What is this (feeder) bug? And how can I keep a colony?

[user 666]

A couple months back I bought a pint of little red feeder bugs. After I feed the bugs to my Ts, I tossed the dead ones in with my Ts.

Some weren't as dead as I thought, and I now have 5 mature roaches of an unknown species. One has wings, four do not, so I am assuming that I have 4 females?

Sorry for the quality of the photos, but can someone tell me the species? And tell me how to keep a colony?

 

[Walker253]

B lateralis, or a Red Runner, or a Turkestan roach. I have a colony and they provoke some finicky tarantulas to eat when they would normally only eat crickets. Some are scared off by them, because they can become invasive.

 

[Walker253]

The dark one at the back looks female, the one with wings is absolutely a male and the other two could go either way.
Keep them like Dubia. No cleaner crew.Lateralis lay eggs and cleaner crews, at least I've heard eat the egg pouches. Also make sure they stay hydrated. Lateralis will cannibalize when the H2O runs out. I lost hundreds once on vacation when the water dried up.

 

[user 666]

I am put off as well. They look like the native cockroaches we work very hard to keep out.

And anyway, I have received a firm NOOOOOOO! on the question of starting a colony.

 

[cold blood]

I am put off as well. They look like the native cockroaches we work very hard to keep out.

And anyway, I have received a firm NOOOOOOO! on the question of starting a colony.

they are a species capable if infesting a home....most use dubia because they require high temps to breed, so they wont cause an infestation.

 

[user 666]

they are a species capable if infesting a home....most use dubia because they require high temps to breed, so they wont cause an infestation.

I have since learned this, yes. I would never have bought them if I had known in the first place.

The thing is, it gets warm enough here that dubias could breed if they escaped, but dubias are also big enough that my dogs could catch them easily.

 

[mconnachan]

B. lateralis are great feeders, if that's what they are, it's kinda hard to tell, it seems you've made your decision anyway, still good feeders as they don't play dead like dubias, or stink like crickets, I've heard they are a great colony to have, as they have very small nymphs for sling prey, and quite large adults for larger specimen. At the end of the day the choice is entirely yours....good feeders all the same.

 

[keks]

I don't feed/want to have red runner roaches in my flat. An acquaintance of mine who lived in a tenement block with 30 to 40 flats had an invasion of this species. They had the pest exterminator (is this right?) for the hole house because they spread upon the ventilation in every single flat .
When this happens here, I can search for a new flat very very quickly before they kill me .

 

[Ellenantula]

B lats require both warmth and humidity to infest. A lot can depend on where you live. B lats cannot climb a smooth surface to escape their Rubbermaid container. (I started my colony (2014) in a new Rubbermaid container because of the risk in using an old container -- which may have had small scratches inside on sides that could have allowed them a foothold to climb out).
The males have wings but cannot get much lift-off to actually fly out of a high container.
Every escape I've had was due to human error (usually them climbing up my arms to escape when I completed enclosure maintenance).
I've never had an infestation.
If you have a warm home with high humidity year-round -- you might want to avoid them. Otherwise, without warmth and moisture -- the ooths they lay would simply dessicate. For those of us with 4 seasons... winter is generally their downfall if some had escaped. I suppose they could survive a cold winter if the house was warm enough and they lived under a leaking sink or something. Dunno.
I suppose if someone was concerned, they could lay those Combat baits around or something for prevention.

Mine have never cannibalized, but mine have always had access to food and fresh fruits/veg for moisture.

I breed B lats because my Ts and bearded dragon adore them. They don't burrow like Dubias. They run around and bring out hunting instinct in Ts. Their colony doesn't stink like crickets. They're my favourite feeder. They produce well if kept in favourable conditions. I enjoy my B lats, almost as pets in their own rights.

 

[viper69]

1-800-Terminix could be in your future.

 

[Walker253]

I suppose if someone was concerned, they could use lay those Combat baits around or something for prevention.

That's exactly what I do. I have sticky traps around and some professional baits in place. Most escapees are my own fault. Right now I'm one handing it in a splint because I severed a tendon in my hand. If a lateralis hits the floor, I usually just step on it. They're too fast to catch and killing one is not a biggie, I have thousands.

 

[Ellenantula]

I have thousands.

