Trans-gendered B dubia

[Terry D]

I just found two little ones in my gp that was supposed to be comprised entirely of mm. I'd almost bet there are more. The enclosure had been cleaned out several times since I got the last batch so they weren't there to begin with. I've never raised these before but guessing they're way to small to have arrived in the last batch anyway at .25". All indiv roaches had wings on arrival but there were several with crinkled wings. I'm guessing those were the wannabe males.

Terry

 

[ZephAmp]

Are you sure you have B. dubia?
It's not impossible for female dubia to have wings but when they do, often they are incredibly deformed and don't survive long after maturing.

 

[Terry D]

Zeph, Just got back from Hommie Dipot. Thanks for the reply and absolutely positive. The wings on those few were quite misshapen and maybe slightly shorter than the others but close. I'm about to go check and see how many more nymphs I can find. Cheers, Terry

 

[Terry D]

Here's what I'm thinking is the only remaining possible culprit.....along with one of the nymps- they range from almost twice the size of this one to one at about half. I just counted 14 and did not check completely. Freebie feeders, yay!!
002 by trdavis22, on Flickr

edit- I'm guessing the males might have been chewing on her wings a little?

 

[ZephAmp]

That's amazing. Most likely a female!
You should isolate her and the babies and attempt to breed for winged female dubias, most definitely. It's incredibly rare to find a female with wings, even rarer to find one that's capable to reproduce!

 

[Terry D]

False alarm

Well, after reading your last post, also in the name of not spreading misinformation, I took out all the cartons and thoroughly searched one last time. As it turns out, there is one fat, wingless female. I took it and the nymphs and separated them in an empty 10 gallon. Sorry for getting hopes up. This WILL be a short-term setup, though! :barf:

 

[Terry D]

I'll have to add- I don't check my feeders as closely as my t's or as I used to. This due in part to the excellence of my source. These things stay healthy and almost NEVER die in their enclosure.