# Roach ID?



## Galapoheros (Feb 15, 2009)

I found a strange roach here in central tx.  It was under a rock, a burrower.  I tried pretty hard to find another one but no luck.  Anybody know the species name?


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## Matt K (Feb 15, 2009)

It appears to be a mature female; a member genus of the family Polyphaginae; possibly a specie of Arenivaga.  The spines indicate to me that it is not Eremoblatta sp. which is more common in your area.

Without closer details it is hard to say what Arenivaga sp. it may be, though there are 2 that have been found in Texas..... it does not look like A. floridana which is the most common Arenivaga sp.  You could be testing us by showing a photo of A. formosana which comes from Taiwan, but I dont think it is because it would be a little large for a female of that specie 
Common name for this photo is 'female Sand Cockroach'.

Anyone else????


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## LeilaNami (Feb 15, 2009)

cute little fatty isn't she


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## a1_collection (Feb 15, 2009)

That looks incredibly similar to my Discoids but not sure as I am not looking at it taxonomically.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks everybody.  Yeah LeilaNami she's a cool little fatty.  I've hunted around for several years and I don't see these often so I'm guessing they aren't very common, sure was hard to see though.  I bet I've passed many up.  So what are the odds of getting babies?  Do they mate once and keep having babies?  I'd kind of like to see babies from this roach.  Dead leaves, is that the diet?  I found her on a scrubby oak covered forest floor, a lot of dead leaves and rocks.  Live birth, ...ootheca?

Oh, haha, I know Matt, some people do stuff like that but it's not like me to do something like that.  This one really came from central tx, ...Georgetown.


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## Matt K (Feb 16, 2009)

Galapoheros said:


> So what are the odds of getting babies?  Do they mate once and keep having babies?  Dead leaves, is that the diet? Live birth, ...ootheca?



1. 50/50
2. Yes, but for a limtied amount of time, then they must mate again. So it depends how recently and if she has bred with a male.
3. Decaying leaves, some dead leaves, and a little additional fresh matter that you can replace with carrots, hard squash, and pellet fish food. *Note: they eat VERY little, so dont look for much food to dissapear.
4. Ootheca, which generally take 5-10 months to hatch. Maybe 4 months in great conditions.  I have heard of Polyphagid ootheca going over one year before hatching.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 17, 2009)

Thanks Matt!  Man that's some great info.  I guess I'll check on her once a month .


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## Galapoheros (Jul 3, 2009)

I'm not a big roach fan but decided to put her in a little container.  I just looked in there and there are babies.  Why am I thinking these live several years:? ?  Does anybody know how long they can live?


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## Matt K (Jul 3, 2009)

About 3 years is the maximum.  This one in particular probably half of that as many of the 'sand roach' polyphagids tend to have a faster/shorter lifespan that some of the others.


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## Galapoheros (May 26, 2010)

Update on these roach babies, they're getting bigger but taking a while.  These aren't easy for me to find so I decided I'm going to breed them, still have some growing to do.


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## Crysta (May 26, 2010)

awesome looking roaches!! hehe well i guess you could wih for 1 male and the rest females ahha xP 
Is the mother still alive?


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## Galapoheros (May 26, 2010)

Mom kicked it  I guess I was lucky to get her with one last ootheca.  I still don't know if the species has been nailed down yetconfused.  Diddly!, I should've sent the dead female to somebody, I just didn't think about it.  Her lights went out last year, I think around September.  So when these start laying ootheca, will other roaches leave the ootheca alone in the container?


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## Crysta (May 26, 2010)

yep they should just like lateralis i think....or live birth? but i never had any experience with your species above. sad to hear she passed!  ! would of been nice to know what it is though.


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## ZephAmp (May 26, 2010)

Other roaches will leave most oothecae alone if they're considerably well-fed; I've never had problems with Polyphagids snacking on their own ooths, so in the future you should be safe. :3


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## Galapoheros (May 27, 2010)

OK, that's good news.  I read that Arenivaga erratica is in the town where I found the roach, so that could be it.  I just can't find of pic of one labeled Arenivaga erratica on the internet.  The females are pretty hard to see unless they move.


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## ZephAmp (May 27, 2010)

I have a picture taken from Purdue's cockroach collection, but it's only of the males. D:


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## Galapoheros (May 30, 2010)

Hey I found a male on my porch the other night:


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## koolkid98 (May 30, 2010)

Cool too bad you don't have your female.


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## ZephAmp (May 31, 2010)

That adult male looks more like A. bolliana or A. apacha to me.


