That Reptile Blog That Pet Place Reptile Blog

Note: Please see Part I and Part 2 for further information on the captive care and natural history of this insect.

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.

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The orange-spotted roach is sexually dimorphic – males have full wings (but rarely if ever fly), while females have only wing-stubs.  A ratio of 1 male per 3-5 females is ideal…excess males should be preferentially used as food for your collection.  Maintaining the roaches at this ratio will provide for a great deal of social interaction (please see Part I, Captive Habitat) and increased reproduction. 

Males attempt to bluff intruders onto their territories by rising up on their legs and fluttering the wings.  If this fails, a shoving match will ensue, with the loser retreating intact (well, except for his pride!).

Captive Longevity

The life cycle is 18 months to 2 years…but this is not well documented.  Please keep notes and pass along anything new you might learn.

Reproduction

Fertilization is internal, via a sperm packet deposited by the male.  Females produce the typical roach oothecum, or egg case, but retain it internally for a gestation period of approximately 1 month. 

The young, 20-30 in number, are born alive and reach sexual maturity in 3-4 months (this varies with temperature and stocking levels).

Miscellaneous

The reduced wing size in female orange-spotted roaches (and similar species) is attributed to paedomorphosis, or the retention of juvenile characteristics, rather than to wing growth inhibition. 

Flight muscle is, metabolically, one of the most active of animal tissues, and very “expensive” to support.  It is theorized that the resources put into maintaining the flight muscles may, in roaches, take away from reproductive potential.  In other words, female roaches are, in essence, “trading” flight for the ability to produce additional eggs.  Males of some species are though to retain the power of flight so as to be able to cover more ground when searching for mates.

I’ll cover additional types of roaches in the future.  Until then, please write in with your questions and comments. Thanks, Frank Indiviglio.

A description of the journal Cockroach Studies, along with photos of long-winged and wingless species, is posted at:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2006/may/news_8129.html

Image referenced from Wikipedia, here.

Click: The Orange Spotted Roach: an Interesting Pet and Valuable Food for Reptiles, Amphibians, Invertebrates, Birds and Fishes – Part 1, to read the first part of this article.

Substrate

When keeping large colonies as a food source for other animals, the roaches should be well-supplied with cardboard egg crate, paper towel/toilet paper rolls or crumpled sheets of cardboard upon which to climb.  The bottom of the enclosure should be kept bare…substrate will complicate cleaning, encourage mold and make it difficult to locate small roaches.

At cleaning time, the cardboard, to which most of the roaches will cling, can be removed while the enclosure is washed (use hot water and bleach or table salt) and dried.  The cardboard should be replaced from time to time as well.

Fecal material from the bottom of the enclosure, and old cardboard, should be frozen before being discarded to prevent un-noticed nymphs from establishing feral colonies.

If you are keeping smaller numbers of roaches as pets, you may wish to set up a naturalistic terrarium.  R Zilla Alfalfa Bedding or Coconut Husk may be used as a substrate.  Stock your terrarium with rocks, driftwood, and plastic reptile shelters…males will establish territories around and under such structures.  In such a set-up you should be able to observe them competing for females (see below), and will be privy to other interesting behaviors not easily seen in a crowded colony situation. 

Be sure to remove nymphs from time to time, as territoriality seems to break down under crowded conditions, and there will consequently then be less for you to observe. 

Treated in this manner, as you might any other unusual pet, orange-spotted roaches will provide you with many surprises.  We still have a great deal to learn about these insects…observant keepers stand a good chance of learning something new.

Water

I use R-Zilla Cricket Calcium Drink Supplement as the sole water source for all roach species.  This and similar gel-based products eliminates the need for providing fruit as a water source, which can mold and cause health problems (a small amount of fruit added to the diet is a good idea) and supplies additional calcium to the insects.

Feeding

Jurassi-Diet or R-Zilla Cricket Food should be used as the basis of the diet.  Both are readily accepted, and help to improve the roaches’ calcium: phosphorous ratio (in the event they are to be used as pet food).

Orange spotted roaches accept a wide variety of foods…but this should not trick us into thinking that they can survive on whatever is at hand.  They should be provided a balanced diet, both for their health and that of the animals to which they may be fed. 

To the basic diet of commercial cricket food I always add tropical fish food flakes (I have found such to be useful with all roach species, crickets, millipedes and many other invertebrates), powdered baby food, and a bit of wheat germ. They should also be fed fruits and vegetables once or twice weekly.

