Need some help with feeder roach information

[Sandy Bear]

I'm doing some research on feeder roaches, and I have a couple things that I need answered.

Blaberus discoidales Discoid Roach:

1) Will they cannibalize their young? Yes or No
2) How fast are they? Slow, Medium, or Fast
3) Number of molts?


Blatta lateralis Turkistan Roach aka Red Runners

1) Number of Molts?
2) How many babies are in each egg sack?
3) How often do they lay egg sacks?
4) Will they cannibalize their young?
5) Do they bite?
6) Do they make noise?

Lobster roach Nauphoeta cinerea

1) Number of Molts?
2) Do males and females look different? How so?
3) How fast are they? Slow, Medium, Fast

Eublaberus distanti Six-Spotted Roach

1) Will they cannibalize their young?
2) How long is the female "pregnant" for?
3) How fast are they? Slow, medium, fast

Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!
-Sandy

[JeffreH]

Blaberus discoidalis:

This species is very rare to find in pure culture - most of the feeders that you find at reptile shows and from most online sources devoted to using them as feeders are actually selling hybrids. Not a big deal, as they make great feeders regardless and appear very similar, but to a diehard roach enthusiast B. discoidalis can sometimes be a headache in finding pure bloodlines = P

1) No - keep them well fed and hydrated and you will not encounter issues.
2) I've found most Blaberus are relatiely fast. I'd rate them as faster than B. dubia, but slower than the turks (B. lateralis). Depends on the individual roach, they are a timid species.
3) Number of molts? Until adulthood? Not sure, I only keep Blaberus craniifer right now.


Blatta lateralis

1) Can reach maturity in just a few months under ideal conditions - I actually failed to pay too much attention to this species and found them pretty disposable so I never monitored the frequency of their instars.
2) I figure roughly 1-2 ooths may be laid monthly, each egg case containing roughly 20-30 nymphs.
3) ^^ = )
4) Nope - just provide plenty of food and hydration. It happens from time to time, but losses arent substantial by any means.
5) They do not bite, nor will any of the species you mentioned.
6) No noise, except for some scurrying sounds in excessively large colonies.

N. cinerea

1) Honestly haven't counted it out - but they can reach adulthood in just a few months in ideal conditions. A very quick maturing roach, and a prolific breeder.
2) They do NOT have obvious differences like B. dubia and other sexually dimorphic species, although males tend to be slightly smaller. This site has photos for sexing : Professional Reptiles | Lobster Roach - honestly, they reproduce incredbily fast and it becomes non-essential to sex them. Feeding females does little damage to the colony's well-being once established.
3) Relatively fast - these guys also climb smooth surfaces and can do so like ninjas. This is also a smellier species.

E. distanti

I'm very pleased that word of the Eublaberus genus is getting out as feeders. This is my favorite genus of roach and I absolutely love E. distanti and E. posticus the others that share the genus.

I actually do not keep E. distanti, but will gladly share what I do know about them and can fill in all the details regarding E. posticus (orange head roach). This is my favorite species by far to use a a feeder, and one of my favorites in general within the collection.

1) E. posticus are known cannibals - although this can be remedied with adequate space/hiding and MOISTURE. These guys crave hydration, a steady supply of water crystals should be available at all times along with supplemental fruit/veggies for additional moisture and gutloading purposes. Keep food handy at all times as well. When given constant access to moisture sources and food, you encounter very little cannibalism and wing biting becomes a rarity...although it is inevitable.

E. distanti I "think" are slightly less cannibalistic - they also lack the defensive odor to my knowledge that the orange heads have. The odor honestly isn't bad, I kind of find it pleasant (like overripe fruit). The nymphs of E. distanti are a little spikier than E. posticus and this species isn't quite as productive, which is why I lean toward the orange heads as a superior feeder species.

2) My E. posticus reproduce at roughly the same rate as B. dubia - you can expect about 20 nymphs a month. Both adult males and females have wings but cannot fly nor climb.

3) Fast when they want to be, they are a very timid species. E. distanti is a little more fond of digging (particurly small nymphs) than E. posticus. I like this species because they are willing to move around and encourage a feeding response out of the herp.

E. posticus nymphs are also very meaty - a photo comparison vs. B. dubia:

[Sandy Bear]

Thanks Jeff! This is fantastic. I think I will make up a chart for E. posticus now too. I like roaches, they are so fascinating
I found a website on Pet/feeder roaches, and there was some really unique looking ones.

[JeffreH]

Glad to help! Yay for roach enthusiasts! = )

May be the sites you've encountered, but I always recommend the following... the first belongs to my buddy Kyle - I partly blame his ads and knowledge for my "addiction"

Home - Roach Crossing
DoubleDs
Buy live pet insect tarantula, spider, millipede, centipede, and pet bugs

And of course, the AllPet Roaches book and website. There are a lot of really cool collector species out there; I might actually have a few Blaberus craniifer, A. tesselata, and Elliptorhina javanica available this spring at the rate mine are reproducing... and most definitely E. posticus (orange heads) cultures, I'd love to see them become more popular in the feeder realm because they are relished by so many of my herps, and they're extra meaty!