They are prolific. I have culled tens of thousands to keep my colony size in check. Dinnertime here:

 

[beaker41]

I have been feeding out of a colony of hissers lately and the fact that they can climb smooth surfaces makes for an exciting feeding time but I have their container sitting in a large tray of diatomaceous earth just in case anyone manages to climb out unnoticed. I believe that Dubai roaches need a rather large colony to reproduce in addition to high temperatures and that lowers the risk of infestation quite a bit . I have had to buy colonies that managed to climb they're smooth container walls if the humidity was allowed to get high enough to cause condensation on the sides. I always use a waterproof sterlite box since I had the escape due to humidity

 

[Hisserdude]

It's highly unlikely they'd infest your home, even if you live in one of the southern states they've become naturalized in, from what I've heard they generally breed outside and then wander indoors, like Periplaneta.

 

[Ellenantula]

It's highly unlikely they'd infest your home, even if you live in one of the southern states they've become naturalized in, from what I've heard they generally breed outside and then wander indoors, like Periplaneta.

Agreed.
I hate for folks to be scared off of keeping B lats due to fear of an infestation -- they really are more of an outdoor species -- first discovered in the US in the 1970s -- no doubt brought in through shipping. I view them similarly as I do smokybrown roaches and american roaches which sometimes wander into our homes from outside (in some areas, people mistakenly call those 'waterbugs'); but they aren't like german roaches which can thrive and infest US homes.

I wouldn't let anecdotal anomalies deter me from keeping B lats.
I know I've had a few escapees ... they were always found later, dead, when I was deep cleaning home. Usually found dead under the fridge, range or grandfather clock. I think you would have to pretty much release hundreds of them, up your home's heat and humidity while adding a consistent available water source for them to have even a fighting chance at some viable ooths.

Much of the US does have seasonal weather changes -- not a warm humid year-round temperate climate - which is why Florida bans many roach species being kept as pets/feeders.

Stop dissing the B lats!!!

 

[mconnachan]

I don't feed/want to have red runner roaches in my flat. An acquaintance of mine who lived in a tenement block with 30 to 40 flats had an invasion of this species. They had the pest exterminator (is this right?) for the hole house because they spread upon the ventilation in every single flat .
When this happens here, I can search for a new flat very very quickly before they kill me .

Surely you would keep them in a closed container/Rubbermaid, thereby assuring no escapees, my dubias are kept in a large container with a heat source, a mesh lid with a bowl of water inside for humidity, they do great all year round, about a year ago I was giving them away to friends who had tarantulas, bearded dragons, anyone who wanted them got some, I still had to euthanize some in the freezer there were so many. I keep the numbers down now by offering larger females more often, when the colony needs a boost I just leave them to get on with their thing.

 

[keks]

Then could anybody here explain me, please, where this roaches came from? In the middle of a really big city in the middle of Europe, infesting a big tenement block? I know, that he didn't lie.

 

[user 666]

Then could anybody here explain me, please, where this roaches came from? In the middle of a really big city in the middle of Europe, infesting a big tenement block? I know, that he didn't lie.

Old buildings tend to have leaky pipes.

Old buildings tend to have spots which haven't been cleaned enough and food for bugs builds up.

Old buildings tend to have misjoined walls where bugs can crawl in.

The thing is, I live in a 40-year-old house that was not well constructed in the first place. I do not want to have to learn the hardware that cockroaches might thrive in this house.

That's why I am determined to keep them out.

 

[mconnachan]

That's why I am determined to keep them out.

As said try to keep them in....the bin they breed in. They obviously got there somehow, but if you were to keep a colony I'm sure you wouldn't allow any to escape, I've had my colony for quite some time, 3 years+ and no escapees, it's how you set them up in the first place that makes all the difference.

 

[keks]

Old buildings tend to have leaky pipes.

Old buildings tend to have spots which haven't been cleaned enough and food for bugs builds up.

Old buildings tend to have misjoined walls where bugs can crawl in.

The thing is, I live in a 40-year-old house that was not well constructed in the first place. I do not want to have to learn the hardware that cockroaches might thrive in this house.

That's why I am to keep them out.

In this house they used the ventilation pipes. But users above said, they can't contaminate a house. But they did, so I would like to know how that works. I am only curious, I don't mean it in a bad way.
For my handful tarantulas I sure don't need them when they have this great reproduction rate. Crickets are well at the moment .