FL Man arrested for smuggling roaches

[lampeye]

Odd, all the comments about not being able to find certain roaches in FL. I spent a few days in the St. Pete/Tampa area years ago and I remember finding all kinds of goodies, including large numbers of terrestrial roaches (if my memory serves me correctly, they were probably discoids) and glass lizards just looking under junk in alleys in suburban neighborhoods. This was in an usually warm January, so I suspect a collecting trip for starter roaches might be better in cooler weather: high temps might chase terrestrial roaches deeper underground.

It goes without saying that American roaches were EV. ERY. WHERE. Being from the north, it was jarring when I took my first walk at night, and the penny dropped - most of those "leaves" on the sidewalk...were moving out of my way.

 

[gmrpnk21]

I wish I could find some dang discoidalis for sale in Florida. I want to start a colony because it appears that they are the only legal feeder roaches to breed down here. Is there anyone on the forum that can help me with starting a colony? The one seller I found that has some said he doesn't have the permit to ship to Florida, so I think finding someone with a colony here would be helpful.

 

[gmrpnk21]

They are legal to keep in Florida right?

 

[Violet]

I've been here 15 years and the only one I see around here is Periplaneta americana.

What's wrong with P. americana? :?

 

[gmrpnk21]

So I've been talking to someone at the Florida Deartment of Agriculture over the last few days to find out the real deal with shipping LEGAL feeders to Florida, and this is what I have learned. The guy that was arrested for dubias had a permit for most of the insects he was shipping in. However, HE WROTE IN THE DUBIAS and convinced the seller in California that it was legal to ship them to him because he did indeed have a permit. He forged a legal document and lied to the shipper, and got nailed for it. You can ship any LEGAL species to Florida you want. All that you need to do is fill out the application, send a male and female of each species preserved in 70% alcohol, and pay $12.50 per species (maximum of $62.50 per permit, but the permit may include more). One guy falsifying a document and ordering an illegal species caused all the sellers to PANIC and stop shipping all roaches (legal or not) to Florida. All that was required was a little research and talking to an actual person. If you would like to call them yourself, here is a link for that particular department.http://www.freshfromflorida.com/onestop/plt/entnempath.html

Please feel free to call Dr. Greg Hodges, or the other nematologist G.B. if you doubt my information or would like to get a permit.

 

[H. laoticus]

So I've been talking to someone at the Florida Deartment of Agriculture over the last few days to find out the real deal with shipping LEGAL feeders to Florida, and this is what I have learned. The guy that was arrested for dubias had a permit for most of the insects he was shipping in. However, HE WROTE IN THE DUBIAS and convinced the seller in California that it was legal to ship them to him because he did indeed have a permit. He forged a legal document and lied to the shipper, and got nailed for it. You can ship any LEGAL species to Florida you want. All that you need to do is fill out the application, send a male and female of each species preserved in 70% alcohol, and pay $12.50 per species (maximum of $62.50 per permit, but the permit may include more). One guy falsifying a document and ordering an illegal species caused all the sellers to PANIC and stop shipping all roaches (legal or not) to Florida. All that was required was a little research and talking to an actual person. If you would like to call them yourself, here is a link for that particular department.http://www.freshfromflorida.com/onestop/plt/entnempath.html

Please feel free to call Dr. Greg Hodges, or the other nematologist G.B. if you doubt my information or would like to get a permit.

Nice work!

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

They practically have a roach buffet down there.
Blaberus discoidalis. Blaberus craniifer. Blaberus giganteus.
Panchlora nivea. Blatta orientalis. Periplaneta australasiae. Periplaneta americana. Periplaneta fuliginosa. Pycnoscelus surinamensis.

Plenty of tasty ones to choose from.

*And the list goes on! Hemiblabera tenebricosa, Eurycotis floridana, Periplaneta brunnea. Good lord.

Other than surinams, I have never found any of the other species of roaches that would be serve as a suitable feeder for me. The surinams keep dying on me too for some unknown reason! It may just be where I live, but I've honestly found more interesting insects in a week in North Carolina than I have here, despite all the hours I've spent hunting. Though I can certainly believe those species exist here, the trick is finding one. I'd consider my self extremely lucky finding just on P. nivea!

 

[cacoseraph]

Florida is already hopelessly dominated by aggressive non-native species, there's absolutely NOTHING dubia roaches could possibly do to the ecology. Hell, there's already 60 or 70 types of roach living here and no evidence they've caused any harm.

Even as an environmentalist I have to disagree with the strictness of these laws, it seems like no research goes into them.

so... what? just give up? now even stricter laws are in place. i helped pay for the everglades, i want to see them one day. not covered in boas, giant snails, cuban anoles, and dubia roaches

There's also the question of whether roach parasites will live in non-native Theraphosidae...lots of parasites are very host specific, and some aren't specific. In fact, there are parasites in every Tenebrio colony...single celled organisms which live in the reproductive tract. They don't seem to cause a lot of problems.

Although, if parasites are such a big concern after a few dozen generations it kind of makes me wonder how these relatively safe Blaptica/Blaberus/Tenebrio, etc. colonies got started in the first place.

The fears over pesticides and parasites are overblown from what I know of the subject. If you isolate some newly hatched nymphs soon after they're born and before they have a chance to feed on the corpse of an adult it shouldn't be a problem.

there are lots of parasites that can hop orders. there are even more pathogens that can do it. most parasites and pathogens don't kill their hosts, just make them less fit.






you need a federal permit to ship roaches across state lines. lack one and still ship.... you just broke the law. how many ppl knew that before this thread?

 

[Venari]

you need a federal permit to ship roaches across state lines. lack one and still ship.... you just broke the law. how many ppl knew that before this thread?

Does this apply to the recipient, or the seller?