[james200111]

In 1970 scientist proved roaches like dubia and discoid will not and can not breed with other species so your statement on hybrid discoid is completely false

Blaberus discoidalis:

This species is very rare to find in pure culture - most of the feeders that you find at reptile shows and from most online sources devoted to using them as feeders are actually selling hybrids. Not a big deal, as they make great feeders regardless and appear very similar, but to a diehard roach enthusiast B. discoidalis can sometimes be a headache in finding pure bloodlines = P

1) No - keep them well fed and hydrated and you will not encounter issues.
2) I've found most Blaberus are relatiely fast. I'd rate them as faster than B. dubia, but slower than the turks (B. lateralis). Depends on the individual roach, they are a timid species.
3) Number of molts? Until adulthood? Not sure, I only keep Blaberus craniifer right now.


Blatta lateralis

1) Can reach maturity in just a few months under ideal conditions - I actually failed to pay too much attention to this species and found them pretty disposable so I never monitored the frequency of their instars.
2) I figure roughly 1-2 ooths may be laid monthly, each egg case containing roughly 20-30 nymphs.
3) ^^ = )
4) Nope - just provide plenty of food and hydration. It happens from time to time, but losses arent substantial by any means.
5) They do not bite, nor will any of the species you mentioned.
6) No noise, except for some scurrying sounds in excessively large colonies.

N. cinerea

1) Honestly haven't counted it out - but they can reach adulthood in just a few months in ideal conditions. A very quick maturing roach, and a prolific breeder.
2) They do NOT have obvious differences like B. dubia and other sexually dimorphic species, although males tend to be slightly smaller. This site has photos for sexing : Professional Reptiles | Lobster Roach - honestly, they reproduce incredbily fast and it becomes non-essential to sex them. Feeding females does little damage to the colony's well-being once established.
3) Relatively fast - these guys also climb smooth surfaces and can do so like ninjas. This is also a smellier species.

E. distanti

I'm very pleased that word of the Eublaberus genus is getting out as feeders. This is my favorite genus of roach and I absolutely love E. distanti and E. posticus the others that share the genus.

I actually do not keep E. distanti, but will gladly share what I do know about them and can fill in all the details regarding E. posticus (orange head roach). This is my favorite species by far to use a a feeder, and one of my favorites in general within the collection.

1) E. posticus are known cannibals - although this can be remedied with adequate space/hiding and MOISTURE. These guys crave hydration, a steady supply of water crystals should be available at all times along with supplemental fruit/veggies for additional moisture and gutloading purposes. Keep food handy at all times as well. When given constant access to moisture sources and food, you encounter very little cannibalism and wing biting becomes a rarity...although it is inevitable.

E. distanti I "think" are slightly less cannibalistic - they also lack the defensive odor to my knowledge that the orange heads have. The odor honestly isn't bad, I kind of find it pleasant (like overripe fruit). The nymphs of E. distanti are a little spikier than E. posticus and this species isn't quite as productive, which is why I lean toward the orange heads as a superior feeder species.

2) My E. posticus reproduce at roughly the same rate as B. dubia - you can expect about 20 nymphs a month. Both adult males and females have wings but cannot fly nor climb.

3) Fast when they want to be, they are a very timid species. E. distanti is a little more fond of digging (particurly small nymphs) than E. posticus. I like this species because they are willing to move around and encourage a feeding response out of the herp.

E. posticus nymphs are also very meaty - a photo comparison vs. B. dubia:

[JeffreH]

Please show me where in that quotation where I said there was ever a hybridization event between Blaptica dubia and Blaberus discoidalis.

I said pure Blaberus discoidalis are hard to find in culture - this is because cultures have been crossed with other roaches in the BLABERUS genus. For example, Blaberus dicoidalis X Blaberus giganteus, B. craniifer, or B. fusca more commonly. The latter often have higher reproductive rates, which is why hybrids have been cultured. To find truly 'pure' discoids requires some homework on the lineage of insects you are purchasing (if you care about the purity of your roaches).

Please cite me correctly if you are going to make a post like this instead of suggesting that I made a claim that I never made Also good practice to cite your literature source as well; despite the fact that you mis-interpreted what I said in the post.

[james200111]

You are correct misunderstood. I was giving an example with dubia and discoid. I have discoideroaches and was wondering if you could determine purity by pictures? Or only if you know exact lineage.

[JeffreH]

No worries - these things happen =)

It can be pretty difficult to tell the differences based entirely on morphology. I think you would likely need to do a genitalia dissection to know for sure. Especially if the gene pool has been 'muddied' through time (i.e. F1 hybrids crossed to pure discoids and on down the line, subtle differences between the species will be even more difficult to tease apart). This is why the easiest and most certain way to determine would be to buy from a source with pure discoids... I know at one point a few years ago Kyle Kandilian from Roach Crossing (I call him the 'Roach King') was looking for 100% pure discoids and had a really hard time finding pure cultures.

For what it's worth, purity usually doesn't really matter unless you are a roach connoisseur/collector. Hybrids still make great feeders and can be just as, if not more fecund than pure species. But it can be a curveball for the FL residents who are working with the species for legal purposes.

When I get a chance I'll ask Kyle his thoughts. A while back I think he was doing genitalia dissections on the Eublaberus and Blaberus complexes (I think to differentiate the types like E. sp. "Ivory" and B. peruvianus from B. boliviensis and others Blaberus sp.).