Are Hemithyrsocera Histrio still rare?

Auz

Auz

Second Instar
I was looking through the For the Love of Cockroaches book and ran across Hemithyrsocera Histrio. Doing some searching on this forum, it seems like they were considered very rare in the hobby just a few years ago. The book suggested that eventually the roach would breed well enough that it wouldn't be all that rare. I wasn't sure where they stand in the hobby? Are they still one of the most rare roaches? How easily could I get my hands on some if I so choose?

 
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Hemithyrsocera histrio is almost nonexistent in the hobby, Hemithyrsocera vittata however, which was widely misidentified in the hobby AS H.histrio, is being kept by several European and Asian breeders with great success, still don't have them here in the US though, at least not in good numbers...

 
The thing with Ectobiids is that while many are technically easy to breed in terms of dietary and setup requirements, and prolific at that, they are also very fragile, any mess ups or lapses in care, like if you forget to mist or feed them one time, and your culture will most likely completely crash. They are also sensitive to overcrowding, so if your colony gets too big and crowded, crash. Too many mites or springtails? Crash.

Most smaller Ectobiids require consistent care, and a lot of people don't seem to be able to provide that for some reason, just forgetful I suppose, so a lot of people's cultures end up crashing.

 
Hisserdude said:
Hemithyrsocera histrio is almost nonexistent in the hobby, Hemithyrsocera vittata however, which was widely misidentified in the hobby AS H.histrio, is being kept by several European and Asian breeders with great success, still don't have them here in the US though, at least not in good numbers...
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ahh, so what Orin references in his books is Vittata? aka, Clown Roaches? Interesting. I was curious if things had changed much since the book's release. Are there more info on Histrio so that I can understand the differences?

If there's a resource explaining which roaches are the most sought after/rare, that'd be a really interesting topic! I have learned about so many new and rare roaches these past few days, it really interests me.

Also, yeah the points about forgetfulness killing a lot of cultures makes sense. I know I'm forgetful for the couple of small species I have. I'd hope that people who knowly have a rare species would take extra care with them, but I suppose we all have our days? lol

 
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Yes, the species Orin talks about in his book is vittata. True H.histrio look very different from H.vittata, here's an image of a true H.histrio adult:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21047336

Basically the most sought after roaches are new additions to the hobby, ones that are very difficult to breed long term, and ones that take forever to grow and have limited litter sizes. Also the prettier or more unique the roach, the more sought after it is. 

Thing is, people are more likely to forget about taking care of species that seem to be doing well for them, and Ectobiids tend to do well for people when they are being treated like royalty... Once a colony is established, that's when people get more lax and slip up, and while most roaches can take a few slip ups, most Ectobiids can not... 

 
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Hisserdude said:
Yes, the species Orin talks about in his book is vittata. True H.histrio look very different from H.vittata, here's an image of a true H.histrio adult:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21047336

Basically the most sought after roaches are new additions to the hobby, ones that are very difficult to breed long term, and ones that take forever to grow and have limited litter sizes. Also the prettier or more unique the roach, the more sought after it is. 

Thing is, people are more likely to forget about taking care of species that seem to be doing well for them, and Ectobiids tend to do well for people when they are being treated like royalty... Once a colony is established, that's when people get more lax and slip up, and while most roaches can take a few slip ups, most Ectobiids can not... 
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Wow, they are very pretty! 

yeah, that makes sense. I can relate to getting a little lazy once everything's going well  :lol:

 
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