Official documentation of which species of roaches are legal in Florida?

[Tarac]

Once upon a time I ran across an official list of which species of roach were legal to ship into Florida and maintain a stock for use as feeders. I have scoured the internet and for some reason am unable to relocate that list. I am sure I saw it, I remember being surprised that anyone took the time to differentiate as so many of these regulations are broadly applied without reasoning. Does anyone know where I can find that document? I think it was USFWS but I could be mistaken, I am sure that I checked all the potential appropriate agencies. They have the most arcane websites though, so hard to find an answer to any question no matter how simple it seems like it should be. I seem to recall that discoids were OK but I know there were a number of others.

Might be mute though, I found that there is a breeder of roaches now in Florida so the shipping issue could be dismissed if buying inter-state.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Amoeba]

The big two that come to mind are B. discoidalis and B. craniifer. I can email you a native roach key also in case you want to go looking for other sp.

Going to edit this to say: I am not familiar with the legalities of shipping roaches into the state but these species are established populations to Florida.

 

[Tarac]

Thanks Moeb!

Anyone ever tried to raise some of our natives for feeders? Of course allowing sufficient generation passage to clear them of contamination with pesticides and what have you. I always wondered about Eurycotis floridana, they're soooo big and fat and juicy looking. If I were a T I would want to eat it. Very easy to find. I couldn't find any good reason why they should not be used as feeders other than the need to breed them out for a few generations but you never know if there is something different about them that makes them unpalatable or even risky to feed to a T. Have you tried using natives yourself?

I searched craniifer and found it! Thanks for the lead. For anyone else interested, here are the guidelines:

http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/pdf/Guideline-for-Importing-Exotic-and-Non.pdf

 

[Amoeba]

No problem.

I haven't gotten around to keeping roaches yet, but Green Banana Roaches are supposed to be a fun pet species.

mmmmmmm nothing like a big fat musky skunk roach in your house.

 

[pocock1899]

Call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or spend some time on their web site. (Google is your friend: http://myfwc.com/about/rules-regulations)

Ultimately, they are the ones who decide what is allowed and what isn't. They also decide how the law is enforced.

Not to cast aspersions on anyone else who responded, but for legal questions it might not always be the smartest choice, to use other people's opinions about what is and isn't legal. After all, YOU are the one on the hook if their advice is wrong, not them.

As an aside, USFWS doesn't have anything to do with the laws/regulations that states have. Unless you break one of those state laws and then cross a state or international boundary. I that case, you've just won a free introduction into the Lacey Act.

 

[catfishrod69]

I wouldnt suggest keeping native roaches. If they were to get out, they would be able to survive, and then your asking for something you wont want.

 

[Tarac]

Call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or spend some time on their web site. (Google is your friend: http://myfwc.com/about/rules-regulations)

Ultimately, they are the ones who decide what is allowed and what isn't. They also decide how the law is enforced.

Not to cast aspersions on anyone else who responded, but for legal questions it might not always be the smartest choice, to use other people's opinions about what is and isn't legal. After all, YOU are the one on the hook if their advice is wrong, not them.

As an aside, USFWS doesn't have anything to do with the laws/regulations that states have. Unless you break one of those state laws and then cross a state or international boundary. I that case, you've just won a free introduction into the Lacey Act.

Perhaps you missed the part in the first post or IN THE TITLE OF THE THREAD where the request was for "official documentation" i.e. legislation from FWS/USDA (who would also regulate these types of organisms as they are considered a pest species, similar to Lepidoptera, etc.). It in fact was quite helpful to have some brief posts from Amoeba because I then had species names to google (which is indeed my friend lol), producing said official document.

Maybe you have not dealt directly with the USFWS/USDA/DLM/FFWC (as an aside- USFWS are relevant if you are trying to purchase these legal feeders from a dealer in another state if you cannot find them locally as they would then be crossing lines and fall under the USFWS jurisdiction) but, having done so myself, you get different answers every time you talk to someone there. Not joking. It took me almost a month to get a simple letter stating it would be permissible to use a seine net for collecting non-game fish for a local native aquarium at an elementary school without having all individuals involved permitted. I was afraid to go out and start collecting with just the word of "so and so" via phone conversation. Most often the conversations just ends with them transferring your call to another agency, which goes on and on and on until you reach a voicemail box of someone who never returns your call.

If you peruse the website you referred us all to you will find that there is lots and lots of information about permits and regulations relating to game/fish regulations as sport and also to possession of wildlife that are vertebrates. There are only a few sections that pertain to inverts and they are primarily marine inverts- mussels, crayfish, etc. I had already checked that website and the other relevant state and federal agencies and as I said, they are extremely arcane and incomplete.

Here is the search result from the FWC website you referred us to for the term "roach"-

http://74.174.224.46/search?q=roach...stylesheet=default_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd

Notice not a single insect, just references to a guy with last name Roach? Check the non-native section- only birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and freshwater/marine life, plants. No mention of any insect at all. Search the word insect, similarly you will come up with pages and pages of insect eating non-natives but nothing about insects of any kind themselves.

Were you able to find this information on the FWC website or did you just post it? And the question was answered already, in my second post. Thanks for your help.

---------- Post added 08-20-2012 at 10:13 AM ----------

I wouldnt suggest keeping native roaches. If they were to get out, they would be able to survive, and then your asking for something you wont want.

That's true. Asking for infestation, fun! lol