Parcoblatta molt

I can't believe it! One of the females is carrying an ootheca. Does this mean it is empty, or are the offspring going to be all males?

IMG_3006.jpg


 
If it's parthenogenesis, all the offspring will be females. Different than in hymenopterans. I wonder if there are micropterous male Parcoblatta?

 
OK so I removed the last ooth and put it in a separate container of substrate after the female just dropped it under the piece of wood. The other day I looked and another female was carrying one and today when I lift up the cage and look from the bottom, I see the other ooth burried under the substrate. For now I just left it because it seems to be in a good spot.

Do you guys think they will eat any hatchlings that might hatch out? This is my first time raising any kind of roaches (in case you could not tell).

heres a pic of this female and her ooth before she burred it

IMG_3111.jpg


 
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Ralph said:
I wonder if there are micropterous male Parcoblatta?
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I'm pretty sure having the macropterous male is one characteristic of the genus.

@Vulgaris- This is the same colony you had those males that got out into your house from right? The males could have mated before they decided to play "escape from Alcatraz".

 
Yes, the same colony. I was thinking the same thing, but the females were still mid instar at the time and all the males got out long before any of the females matured

 
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There was three males and three females. They were actually easy to keep track of. The males matured and escaped waayy before any of the females matured. During their adult lives, the females never came in contact with any mature male

Here's a quick pic of the buried ooth. I hope the adults do not eat the hatchlings if it does hatch

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff117/v.../IMG_3126-1.jpg

 
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Maybe one of the escapees made it back in to mate. Or (more likely) not. The adults won't eat the hatchlings.

Demon, he's raising 'em as pets.

 
I guess it is an extremely remote possibility that one male made it back to mate and I did not notice. But then it comes down to which is more probable _ This theory, or the parthenogenesis theory?

Feed them to wasps?! When the females live out their lives, I will send one to an expert for species ID. I will probably pin the other two and keep them. I hope the ootheca hatch! :D

And by the way, I have another noob question. I have two new male nymphs as you have read in my previous posts. One is an enormous last instar. He will be the kind with the black wings (a completely different species than what I have). The other is a very orange individual (still a late instar nymph) who is probably going to be an orange adult but a different species than the others.

Will these actually be able to breed with the females? I did not plan on interbreeding, but I am kind of keeping them in the same enclosure so...

 
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Ralph said:
Maybe one of the escapees made it back in to mate. Or (more likely) not. The adults won't eat the hatchlings.Demon, he's raising 'em as pets.
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I was thinking the exact same thing. In the wild I'd assume Parcoblatta males are experts at finding females, seeing as they have such short lives and a mature female ready to mate may be rare...

 
hahaha, well then that arises the problem of how they survived indoors (without me catching sight of them during the search, may I add) for the weeks that it took for the females to mature. They were certainly not living in the enclosure (I would have seen them because I usually lifted up the piece of wood to check on the females every couple of days). I suppose they could have just returned in the dead of night for food, but I am not convinced.

 
Vulgaris said:
I guess it is an extremely remote possibility that one male made it back to mate and I did not notice. But then it comes down to which is more probable _ This theory, or the parthenogenesis theory?Feed them to wasps?! When the females live out their lives, I will send one to an expert for species ID. I will probably pin the other two and keep them. I hope the ootheca hatch! :D

And by the way, I have another noob question. I have two new male nymphs as you have read in my previous posts. One is an enormous last instar. He will be the kind with the black wings (a completely different species than what I have). The other is a very orange individual (still a late instar nymph) who is probably going to be an orange adult but a different species than the others.

Will these actually be able to breed with the females? I did not plan on interbreeding, but I am kind of keeping them in the same enclosure so...
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LOL i ment like breed them as feeders or have two colonies one for pets and the other as feeders.

 
These theories are only needed if the ooth hatches anyway. Mantids sometimes lay infertile eggs for the heck of it, so that could be going on here.

 
The big male nymph molted to adulthood yesterday. He is enormous! Maybe pennsylvanica? I will try out the water idea next week







 
Probably is pennsylvanica. Mine tend to be nearly black, but I've seen light and dark versions. Awesome photographs!

 
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