Next time we’ll take a quick look at breeding and social interactions, and learn about an odd twist in this species’ evolution.  I’ll cover other roaches in the future.  Until then, please write in with your questions and comments. Thanks, Frank Indiviglio.

An interesting article on cockroach diversity and evolution (London Museum of Natural History) is posted at:

http://blattodea-culture-group.org/content/cockroaches-amazing-diversity

Image referenced from Wikipedia Commons, here.

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.

The orange-spotted or guyana roach, Blaptica dubia, often starts out as pet food but winds up as a pet. It’s small wonder, as these attractive insects are very interesting in their own right, and most agreeable to exhibiting their natural behaviors to the patient observer.

Coming into Their Own

Roaches are finally getting the attention they deserve from pet keepers, and even zoos are beginning to highlight them in exhibits.  I housed many species at the Staten Island Zoo, and a new exhibit at the Bronx Zoo features a hollow tree stocked with thousands of Malagasy hissing roaches.  But my favorite was set up many years ago at the Cincinnati Zoo’s groundbreaking Insectarium….visitors looked through a cutaway cabinet at a “kitchen” stocked with a colony American roaches.  The huge insects were fed from cereal boxes, sandwiches left on a table and so forth…years later I tried to replicate this at the Bronx Zoo, for Norway rats, but the idea failed to impress my curator!

Classification and Diversity

Cockroaches, with a fossil record stretching back 300 million years, are classified within the order Blattaria (or Blattodea).  Over 4,000 species have been described, and entomologists believe that as many more may be awaiting discovery.  The largest species, Latin America’s Megaloblatta baberoides, sports a 7 inch wingspan while the heaviest, Macropameothia rhinoceros of Australia, weighs in at 1 ½ ounces.  The lime green banana roach, Panchlora nivea, sometimes available in the pet trade, is to my eye the most attractive.

Orange-Spotted Roaches

The orange-spotted roach ranges from tan to reddish-brown and black in color, and is mottled with light orange dots.  It reaches 1 ¾ inches in length.  The natural range is usually given as northern South America, but there are records from as far north as Panama and as far south as northern Argentina.

As a Feeder Insect

This roach makes an excellent feeder insect as it rarely flies and cannot scale glass or plastic (unless either is very dirty!).   Adults and juveniles alike have a soft exoskeleton, and are thus an ideal food for amphibians, birds, spiders, scorpions, fishes, reptiles and certain small mammals (I have used them as treats for flying squirrels and deer mice).  The nymphs are only .1 inches in length, and eagerly accepted by tiny amphibians and reptiles.

CAPTIVE HUSBANDRY

Note: long term exposure to insect colonies may lead to sensitivities or allergies in some people.  You may wish to consult your doctor in this regard.

Captive Habitat

The Enclosure

Orange spotted roaches can be housed in plastic terrariums, aquariums or sweater boxes.  Sweater boxes should be ventilated with screened-over panels cut into the lids and sides.  Fine-meshed “insect screening” is best, as the nymphs are quite small.  Be sure that the mesh size on commercial terrarium lids is small as well – if unsure, add a second layer of finer mesh.  The roaches can chew through some plastic screening, so use metal when re-screening.

Heat and Humidity

This species tolerates temperatures from 68-95 F, with breeding and growth being most rapid at higher temperatures.  If you are interested in observing them, and not in producing large numbers as a food source, 75 F is ideal.

Heat may be provided by an incandescent bulb during the day and a reptile night light during the evening.  I highly recommend the latter…the roaches will feed by day, but really put on a show at night, and a night light will allow you to observe them doing so.  A ceramic heater or under-tank heater may also be used.  In all cases watch that you do not over-dry the terrarium (keep an eye on shedding, please see below).

Orange-spotted roaches tolerate far drier conditions than do most of their relatives.  Technically, they can run into difficulty in molting if a bit of humidity is not provided, but this is not common.

Misting the enclosure can result in the growth of mold and fungi, some species of which may be linked to colony failure.  If conditions warrant it, mist lightly (glass only, not cardboard if such is used as a substrate) and be sure the glass dries within an hour or so.

Click: The Orange Spotted Roach: an Interesting Pet and Valuable Food for Reptiles, Amphibians, Invertebrates, Birds and Fishes – Part 2, to read the second part of this article.

Image referenced from Wikipedia Commons, here.