Misidentified Pet Hisser Roaches?

[Jerah Teoh Yong Qiang]

Hi guys,

So I like to know if anyone here keeps different species of hissers? Currently I've got 6 Portentosas in a 10 gallon and I've just ordered another 3 Black morphs. Pictures of those I ordered below (from the seller's post):



However, I do have some concerns; roaches being a rather... niche pet here in Malaysia, I'm a bit worried these Black specimens have been misidentified as something they're not. I've noticed they look similar to Gromphardorhina Grandidieri instead. But then again, I've read somewhere that all supposed Grandidieri's in captivity are not true Grandidieri but color variations of Portentosa and P. Vanwaerebecki.

Also, should I house the Blacks separately then, even if they're true Portentosa?

Can someone help clear this up please? Would appreciate it lots!

[Mentat]

Don't know how to tell species; but if same as yours and want to breed and keep the black color, recommend keeping the black ones separate. If you get all three blacks of same sex, can try to breed with your normal color ones and breed the resulting F1 back with the black ones. Good luck !

[JeffreH]

They are probably G. portentosa , but its probably not all that useful to decide exactly what they are without 100% confidence of their origins. The entire Gromphadorhina and Princisia genera are screwy. Too much natural morphological variation in the taxa, yet they can all still interbreed. The potential for hybridization exists, and natural variation in the structure of the pronotum (and body color) within the species makes them difficult to distinguish from one another with accuracy. So these are probably G. portentosa and should continue to breed with the rest of your colony, but you will never know with complete confidence that they ARE said species without knowing more from the seller (in my opinion).

If you want to keep your blacks 'black' keep breeding them together - otherwise you'll eventually and up with variation in the entire colony. Whatever floats your boat ; )

[Jerah Teoh Yong Qiang]

Thanks guys. Hissers are interesting but goodness me, they're confusing to learn about! The entire Portentosa, Grandidieri, Vanwaerebecki strains and their morphology just seem to be beyond my ken!

I think I'll keep the blacks in a separate tank then; add some variety to the collection!

[RockyGurly]

I have no idea on the ID, I just want to jump around excitedly at seeing roaches
(We can't have them in Canada I've seriously considered moving to the states so I could get some roaches)
They look gorgeous!

[Jerah Teoh Yong Qiang]

Yes, I fell in love with roaches when I was a kid. They're really hard to find but dear me, I feel your pain. Was in Singapore for awhile, total ban on many exotics there too!

[JeffreH]

Thanks guys. Hissers are interesting but goodness me, they're confusing to learn about! The entire Portentosa, Grandidieri, Vanwaerebecki strains and their morphology just seem to be beyond my ken!

Believe me, insect taxonomy is no walk in the park and often requires a lot of patience, practice and keying of characters. I do phylogenetic work on parasitoid wasps and a very minute character can differentiate an entire GENUS. It is not that uncommon to have an expert on a single genus due to the sheer species richness in many groups (i.e. Coleoptera and Hymenoptera)... so don't feel bad my friend, you are not alone in the confusing world of insects!

@RockyGurly - I'm sorry that Canada does not allow exotic insects into the country =,(

[Jerah Teoh Yong Qiang]

Believe me, insect taxonomy is no walk in the park and often requires a lot of patience, practice and keying of characters. I do phylogenetic work on parasitoid wasps and a very minute character can differentiate an entire GENUS. It is not that uncommon to have an expert on a single genus due to the sheer species richness in many groups (i.e. Coleoptera and Hymenoptera)... so don't feel bad my friend, you are not alone in the confusing world of insects!

@RockyGurly - I'm sorry that Canada does not allow exotic insects into the country =,(

Can I put it on the record I am mad jealous of your line of work? I so wanted to be a herpetologist or entomologist before the fates stuck me in law school!

Working with insects must beat working with confusing laws and slimy clients (believe you me, cockroaches ain't got nothing on some people in being filth)!

[JeffreH]

Haha! I'd have to agree... I would much prefer to work with insects as clients as opposed to people. I'm not sure I'd have the tolerance to put up with slimy people on a day-to-day basis!

My current position is only temporary, however. I'm actually a graduate student studying insects to answer questions about evolutionary biology and I work as a research assistant in our entomology lab. It is certainly nice to be surrounded by insects every day, but unfortunately academia does not pay well. We'll see where the future takes me after grad school... hopefully something related to herp or insect research = )

This is yet another reason why I just love these forums. Fellow keepers who share a common passion for herps, insects, you name it. Its nice to have place where we can all talk about what we love and put all other differences aside.