Glowspot Bioluminescence?
- Thread starter Keith
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Roachsmith
Sixth Instar
I would like to see a pic of them actually glowing. That would be pretty neat. Too bad we can't get our roaches to glow in captivity.
I imagine that something in their natural diet is what makes them glow. Perhaps if what it was were discovered captive bread glowspots might glow as well.
No, supposedly all the males of every species in the genus Lucihormetica have glowing spots in the wild (luci means light) and the other Hormetica species that don't have the bioluminescent spots remain in the original genus. I only say supposedly because I have not seen the bioluminescence nor a photo of the glowing, so I can't state it as a fact. Try sendig a PM to our member Lucihormetica, he is the one who reassigned the glowing Hormetica to the new genus and he should have some details.
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crepsis
Third Instar
Thanks Orin, I've sent a pm to him to see if he knows someplace I can read more on the subject, or if he could answer some of my questions (see below). Some of the things that I would like to know about Lucihormetica (L. fenestrata, L. subcincta, L. verrucosa) include:
Do we know what makes males of Lucihormetica spp in the wild glow (i.e. light cycle, rainy season, diet), or have controlled experiments been set up in the lab to test any theories? What are the specifics of the luciferin-luciferase reaction in the wild specimens that allows them to glow?(maybe a missing amino acid in their captive diet, and do they manufacture their own luciferin and luciferase)
Do we know what makes males of Lucihormetica spp in the wild glow (i.e. light cycle, rainy season, diet), or have controlled experiments been set up in the lab to test any theories? What are the specifics of the luciferin-luciferase reaction in the wild specimens that allows them to glow?(maybe a missing amino acid in their captive diet, and do they manufacture their own luciferin and luciferase)
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pannaking22
Gyna
It may not be whatever fungus grows in the kit, but there's I suppose there's a possibility that any glowing fungus has potential to get the spots to glow. I wonder if it's something they have to eat while growing up to collect enough of the bioluminescent compounds though?
Just discussed this with Kyle. The glowing "faerie fire" mushroom (Panellus stipticus) will supposedly cause their spots to glow. It's a fungus that grows on rotting wood. He didn't have good luck growing his kit, but I'm planning on giving it a go this summer and will definitely post if it works. Supposedly, you can also feed them food high in carotenoids (carrots, squash, banana, corn, egg yolk - even brightly colored fall leaves) that will alter and/or intensify the color of the spots. If anyone else tries, please post back.
pannaking22
Gyna
Agreed with high carotenoids, mine have had a heavy dose in carrots in their diet and most have matured with bright orange spots. I've still had a few oddities though (yellow spots, and one male with yellow/green spots), so I wonder if genetics still plays a part, or if those were just individuals that ate more protein than produce. There hasn't been much color change that I've seen if you vary the diet when they're adults, but I may just not change the diet for long enough.
That's interesting. I wonder what causes the green? Did you feed yours any dark leafy greens on a regular basis? Maybe chlorophyll intake influences green coloration. I'll have to mess around with mine when I receive them. Maybe do two groups: one with tons of carrots, another with loads of dark greens.
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pannaking22
Gyna
I would throw in bits of romaine lettuce on rare occasions, but it was never very much and there were plenty of carrots fed to them in between. It only happened to one male as well, instead of all of them. Once my colony gets large enough I definitely want to start messing with diet. I might try it with subcincta as well, since all I have now are verrucosa. The protein has pretty much always been dry cat food and those pieces come in all sorts of colors, but I don't think that would do much.