Therea olegrandjeani (Question Mark) Roaches

[ErinM31]

I'm thinking this nymph looks male but I'm still a newb.


This is the largest female I've seen! :wideyed: She's been this size all day. Is this normal for a gravid female or did she just reeeally like the cantaloupe? I think she looks healthy otherwise.

 

[Jacob Ma]

The female roach could have a combination of a gravid abdomen and a full stomach. Was it like that before or after you fed the cantelope? Unfortunately, the specimens I used to have of this particular species all died out, but I have seen some of my other roaches in a similar condition like this after eating a lot.

As for the nymph, is there any way you could make the picture a bit clearer? It is a bit hard to distinguish the roach from the black background, and the blurry picture itself makes it even harder to tell.

 

[ErinM31]

The female roach could have a combination of a gravid abdomen and a full stomach. Was it like that before or after you fed the cantelope? Unfortunately, the specimens I used to have of this particular species all died out, but I have seen some of my other roaches in a similar condition like this after eating a lot.

That could be. I have four females of this species and I have never seen any of them this distended before! I only discovered it this morning (not that I dig out each roach every day by any means -- she happened to be on the surface eating cantaloupe) and her appearance has not changed. I gave them the cantaloupe yesterday.

As for the nymph, is there any way you could make the picture a bit clearer? It is a bit hard to distinguish the roach from the black background, and the blurry picture itself makes it even harder to tell.

Sorry about that! I will take another photo tomorrow with sunlight -- that always turns out better!

And thank you for the input!

 

[Hisserdude]

I'm thinking this nymph looks male but I'm still a newb.
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This is the largest female I've seen! :wideyed: She's been this size all day. Is this normal for a gravid female or did she just reeeally like the cantaloupe? I think she looks healthy otherwise.
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It's really hard to tell with that pic, if you could get a slightly better one that'd be great.

And holy cow that female is fat! I know you told me she was plump but I didn't think it was that plump! Probably gravid and full of food, though there's a slight chance it could be a bacterial infection.

 

[ErinM31]

It's really hard to tell with that pic, if you could get a slightly better one that'd be great.

Will do! I didn't realize just how bad the photo of the nymph was until posting it. Maybe I should have tried the flash? Well, sunlight is better anyway.

And holy cow that female is fat! I know you told me she was plump but I didn't think it was that plump! Probably gravid and full of food, though there's a slight chance it could be a bacterial infection.

I was going to quarantine her, even though the other roaches would have been exposed it seemed the only thing to do, but fortunately, she is now within normal parameters again! I dug up all four of my females (much to their annoyance) just to be sure and she is fine. I now hope there's a big ootheca in the substrate somewhere, lol!

 

[Izhizm]

I'm thinking this nymph looks male but I'm still a newb.
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nice, beautiful roaches!! how did you get them tho?

 

[ErinM31]

nice, beautiful roaches!! how did you get them tho?

Thank you! They are absolutely one of my favorite species and the first roaches I bought! I got the from BugsInCyberspace.

Here are better photos of the nymph -- who was wonderfully cooperative for this photo shoot!




Based on both the abdomen and the shorter antennae, I'm now thinking female. What do you guys think?

 

[Hisserdude]

I was going to quarantine her, even though the other roaches would have been exposed it seemed the only thing to do, but fortunately, she is now within normal parameters again! I dug up all four of my females (much to their annoyance) just to be sure and she is fine. I now hope there's a big ootheca in the substrate somewhere, lol!

Glad she's normal again, she was probably just gravid and full of food then, guess they really like cantaloupe!

Thank you! They are absolutely one of my favorite species and the first roaches I bought! I got the from BugsInCyberspace.

Here are better photos of the nymph -- who was wonderfully cooperative for this photo shoot!

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Based on both the abdomen and the shorter antennae, I'm now thinking female. What do you guys think?

Actually I'm thinking male, the last two segments look too small for it to be female. So at least now you know your two younger females will get fertilised for sure!

nice, beautiful roaches!! how did you get them tho?

These are pretty common in the US hobby, most roach vendors here sell them.

 

[ErinM31]

Glad she's normal again, she was probably just gravid and full of food then, guess they really like cantaloupe!

Actually I'm thinking male, the last two segments look too small for it to be female. So at least now you know your two younger females will get fertilised for sure!

These are pretty common in the US hobby, most roach vendors here sell them.

I'm glad she's alright! It was so strange to see!

Yay! Glad I'm wrong regarding the nymph's gender as otherwise I'd need another male for sure! This works out perfectly!

 

[pannaking22]

From what I can see I agree with male. Fun species to keep! Enjoy your nymphs in 5 months or so lol.

 

[ReignofInvertebrates]

Can anyone tell me how long females take to deposit eggs after mating? I've had adults for some time and haven't seen any nymphs. I'm keeping them in a tupperware container in dry cocoa fiber and rotting leaves. I only mist one corner of the enclosure.

 

[Hisserdude]

Can anyone tell me how long females take to deposit eggs after mating? I've had adults for some time and haven't seen any nymphs. I'm keeping them in a tupperware container in dry cocoa fiber and rotting leaves. I only mist one corner of the enclosure.

Females typically start laying oothecae a couple of weeks after maturing, (mated or not), so you should see nymphs after four or more months after getting adults.

Also, from the sound of things it looks like you are keeping them too dry, the whole lower layer of the substrate in the cage should be moist, while the top layer should be dry, having only one moist corner may result in a high oothecae and nymph die off.