The next popular feeder roach

Takumaku

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
273
Anyone have any best guesses at the feeder roach that might become the next popular one?

I forsee Byrsotria fumigata gaining alot more popularity. Heck, maybe they'll become the '07 popular roach. {D People who like dubias for their easy sexing ability, but dislike the fact that dubias burrow at the first chance they get might like B. fumigatas.
 

Stylopidae

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
3,203
I have in my roach a species that needs no heat, produces a ton of egg cases (that need to remain quite moist to hatch, so no chance of infestation in a normal houshold) has nymphs similar in size of B. lateralis, reaches about 15mm when adult and is a very attractive species to boot. Nymphs don't seem to burrow as much as other species and they are diurnal.

Only drawback is that it's a climber, but it doesn't seem to be as hyper as lobsters.

I think this will become the next big feeder species just because it's a bit easier to care for and doesn't need expensive heating.

Unfortunately I'm in an agreement with the person who sold them to me and I'm not too sure what I can say.

I think B. lateralis will become the next mainstream feeder and B. dubia will fall by the wayside because of price.

In the future, I'm hoping people will take the more varied approach to roach colonies.

H. flexivatta may become popular.
 

SouthernStyle

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
491
Im thinking that The B. lateralis Will be the next popular on the list...If not perhaps the B.Dubai will remain as the top feeder...Who knows with the Invert World!
 

Stylopidae

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
3,203
Im thinking that The B. lateralis Will be the next popular on the list...If not perhaps the B.Dubai will remain as the top feeder...Who knows with the Invert World!
People want non climbers with small nymphs, the fact that lateralis can infest a home may make them a bit less popular.
 

bistrobob85

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 21, 2005
Messages
1,282
But B.dubia females have such cute little helmet heads, i love them :). The only thing is that i haven't kept them to compare them with any other specie, yet, hehe.

phil.
 

nepenthes

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Messages
561
Yea My mom doesn't want me keeping roaches cause of the social stigmata behind the whole Infesting the homes thing.
 

Hedorah99

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
1,863
Yea My mom doesn't want me keeping roaches cause of the social stigmata behind the whole Infesting the homes thing.
Its actually a very small number of them that can be considered a "Pest Species". Lateralis is one of them and have been known to cause problems for people who are inattentive. I still prefer Dubia. They reproduce a little slower but I am also feeding 60 tarantulas, 3 centipedes, and 10 geckos. I think it will stay between Dubia and Lateralis for a while, but may switch back to Dubia if more than a few stories of Lateralis escaping start becoming evident.
 

Dom

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
665
The only problem with dubia for me is that the newborn nymphs are too big for baby scorps and spiders, so I need a species like lateralis.
If anyone has any first hand accounts of lateralis infestation I'd like to hear about it and specifics on the house involved.I've heard of lateralis infesting houses but no first hand accounts.
IME lateralis need temps above 80F and high humidity to reproduce. My house falls outside these parameters and so I'm not concerned about them.
 

xelda

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
372
Lateralis have infested my house. Even though your overall house environment isn't humid or above 80 F, there are certain corners and niches that are perfect breeding grounds for lateralis. Under your refrigerator and in your bathroom, for example. Roaches are VERY good at finding those places. I had a few escape when I was packing an order, and then I was finding them all over my house the next day--including upstairs and downstairs from where they had escaped. They only got to be annoying though when they started ending up in my other roach colonies.

Just for comparison, I'm keeping a culture of not wild caught Periplaneta americana in one of my cages. They need warm temps and high humidity to survive too. Otherwise, they don't thrive in captive conditions.
 

Hedorah99

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
1,863
The only problem with dubia for me is that the newborn nymphs are too big for baby scorps and spiders, so I need a species like lateralis.
If anyone has any first hand accounts of lateralis infestation I'd like to hear about it and specifics on the house involved.I've heard of lateralis infesting houses but no first hand accounts.
IME lateralis need temps above 80F and high humidity to reproduce. My house falls outside these parameters and so I'm not concerned about them.
Yea, that is true. I tend to just grow fruit flies for my slings so I didn't even thnk of that while typing.

Lateralis have infested my house. Even though your overall house environment isn't humid or above 80 F, there are certain corners and niches that are perfect breeding grounds for lateralis. Under your refrigerator and in your bathroom, for example. Roaches are VERY good at finding those places. I had a few escape when I was packing an order, and then I was finding them all over my house the next day--including upstairs and downstairs from where they had escaped. They only got to be annoying though when they started ending up in my other roach colonies.

Just for comparison, I'm keeping a culture of not wild caught Periplaneta americana in one of my cages. They need warm temps and high humidity to survive too. Otherwise, they don't thrive in captive conditions.
I have heard that about American roaches as well. I lived in Florida for a number of years and never had a problem with them. Even in a lot of buildings up here with roaches, the suspect is usually German roaches. I still wouldn't use Periplaneta though for the same reason I won't use Lateralis, they just look too, well, roach-like. Dubia at least kinda look like beetles. Truthfully I had a bad phobia of roaches for a while. :)
 

KyuZo

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
1,553
Tarkumaku,
why did you say B. Fumigata? why not B. Rothi? I heard that they are meatier than the B. Fumigata and a little bigger? i wonder if they look better too? which species do you like better the B. fumigata or B. rothi? and why?


Anyone have any best guesses at the feeder roach that might become the next popular one?