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## cacoseraph (Jun 4, 2010)

i can find a similar species by sifting sand under rocks in some areas by me.  sweet little roaches


i believe they have a mechanism to extract moisture from the air.  



i have a few little ones kicking around


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## Galapoheros (Sep 6, 2010)

These are from the female I found at the beginning of the thread.  I'm going to try and get the numbers up, I think these are loners though, should I not try and keep many together?


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## ZephAmp (Sep 6, 2010)

You're so lucky. Those are beautiful roaches! 

You can keep them together; I personally keep all my polyphagids together and they do fine.
I've found that vermiculite as the main component of the substrate is a godsend; it holds in just enough moisture while staying just dry enough.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if the females are about the size of a quarter those are _Arenivaga bolliana_.


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## cacoseraph (Sep 6, 2010)

that's awesome man!

i find immatures under the same rocks in sand... but just little tiny nymphs.

i'm actually about to trade the 4-6 i have for some masked assassin bug nymphs =P


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## Vulgaris (Sep 6, 2010)

They are very cool looking. They look so primitive, like something that you would see right after the dinosaurs


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## Crysta (Sep 6, 2010)

wouldnt they be there with the dinosaurs just... x20 the size? lol


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## Galapoheros (Sep 6, 2010)

ZephAmp said:


> You're so lucky. Those are beautiful roaches!
> 
> You can keep them together; I personally keep all my polyphagids together and they do fine.
> I've found that vermiculite as the main component of the substrate is a godsend; it holds in just enough moisture while staying just dry enough.
> ...



Hey ZephAmp, they are kind of interesting, and if I had enough, the males would make great feeders now and then.  Not too often though since they don't grow fast.  So what have you(or anybody else) found to be the best substrate to use, what's a good depth to have?  What kind of container are you keeping them in.  I was about to move them to a 2 gal terr since I don't have very many yet, thanks.


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## ZephAmp (Sep 6, 2010)

Galapoheros said:


> Hey ZephAmp, they are kind of interesting, and if I had enough, the males would make great feeders now and then.  Not too often though since they don't grow fast.  So what have you(or anybody else) found to be the best substrate to use, what's a good depth to have?  What kind of container are you keeping them in.  I was about to move them to a 2 gal terr since I don't have very many yet, thanks.


Vermiculite is a godsend with polyphagids; Mix it 50/50 with coconut fiber and squeeze it until no water falls out. Add some crushed, dried, dead, hardwood leaves, and a few pieces of rotten wood fragments, and you have a perfect substrate. Add water to the bottom of one side of the enclosure once a week; misting works best so you can mist just until the water pools up a little. Mist barely on the other side. This gives them a humidity gradient, and I've found it works wondrously. I always recommend a minimum of 2 inches of substrate with Polyphagids, since their primary occupation is burrowing.  I keep mine in any container I have; everything from a 16 quart sterilite bin for my larger colonies to an 8 oz deli cup for starting colonies.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 6, 2010)

Cool thanks!  I raised these in a 6.5 dia X 1.5 deli, so I had a top on, need it more airy I think.  OK great info, time to do it.


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## Matt K (Sep 6, 2010)

I can mail you a small box of substrate if you want some and see what good composition looks like in hand from my polyphagids if you want.  PM me for it with an address.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks for the offer Matt, what do y'all think of this though, I set it up, I'll get vermiculite later.  I used some sand I took from a river bed and coco fiber, leaves, wood.  I got the rotting wood off my house in the background there, lol, jk, I need to get that fixed.  The set up look OK?


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## ZephAmp (Sep 6, 2010)

Galapoheros said:


> Thanks for the offer Matt, what do y'all think of this though, I set it up, I'll get vermiculite later.  I used some sand I took from a river bed and coco fiber, leaves, wood.  I got the rotting wood off my house in the background there, lol, jk, I need to get that fixed.  The set up look OK?


Looks great! Maybe a wee bit more substrate, but you said you're getting vermiculite later, so it'll be good.


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## ZephAmp (Sep 6, 2010)

Here's a slideshow of my colony's weekly maintenance (minus giving food):

http://img821.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=sdc13629r.jpg

1. Pull back substrate on "wet" side.
2. Mist until water pools up a bit.
3. Push substrate back over "wet" side.
4. Pull back substrate on "dry" side. 
5. Mist. VERY lightly.
6. Push substrate back over "dry" side.
7. Even out and mist the surface.

I've used this setup and these methods for 3 years with no problems.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 6, 2010)

okeedokeee, I'll go ahead and add a little more.  I was trying to decide whether to try and get these going or not a while back.  They are kind of hard to find and some roach people would like to have them, maybe good feeders now and then too so why not.


