I've been keeping a healthy, but somewhat smaller colony of P. lats for a few years now. The first few years was a LOT of trial & error, and for a long time, when I inevitably needed to top it off, I had ONE local, trusted source. That source quit breeding & my last top off came from an online site i dont know much about 7-8mos ago. Now my colony is THRIVING & exploding. I've finally figured out the heat, the food, the set up, etc. But, tonight, I found a dang adult P. americana. I live up north & have NEVER seen one up here. Should I turn & burn the bins? They can't cross breed, but what if there's more & they invade my house? I was trying to get her out & she ran up the plastic container I normally put my roaches in to hold them while I feed. They climb smooth surfaces?!? Agh! Help!!
Random P. americana in my thriving P. Lat colony 🫣
- Thread starter ellie1600
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I'd just remove it and not worry too much about the rest of the lats. like you said, no chance of crossbreeding. you just happened to have a single opportunistic freeloader find its way into the colony. lol
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Just try and prevent more invaders , I got annoying fly issue with my roaches. But I don’t have any chance of American roaches 🪳 invading my colony there aren’t any here.
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If you want some peace of mind, consider sampling the colony to see if there is a widespread issue with wall climbing species. If the tote you're using is tall enough, bait a sticky pad with some fish flakes and tape it on the wall of the lateralis bin well out of their reach.
Full disclosure, I haven't had to do this myself, but in theory it should work to give you an idea of their prevalence in your feeder supply.
Full disclosure, I haven't had to do this myself, but in theory it should work to give you an idea of their prevalence in your feeder supply.
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Ok- , that's brilliant! I'll have to work out the logistics of that. My bin is not as smooth as I wish, so my juveniles can climb, but not the adults. I'm looking to upgrade my bin soon, and turn this into a dubia bin. In the meantime, I have a tight fitting lid with a mesh screen retro-fitted into one side. I guess we will have to upgrade soon.
Thank you!
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Wage War on American Roaches Now!We don't like they're Kind around here.
Search and Feed Off ASAP.
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- Apr 14, 2013
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I would just cull it and toss it and not worry about it. Last time I ordered some lats I got a freeloader of some other species in with them too. I noticed the same way, it could climb lol. I put it in a deli cup on its own to see if it would grow at all but it ended up dying.
They are hearty & quick b@st@rds! For some reason, I take no issue when one of my P. lats gets confused & runs up my hands. I'm able to gain control quickly & also, it's a really rare occurance. If it happens, it's my fault. When this P. americana ran up & out of my feeder jar & up my hand, I sort of lost it. I was not expecting it. It was a totally different feeling on my skin, and she was double/triple the size of most of my adults. I pulled her to examine, separate...and eventually cull her, but I'll admit, the latter happened rather swiftly, just not in the manner I typically would have planned 🫢