Interesting inquiry about roaches

[Thefiddlinkeeper]

I ordered some red runner roaches to start my first colony and in the shipment was a Male lobster roach. The nymphs that have hatched seem darker than what I have seen in pictures. Does anybody know if Lobster Roaches and Red Runners can hybridize?

 

[Dorifto]

I ordered some red runner roaches to start my first colony and in the shipment was a Male lobster roach. The nymphs that have hatched seem darker than what I have seen in pictures. Does anybody know if Lobster Roaches and Red Runners can hybridize?

Can you post a Pic?

The red runners can become very dark, almost black. It's normal. Mature females are very dark for example

 

[Hisserdude]

They definitely can't hybridize, they are in completely different families, one's a live bearer, the other is an ootheca layer... It's more likely either a gravid female lobster roach hitchhiked in as well, or some nymphs did. Or you're just seeing normal lat color variation.

 

[Smotzer]

I don’t think intergeneric hybrids are a thing with roaches

 

[mack1855]

Can you post a picture?.And are you sure its not a adult male B.lat?.Ill try and get a photo of one of my male winged B.lats from one
of my colonies.

 

[Dorifto]

Can you post a picture?.And are you sure its not a adult male B.lat?.Ill try and get a photo of one of my male winged B.lats from one
of my colonies.

Adult males are orange-yellowish and have wings. The females are blackish.

Here you have one pic of my lateralis colony



They are some dubias and mealworms too.

 

[mack1855]

Here you have one pic of my lateralis colony

Thanks for posting this,as maybe the OP is mistaking the males.OP,take a look at the male on the left side of the eggcrate.Is this what your seeing?.

 

[Hisserdude]

I don’t think intergeneric hybrids are a thing with roaches

Technically they are, at least in the Gromphadorhini, Aeluropoda and Gromphadorhina can produce hybrid offspring, ("Princisia" and Gromphadorhina can hybridize as well, but Princisia is probably an invalid genus, a synonym of Gromphadorhina IMO).

However, interfamily hybrids are quite impossible.

 

[Thefiddlinkeeper]

There is the adult lobster roach

 

[Thefiddlinkeeper]

Here is the nymph

 

[Thefiddlinkeeper]

Another pic

 

[Dorifto]

There is the adult lobster roach

Here is the nymph

Another pic

The nymph could be from a previoulsy pregnant lobster roach.

In the images I can differentiate lobster roaches, b lateralis and mealworm beetles

 

[Thefiddlinkeeper]

Great!! I don’t like lobster roaches I will feed them to my slings or will separate them somehow

 

[Hisserdude]

Yeah those are definitely lobster roach nymphs, probably hitchhiked in with the order.

 

[Smotzer]

Technically they are, at least in the Gromphadorhini, Aeluropoda and Gromphadorhina can produce hybrid offspring, ("Princisia" and Gromphadorhina can hybridize as well, but Princisia is probably an invalid genus, a synonym of Gromphadorhina IMO).

However, interfamily hybrids are quite impossible.

Thank you for the info!! I wasn’t sure I haven’t heard of them doing that before! And my mistake I actually thought these were in the same family! Going from memory, but clearly I was wrong. Thanks for the knowledge that roaches can intergeneric hybridize!!

 

[Hisserdude]

Thank you for the info!! I wasn’t sure I haven’t heard of them doing that before! And my mistake I actually thought these were in the same family! Going from memory, but clearly I was wrong. Thanks for the knowledge that roaches can intergeneric hybridize!!

No problem! And yeah interfamily hybrids are pretty much impossible, and intergeneric hybrids should only occur in very closely related genera, within the same tribe as each other.