Amateur Pure Hobby Hisser "Key"

[Hisserdude]

Hisserdude, thank you so much for taking the time to put together this beginner's reference to hissing cockroaches. Earlier this year, I adopted 3 adult hissers (1 male, 2 female) and 15 to 20 juveniles of various sizes through Craigslist. My intention was to use them to establish a colony of feeders for a Tokay Gecko I intended to purchase, since the volume of crickets required would be too demanding to propagate or too expensive to purchase. (I do propagate crickets to feed my smaller herptiles.) My purchase of a Tokay Gecko has been delayed by an unexpected work schedule, but my Hissers have been "working" diligently, and I now have over 50 adults! I plan to set up a larger habitat for them soon.

The fellow who gave me the initial Hissers had purchased them from a chain pet store and did not know the exact species they were, but I'm fairly sure they are the all too common Gromphadorhini hybrids being sold everywhere. Given my intended purpose, this is not especially important to me, although I feel it is unfortunate that the species are hybridized for no apparent reason, since the majority of species that are interbred have no negative issues in propagation or potential purpose that can be improved through crossing species. I may begin selling a few "extras" online, but rest assured that I will be listing them as impure hybrid stock, since to do otherwise would not only be dishonest, but could compound what I see as the biggest problem in the hissing ccockroach trade. Diligence is needed to preserve the natural species purity of these unique animals.

Hey, just remember what happened when they started messing around with cockroach genetics in the movie, "Mimic"! That's a good Halloween movie choice for all cockroach aficionados, especially if you haven't seen it!

--T.B.

No problem, glad to hear it was of use to you, and it does sound like your Gromphadorhina are probably hybrids. Thank you for committing to selling them as such, and I hope they work great as feeders for your gecko when you get it!

(And yes, Mimic is an awesome movie, perfect for Halloween lol!). 

 

[Hisserdude]

This is the kind of content that I am a member for; Hisserdude, thank you for your efforts. While I am not so big on Hissers, it feels good to know a little about them. Maybe i'll trade for a pure stock soon...

Thanks, glad you found it informative, it's not a definitive key or anything, but I think it'll prove useful!

Wow . . . somehow I missed this!

Super job, thanks for posting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This should be a "sticky"!

No problem, thanks for reading!

 

[Hisserdude]

I'm in awe. So much info and so well put together! I was unaware that our tiger hissers are likely Princisia. What are your thoughts on correcting the species name in the U.S. hobby? It seems like a major undertaking, but I would much prefer to use the actual species name rather than the commonly used name. 

Question on the Elliptorhina laevigata: My adult males look like sausages. They're so round I often mistake them for very, very gravid females. Is this characteristic of the species? And are they slow or difficult to breed? My females are equally fat (and have been for nearly 4 months), but no nymphs yet. 

My Elliptorhina davidi females (I have 13.2.X ) each just gave birth. Any tips on helping them reach adulthood?

I'm waiting to get some of the Cleveland Aquarium stock from Kyle, but I'd also love to get my hands on pure lines of:

Gromphadorhina sp. "Madagascar - Unidentified"
Princisia vanwaerbeki "Black & White"
Princisia vanwaerbeki "Androhamana, Madagascar"

Do you know who is keeping these in the U.S.? 

Again, bravo on the exceptionally informative post. This one is going in my invert bookmarks.

Well the thing is, Princisia is likely an invalid genus, so calling our tigers Gromphadorhina sp. "Tiger" seems the most accurate way of labeling them to me... Additionally, I've since noticed that the pronotum shape of "Tigers/Tricolors" VS the pronotum shape of confirmed P.vanwaerbeki is quite different, pure vanwaerbeki males will consistently have "scoops" in the pronotum and an almost triangular pronotum, whereas the pronotums and horn structure of "Tiger/Tricolor" males don't always have scoops, are more rounded, and overall quite different... So I might have to edit my "key" a bit. Calling them Princisia vanwaerbeki is still more believable than calling them G.grandidieri though when considering patterning alone. 

Yeah Elliptorhina laevigata get pretty thick, I don't know if that's a species specific characteristic, but it is normal for that species. And yeah they're known to be on the finicky side, getting females to give birth can be hit or miss. 

That's awesome to hear about the Elliptorhina davidi, congrats! Just keep them as you've been keeping the adults and hope for the best, avoid crowding at all costs too, as they may die off if kept to crowded. We're still not sure why they have their random colony collapses unfortunately... 

Brandon Maines sells that same Cleveland Aquarium stock of G.portentosa BTW. 

And no, no one in the US breeds any of those species unfortunately, and I am doubtful pure Princisia vanwaerbeki "Black and White" still exist TBH, or that they're any different from our Tigers...

 

[Allpet Roaches]

Calling them Princisia vanwaerbeki is still more believable than calling them G.grandidieri though when considering patterning alone.

I don't think your statement is true and this is probably the only current stock that didn't come through Europe. You're basing your assessment on some photos of misidentified wild specimens. 

 

[Hisserdude]

I don't think your statement is true and this is probably the only current stock that didn't come through Europe. You're basing your assessment on some photos of misidentified wild specimens. 

I'm basing that assessment off of the description of a lectotype male of Gromphadorhina grandidieri, which describes the males as having black thoracic segments, and a purplish brown abdomen, which closely matches the individuals identified as grandidieri by George Beccaloni.

See my comment on this topic:

I decided to revisit this topic, and found that the above paper describes G.grandidieri males as having a black thorax, and purple-brown abdomen, like this wild individual. However, besides that one black female in the above paper, it seems that most wild grandidieri females are a similar shade of brown... See this female, almost certainly grandidieri given the range, (and was ID'd by George Beccaloni, the person who photographed the wild male G.grandidieri above).

Unless that paper is dead wrong, and George Beccaloni (@Megaloblatta?) erroneously identified that live male pictured on the CSF as grandidieri, then it would seem that the tiger hissers in the hobby are not very similar to grandidieri at all. I'll ask around and see if I can't find the original description for the holotype of this species...