Dubia Colors

[Kreamcheese]

So I recently noticed a few of my newly matured dubias have a strikingly different color than my other ones. I thought that maybe they haven't fully hardened yet from their molt but it's been days.
The top pic is the new color of dubia I am seeing. And the second is the normal colors I usually see. Both are mature females. Anybody else have different color dubias like this?

[MonsterPyxie]

I forget what its called, but the first one looks like its from high humidity, it can mess with there color's.

The second one looks normal, but bright colored. funny thing is me and the wife where talking about this tonight. We picked out a few roaches, and noticed how some of the females where MUCH brighter orange colors, and stripes, while others where almost mostly black, and the color they did have was more of a brown.


If I remember too, I'll take some pictures of mine also

[Kreamcheese]

My humidity seems to be pretty normal. Whenever i add in oranges i take out the water crystals. On a side note I finally saw some baby nymphs today. Glad they're finally breeding

[MonsterPyxie]

My humidity seems to be pretty normal. Whenever i add in oranges i take out the water crystals. On a side note I finally saw some baby nymphs today. Glad they're finally breeding

good to hear about the babies. What size is your colony again? and what is the humidity level?

[Kreamcheese]

Humidity last I saw was around 50% and I started with a small number of adults but about 300 large nymphs who are starting to molt into adults. I knew it wasn't be an instant thing because I didn't start with a bunch of adults.

[MonsterPyxie]

Humidity last I saw was around 50% and I started with a small number of adults but about 300 large nymphs who are starting to molt into adults. I knew it wasn't be an instant thing because I didn't start with a bunch of adults.

Well 50% is about normal. I like to keep mine around 60%, its what I have found to work well. who knows...


300 large nymph's is the PERFECT starter colony IMO. Not to low numbers, but not so high that you send a ton of money. And with large nymphs, over adults, you don't have to worry about a bunch dying off due to "old age" or something else.

so while it will take 1-3 months for them to molt and be ready to breed, you will get the most babies, and production due to all of them being good breeding adults!

[ViperJr]

JeffreH, that's an interesting post. Good thing I don't have any insect-loving friends...

[badkelpie]

Mine all looked like that after their adult shed. I just assumed that it just took them a few days to get the orange. All are normal colors now.

[Sublime]

@Jeff Yeah, that makes complete sense. I actually subscribed to a guy on youtube by the name "TheRoachHut" - family run operated business stationed in the UK for collective & feeder species. He shows you the amount of care that goes into the collective species with the coir based substrate and dead forest floor scatterings in the tank.

I wanted to ask you a question though since you do have collector species... Have you ever come across Macropanesthia Rhinoseros (Giant Burowing Cockroach) or happen to own any? These things are enormous size for roaches and have a life span of up to 10 years.

[JeffreH]

This species is every roach enthusiasts dream = )

I have come across them for sale - usually quite rare but they pop up from time to time. Cheapest I've seen is ~$100 a nymph but I've seen upwards to $500 for older specimens. Keep in mind these guys take years to reach maturity... and they can be fragile. Dexter and Debbie are actually selling small nymphs:
Roaches

Occasionally a private seller will have them, and Kyle has a pair I think now (maybe more or less?). Only other actual name I've got in the US is Orin McMonigle <-- Allpet Roaches

Eurycotis decipiens will be my next species I think

Edit: I like that guy's videos, thanks for the name!

[Sublime]

Wow, that's a lot of dough to drop on roaches haha. Yeah I heard that they take 3-4 years to reach sexual maturity and the females only produce 20-25 nymphs during fall. Good to know the sources that are selling them.

No problem for the youtube channel.

[Frost]

I was browsing the net looking for information on the subject of Dubia color morphs. This was the most recent forum that I could find. I had similar color patterns a few years ago when I was raising Dubia for a hedgehog. I separated the color morphs into different classifications by their specific mutations, and began a selective breeding program. I was able to isolate the specific orange "face", yellow striped body, and clear wings (females only) in my breeders. I raise them in separate containers to only allow the females to breed with specific males. The issue with the males is that the color variation doesn't initially occur on the wings, it takes place on the body. So if you were to lift the wings you would be able to see that the stripes are genetic, the hypo is genetic, and the coloration of the underside is also genetic. Is there anyone else that has had any success with this kind of breeding program? I am trying to establish an acceptable "cull" Percentage to be able to isolate this as a consistent morph.








These are examples of an isolated female with the light body and the "face", Isolated female with the orange head, and pictures of a male that exhibits the yellow body trait and clear wing trait. All of my 37 females exhibit the same striped body trait, my 6 breeding males exhibit the striped body trait, but only 2 males and 6 females have the orange head trait, all of which came from the same mother/father, so direct cross breeding will be impossible due to inbreeding depression. The question is, "Is anyone interested in this color morph?". I will post pictures of my breeders if anyone is interested in seeing how they are progressing.