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## bluefrogtat2 (Sep 7, 2010)

i agree with A. bolliana,i had a colony of these a few years ago,they were not real easy to keep alive unfortunately.good luck they appear to be doing great
andy


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## Galapoheros (Oct 2, 2010)

I didn't see the "slide show" last time, must have missed it.  I thought I had some mature females earlier but I saw that one molted to adult(on the left) so some time to go.  I'll be happy to get 2 ooths from these.  Many males compared to females is that a normal trend with these?


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## P.jasonius (Oct 2, 2010)

That's a good-lookin roach colony ya got there!


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## ZephAmp (Oct 2, 2010)

Galapoheros said:


> I didn't see the "slide show" last time, must have missed it.  I thought I had some mature females earlier but I saw that one molted to adult(on the left) so some time to go.  I'll be happy to get 2 ooths from these.  Many males compared to females is that a normal trend with these?


Males are the active sex with flight abilities; In the wild, they must fly to find a female to fulfill their purpose and procreate. Females, especially in a desert or dry environment, are meant to sit, eat, wait, and make babies. Since "sperm is cheap and eggs are expensive" it makes sense that the sex ratio would have some genetic inclination to being mostly male; females must put their energy into self-maintenance and egg production whereas the males don't have to worry so much about either and must simply mate. More males = more fertilized females = more babies = more roaches (yay lol.)


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## insect714 (Oct 2, 2010)

ZephAmp said:


> More males = more fertilized females = more babies = more roaches (yay lol.)



Sounds like an Algebra formula....


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## Galapoheros (Oct 3, 2010)

lol, "more roaches, yay". ..that was my thinking.  I guess these only need to mate once?  I think I saw two ooths from the original female I had.  I was thinking about the "flight"thing with males in some roach species.  Would gene distribution be another big reason for one being able to fly?  I was thinking since one sex is earth bound, flight doesn't help range distribution much(?)


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## ZephAmp (Oct 3, 2010)

Galapoheros said:


> lol, "more roaches, yay". ..that was my thinking.  I guess these only need to mate once?  I think I saw two ooths from the original female I had.  I was thinking about the "flight"thing with males in some roach species.  Would gene distribution be another big reason for one being able to fly?  I was thinking since one sex is earth bound, flight doesn't help range distribution much(?)


I recall hearing somewhere that inbreeding in fact "strengthens" insects' genetic; it has something to do with how they share chromosomes or something like that, so I don't think it has to do with increasing genetic variety or spreading genes. Who knows though? It would make a good study.


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## kylestl (Oct 6, 2010)

Scroll down this site says formosan sand roach from Taiwan? http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Roaches/


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## ZephAmp (Oct 6, 2010)

kylestl said:


> Scroll down this site says formosan sand roach from Taiwan? http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Roaches/


Wrong country... And the species listed on there may in fact be from mainland China.


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## kylestl (Oct 7, 2010)

ZephAmp said:


> Wrong country... And the species listed on there may in fact be from mainland China.


I know, I just saw that when I was reading about roaches. Thought it was interesting


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## Galapoheros (Nov 2, 2010)

Finally, an ootheca from one of these, there could be more planted in the terr but I'm not going to dig around too much.  I still don't have enough to let any go, I need to reach the point where I don't have to worry about not having enough to keep a population going, not many eggs in the ooths.  btw, I know some roaches carry the ootheca, but in this particular case, it looks stuck to me, is it stuck?  My hunch is that these don't carry the ootheca, or do they?


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## ZephAmp (Nov 2, 2010)

She'll drop it eventually. I see my other Polyphagids carrying their ooths around often too; I suppose they're just waiting for them to harden fully or to be fully formed to ensure that when they place them somewhere they'll be in good condition.
You'll be surprised just how many babies a few females can make.


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## Galapoheros (Nov 2, 2010)

Well I'll be happy to see a lot more running around ...I mean, digging, then I can mail some to a few people.  So is anybody pretty sure/confident of the species?  I see shots at it but what is it, "probably"?


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## Galapoheros (Feb 1, 2011)

I was happy to find more ooths, takes a while for them to hatch out but I keep it kind of seasonal in that room, these are native.


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## J Morningstar (Feb 2, 2011)

So dessert, dwellers leace the case in the ground to hatch? That's cool. How long will those take to "hatch", and any idea how many per case??


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## Galapoheros (Sep 1, 2012)

Hey sorry, I didn't go back to this thread, I think there are around 8 to 10 average in each ooth, I've seen really small one though, maybe 4 in those.  Still have them going, I'll check and post pics later.


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