 

[gmrpnk21]

The seller needs one, but both parties get in trouble if there isn't one.

Does this apply to the recipient, or the seller?

 

[Digby Rigby]

Shipping Roaches to Florida

I live in California and as people know my associates ad i have been invloved wit selling roaches fr years. There are certain roaches that we have shipped to FLorida that have been legal. Pretty much any native or adventive species and male hissers can be shipped to Florida. Male hissers only not female. The people in California who shipped knew it was illegal to do so as did Derek Rader. In fact a while ago he inquired about us shipping and was told no. This was several years ago. I can say the people who shipped knew it was unlawful as Did Derek Rader who willingly and knowingly falsified paperwork because such was not legally obtainable by him.

Roaches we have sold to Florida include Panchlora nivea, Blaberus disoidales, Blaberus craniifer. We have not sold the giant panchlora to Florida because it is a different speces even though we arent sure what one it is.

As the nations leading supplier of bulk lots of dubia we have gotten requests from Florida for them but have not done so. There are ways to take short cuts and cut corners however smuggling is not one of them. its like people who dont have auto insurance. They can go 10-30 years without it but the first time something happens will cost them more than all the money they saved by not having it all those years

 

[Luis]

so... what? just give up? now even stricter laws are in place. i helped pay for the everglades, i want to see them one day. not covered in boas, giant snails, cuban anoles, and dubia roaches


there are lots of parasites that can hop orders. there are even more pathogens that can do it. most parasites and pathogens don't kill their hosts, just make them less fit.






you need a federal permit to ship roaches across state lines. lack one and still ship.... you just broke the law. how many ppl knew that before this thread?

The threat to the Glades here is NOT non natives it is the bulldozer ,cement mixer and pollution run off esp from sugar cane plantations.

Non natives roaches esp wind up as food .

 

[khil]

so... what? just give up? now even stricter laws are in place. i helped pay for the everglades, i want to see them one day. not covered in feral cats, wild boars, and bulldozers.

fixed .

 

[SandDeku]

fixed .

but I like the piggies. D;
anywho on to a more serious matter. No offense to anyone who may read my post.... But... This whole thing sorta make me laughed badly... Not trying to be an ass. But seriously arrested for some roaches? I can't imagine that there aren't other more important subjects to get to. Like say drug dealers, thiefs, etc.

Lol. I just think it's bs. But I don't think it was good of him to fake it. I agree its hard to find native insects that will make suitable breeders.

You guys fail to realize that okay say I live in new jersey. You know that pine barrens tree frogs are native to nj? DO you also know that there are roaches native to nj(obviously) asides the common american roach?

Do you also know that there are many different types of fish in nj? But am I going to find these in my yard? Heck no. A yard is a yard. Most roaches live away from homes exception of the "pest" species. Or so I been told. Anywho that's my two cents.

 

[xhexdx]

He got arrested for forging permits, creating false documents, that kind of thing.

Luis and khil, your posts are a couple of the most ignorant I've read here lately.

 

[baboonfan]

I'm not trying to make excuses for this guy, but to everyone who is essentially saying 'he deserved it for breaking the law'...

...how many of you have shipped USPS?

You're all hypocrites. You do know it's a felony to ship tarantulas through USPS, right?

To all of you saying he should just catch and breed the zillions of roach species that are in Florida?

How many of you have Periplaneta americana in your state?

You're all hypocrites too.



Yep, and they're all literally in my backyard, right?

I've been here 15 years and the only one I see around here is Periplaneta americana. None of the Blaberus species are 'in my backyard', nor are Panchlora nivea. If they were, you bet I'd not only have colonies of these, but I'd be selling them like crazy.

I'm not saying this guy doesn't 'deserve' to get in trouble, but you guys are making it out like you're all saints and that all us lucky Floridians should just run outside and catch the roaches that are all waiting anxiously to jump into our bins.

For once I agree with your post in whole. This poor guy probably didnt know his roaches were illegal, the shipper probably didnt either. Catching roaches outside in a state like Florida has its risks. How many chemicals has the the collected specimen crawled through during its lifetime?

I dont look down on this guy at all. It doesnt sound to me like he intended harm.

---------- Post added at 03:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

He got arrested for forging permits, creating false documents, that kind of thing.

Luis and khil, your posts are a couple of the most ignorant I've read here lately.

Oh, I didnt read the whole article. I have heard of other people getting in trouble for recieving roaches in the past and assumed he was one of those. If he knew he was breaking the law he just might deserve a punishment.

 

[SandDeku]

He got arrested for forging permits, creating false documents, that kind of thing.

Luis and khil, your posts are a couple of the most ignorant I've read here lately.

I know. That's what I don't feel "bad" about. I just feel bad that he got arrested for trying to buy and sell roaches. lol.

 

[khil]

He got arrested for forging permits, creating false documents, that kind of thing.

Luis and khil, your posts are a couple of the most ignorant I've read here lately.

Oh you are so righteous! And sure, burmese pythons and cockroaches are way more devastating to Florida's ecosystems than are the feral cats and pigs (and let's not forget tropical deforestation).

 

[xhexdx]

Hmm...I didn't hear anyone compare one to another, or say one was more devastating than another.

Again, you're completely missing it, but that's ok.

 

[SandDeku]

Hmm...I didn't hear anyone compare one to another, or say one was more devastating than another.

Again, you're completely missing it, but that's ok.

I actually find you to be quite funny. But my two cents on the whole matter is-- any species that is not native to a said area could be "destructive" if they're basic needs are met but do not have natural predators where its been introduced. Idk if Iam making any sense. But say introducing a hissing roach to alaska and someone scolding you for it--- is pretty effed up stupid. Since I'm pretty sure alaska is an extremely cold place(obv) and won't be able to support a roach that comes from a warm climate and needs warmth to survive.