I forsee Byrsotria fumigata gaining alot more popularity. Heck, maybe they'll become the '07 popular roach. {D People who like dubias for their easy sexing ability, but dislike the fact that dubias burrow at the first chance they get might like B. fumigatas.
 

Takumaku

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
273
I use to use dubias and lateralis as my feeders, but like Xelda, the lateralis started infesting my house. I live on the east coast, so winters are very mild (high of 75 today ^_^). My house is usually about 50-60% humidty during the winter (sometimes higher during the summer), so it wasn't like the 80+% humidty in my grow bin. I had a few escape, but I didn't think anything of it until I started finding the lateralis in the more humid areas of my house (bathroom, water heater, fridge, etc.).


why did you say B. Fumigata? why not B. Rothi? I heard that they are meatier than the B. Fumigata and a little bigger? i wonder if they look better too? which species do you like better the B. fumigata or B. rothi? and why?
Personally I haven't worked with rothi, so I can't compare/contrast them. This is about to change as I'll be buying a few from Dave real soon. Mainly, rothi are more expensive than fumigate, so price is a major aspect. I will upload a picture of the two side-by-side (Dave took it for me) comparing them when I get home from work.

But I'll use dubia to compare fumigata too since I currently am using those.

Both are extremely easy to sex. Not only are fumigata winged/partial-winged like dubia, but fumigata males are smaller and fumigata females.

Both do burrow, but this is where the similarities ends. Unlike dubia, fumigata don't burrow at the first chance they get. They always seek shelter first (into a tarantula burrow, a log hide, etc.) and burrow last. If they do seek shelter or burrow before your prey eats them, then have no fear, fumigata always surface at night to feed.

Personally, I like my fumigata better than my dubia. {smaller nymphs -- good for smaller insects and carnivorous plants, always above the surface [at night] when my animals are feeding, don't burrow at the first chance they get, quicker to mature than dubia, and finally a medium/slow speed roach}.

Larger winged roach is a male B. rothi. Larger nonwinged roach is a remale B. rothi. B. fumigata male - smaller winged roach. B. fumigata female - smaller nonwinged roach. (Pic provided by David Grimm).
 
Last edited:

Lorgakor

Arachnomom
Staff member
Joined
Sep 9, 2004
Messages
2,369
I had no idea that B. lateralis is a pest species. I will not be keeping them in my house from now on. If I put them outside in below freezing weather, will they all die? I'm asking because I want to kill them. It gets colder than -10c right now at night. There is a foot of snow in my backyard, if I put the bin in the snow would that be a fast way to kill them, or would it take a long time?

I actually found one in a spider web under a bench that we keep in our entrance, I don't know how it got out but I wasn't worried about it at the time because I didn't know they were a pest species. Now I want them out!
 

Takumaku

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
273
I had no idea that B. lateralis is a pest species. I will not be keeping them in my house from now on. If I put them outside in below freezing weather, will they all die? I'm asking because I want to kill them. It gets colder than -10c right now at night. There is a foot of snow in my backyard, if I put the bin in the snow would that be a fast way to kill them, or would it take a long time?

I actually found one in a spider web under a bench that we keep in our entrance, I don't know how it got out but I wasn't worried about it at the time because I didn't know they were a pest species. Now I want them out!
Yes, putting them outside in -10c will kill them quicky, but officially, lateralis hasn't gain pest status [yet]. They have become known as a nuisance specie here in Virginia, much like the american cockroach (Periplaneta americana).
 

syndicate

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,497
i need to invest in some dubia or somehting.could save tons of money a year on crickets
 

KyuZo

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
1,553
Great picture!!

Hi, great comparison picture:clap: . it really helped me to dertermine which species i want to keep. and i am goin w/ the fumigata because the nymphs are smaller. I was thinking before that one species might look better than the other but there really no big difference.
thanks a lot for the picture,
jason
 

Stylopidae

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
3,203
I'm actually looking at fumigita now.

I guess I'll be picking up a culture come acon :)

My dubia colony will be so crowded ;)
 

funnylori

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 27, 2006
Messages
581
My lateralis colony just never took off... I have had a few escapes, but I 'think' I caught them all... I hope. My parents will kill my entire T collection if I infest the house with roaches. Eeek! I just got a dubia culture for my birthday. I hope it does well. I put them on my birthday list mainly because of the non-climbing habits and the orange and black coloring goes with my alma mater - Go Beavs! That is such a girly reason though...
 

KyuZo

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
1,553
so... i was wondering, who here mix their roaches up? like putting three or four different species in the same container? I mix my drawf hissers, L. Subcincta, B. fumigata, and my b. dubia together and there are no problems.
the only problem i had was putting the b. lateralis with the colony above.
jason
 

padkison

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
901
I had a B. lateralis colony that grew pretty large (several thousand). They were in a 14g tote. I had a few occasional escapees. One day they reached a point where they population density drove them the to flee by the dozens, especially the adult males. For a couple days in a row, I would wake up to find about 2 dozen roaches running around the upstairs. A portable vac works well for getting them. I put the colony in an extra fridge and then sold them all since I didn't want to be infested.

However, I decided that they made too good of feeders and got another colony going. This time they are in a cooler with screened vent holes that shuts tight, no gaps for escapees.

The B. lats have not been able to establish themselves in our house in the SE US. They probably could if they had a hospitable area for a base.
 
Top