviously very different.


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## Vincent (Oct 25, 2008)

Elytra and Antenna said:


> That's not possible since there's no such thing as B. atropus
> Check your spelling on that species name.
> 
> B. atropos is also a synonym of B. craniifer.
> ...


You're right, I spelled B. atropos wrong (although it has been called B. atropus also in the past) but the statement remains the same. B. fusca is B. atropos.

I don't know if my black wings are pure or not. 



Elytra and Antenna said:


> Is that a male? Visual on Blaberus is not the most reliable identification tool but that looks a bit different from the _B. parabolicus _I've seen from Peru. Maybe it's just a bad photo.


If it is not B. parabolicus what else could it be. I know it's impossible to tell from a picture but I will appreciate a guess.



Matt K said:


> Thanks for chiming in Elytra and Antenna!  I was hoping you would provide input and correction to this thread.
> 
> Here is a pic from one of mine, which are _supposedly_ originating from Peru":


it indeed seems different from mine

One last question. Is there any documentation on how to ID Blaberus species and if so where can I find it as I'd like to learn more.


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 25, 2008)

Vincent said:


> You're right, I spelled B. atropos wrong (although it has been called B. atropus also in the past)


No, it hasn't. 
That's just a spelling error.



Vincent said:


> but the statement remains the same. B. fusca is B. atropos.


Sure, but B. atropos is also B.craniifer if you're going by synonyms. At the same time, however, B.atropos is not B. fusca and B. craniifer is not B. fusca.



Vincent said:


> If it is not B. parabolicus what else could it be. I know it's impossible to tell from a picture but I will appreciate a guess.
> 
> One last question. Is there any documentation on how to ID Blaberus species and if so where can I find it as I'd like to learn more.


 Your "B. parabolicus" looks like B. discoidalis or possibly B. atropos (not a synonym). 
I think you can find a PDF online with photographs of the male genitalia of many of the Blaberus species, keywords: Blaberus, Luis M. Roth, Psyche, 1970


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 25, 2008)

Matt K said:


> Here is a pic from one of mine, which are _supposedly_ originating from Peru":


 Unless you got them from an 'unknown' source they are from Peru.


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## BestRoach (Oct 26, 2008)

I would love to have a pure strain of Caniifer, but alas I have no more room. Once I get out of this blasted Southern California Residence, I will be contacting several of you to expand my collection.


*slightly off topic*
Are there any synonyms for B. Boliviensis? I have had several people refer to a B. Bolivenus, and it was my understanding that they were indeed the same roach...perhaps I have been mistaken.


Cheers!


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## Matt K (Oct 27, 2008)

... "B. Bolivenus" is a misspelling of the correctly spelled "B. Boliviensis".


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 27, 2008)

BestRoach said:


> Are there any synonyms for B. Boliviensis? I have had several people refer to a B. Bolivenus, and it was my understanding that they were indeed the same roach...perhaps I have been mistaken.


Yep, just a bad spelling. 
A synonym can mean different things but when it's related to scientific names it refers to use in a taxonomic work. Commonly it refers to a taxonomist accidentally re-describing an already named species (such as Gyna henrardi was first described as G. bisannulata) but it can also be when a taxonomist changes the genus and accidentally spells the species name wrong (Diapheromera denticrus = Megaphasma dentricus = Megaphasma denticrus) or describes the wrong species as a different species.


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