dark hissers

[Galapoheros]

I'm starting to get a wide range of light and dark Hissers in my tank.

 

[matthias]

I remember reading somewhere it depends on how much protein they had as babies and juveniles. More protein = darker. But it did not effect them once they were mature.

 

[Galapoheros]

They would make sense. Has this been proven or do you think somebody was speculating since they couldn't think of what else it might be? I do go back and forth with fruits and veggies and then cat food sometimes.

 

[Crysta]

the right one must be asking 'wheres my burger' while the other one looks at him in disgust, if that's the case. lol

 

[wraith]

Spontaneous mutation?

 

[J Morningstar]

Wow!
Really?! Are they always bigger than the typical ones in the tank? If it is a spontainous mutation I wonder ...do you keep them in almost complete darkness? I am courious if that gene would surface if they thought they wouldn't be seen as easily, like the moths during the industrial revoloution... Discuss?:}

 

[wraith]

I did a little research on this out of curiosity and discovered that in lab testing using Hissing Cockroaches decades ago a black subspecies was developed. Over time this species was bred back into the pet/feeder population which carried with it a recessive gene.

Another source said these were found in Madagascar amongst the other Hissers and were considered a subspecies but later were just considered a different color of Gromphadorhina portentosa. And the desire for the black roaches in the pet/feeder market led to their interbreeding, and again a recessive gene, that leads to black Hissers from time to time.

My guess is somewhere between these two things lies the truth. My thought is that these were in nature, then cultivated in a lab/breeder, and then interbred with the rest of the species over the last century.

A nice project would be to separate your black Gromphadorhina portentosa from your "normal" ones and see if you can selectively breed some Hissers that has black as a dominant color. I might do this myself if the opportunity ever crops up. That's the great thing about roaches. With their breeding, and our lifespan, you could theoretically breed a new species or subspecies with a lifetime of dedication. Evolution, it's a beautiful thing.

 

[ZephAmp]

A nice project would be to separate your black Gromphadorhina portentosa from your "normal" ones and see if you can selectively breed some Hissers that has black as a dominant color.

This was done with Gromphadorhina "grandidieri" to create a (mostly) black variety. I'm currently working on an all-black G. portentosa strain.

Strangely, this gene might be the result of hybridization; A culture of G. portentosa I saw at Purdue's entomology labs had drastically smaller individuals and more consistent coloration than our current strains. It's possible that two species of hisser were crossed in the past, then slowly but surely the genes spread into other cultures to create the "G. portentosa" we see today.

 

[Matt K]

Lots of wives tales and misunderstanding out there about roaches.....

The reverse of this is true: "This was done with Gromphadorhina "grandidieri" to create a (mostly) black variety." G. grandidieri are found as a black wild-type and G. portentosa carry a melanistic gene that can easily be isolated in breed stock to "create a (mostly) black variety". The difference between them is black grandidieri will never throw non-black offspring (or 1/2 of one percent) where as black portentosa will regularly birth offspring that are non-black and have to be culled from a colony to maintain the black.

 

[fangsalot]

Lots of wives tales and misunderstanding out there about roaches.....

The reverse of this is true: "This was done with Gromphadorhina "grandidieri" to create a (mostly) black variety." G. grandidieri are found as a black wild-type and G. portentosa carry a melanistic gene that can easily be isolated in breed stock to "create a (mostly) black variety". The difference between them is black grandidieri will never throw non-black offspring (or 1/2 of one percent) where as black portentosa will regularly birth offspring that are non-black and have to be culled from a colony to maintain the black.

was wondering when you were gonna pop in on the subject

 

[zonbonzovi]

I get a fairly wide gradation of colors in my colony from what was originally 2.2 "normal" parents. I was thinking of separating, but the growth rates have been pretty slow and I don't know if I necessarily need yet another enclosure to look after.