Are my roaches purebred black Madagascar hissers? ID help!

Ghoul

Ghoul

First Instar
I bought them from a pet store and I can't tell how reliable that method is haha. I'm curious about whether they're hybrids or real Madagascar hissers. But no matter the result I will still love them the same because they're just precious. 

I took pictures of a male here, don't have any of the other 3 just yet. https://m.imgur.com/a/69cf82U

The difference between them is the colour of the spots they have on the side (as seen in the pictures). From memory, another one has white ones instead, and two don't have any spots.

 
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Those are definitely hybrids, no pure MHC stock currently in captivity looks like that male, (unless your pet shop is importing hissers directly from Madagascar).

 
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How can I tell? And I have no idea where they get their hissers from, may have to ask them directly. God knows if they were even labelled with the correct species in the first place (if they're hybrids it'd be wrong either way but still lol) 

Here's the rest of the gang, one of the females is quite big and the other got some pretty black and white going on. Very tempted to name the little gang of four as they're so visibly different from each other. 

https://m.imgur.com/a/uOzXeDw

 
I don't know of any purebred hisser stocks that are black like that, besides possibly the G.grandidieri "Black" stock being bred in the US. Looks like yours are a mix of portentosa and oblogonata based on the overall dark coloration and white spots. 

 
Thank you! Yeah they do look a lot like oblongonota with these spots. 

I was looking at a picture with the different horns of males but I can't tell the differences between hybrids and species for the life of me. I'm certainly better at isopod identification :d

At least they're just goth like me 💀 I hope their offspring will be as gorgeous as they are. 

 
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It basically comes down to coloration, most "purebred" stocks have pretty consistent and easily recognizable coloration, whereas hybrids are a lot more variable, and most fade to dark brown or black after a few generations.

That's why I highly advise against keeping different Gromphadorhina together, as even hybrids of the prettiest species end up looking rather dark after a few generations... But whatever, so long as hybrids are labeled and such and not sold as pure-breds, that's fine by me. :) Yours are quite pretty, hope they do well for you! 

 
If mine get enough offspring some day I'd definitely sell them labelled as hybrids so people know what they are getting, I find it kind of irritating and dishonest that many people don't do that. There would be nothing wrong with their existence if people wouldn't keep mislabeling them all the time and cause confusion, imo. 

I personally really enjoy their black colouration, spots and size, that one female of mine is an absolute unit compared to the others lol. 👌 They are really calm with each other despite the occasional argument of the males, once they've settled it they hang out fine together as well. One gently tried to eat me the other day by nibbling on my finger, they're just precious 😙

 
I totally agree, I have no problems with hybrids so long as people label them as such, it's only a problem when people start selling hybrids as pure stock... 

 
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What do you think about Princisia vanwaerebeki for these? The pattern looks like it could be from either oblongata or them, and Princisia vanwaerebeki seem to be very common here in Germany. 

 
Ghoul said:
What do you think about Princisia vanwaerebeki for these? The pattern looks like it could be from either oblongata or them, and Princisia vanwaerebeki seem to be very common here in Germany. 
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Zuzanna on FB is pretty notorious in the hobby and has misidentified other hybrid stocks as just normal "vanwaerbeki", yours may very well have some vanwaerbeki blood in them, but they certainly aren't pure-bred vanwaerbeki. 

 
I wasn't thinking they were purebred (hence asking her in confusion if that's what she meant), but considering them for being part of mine. I'd love to know what they are hybrids of, since they were labelled G. portentosa when I bought them I assume they may be part that. But G. oblongonota and vanwaerebeki share some markings which mine have, so I'm wondering which of the two these markings could come from as either is a possibility I think. Hmm. 

Also nice to know you're lurking on fb too 😁

 
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Ghoul said:
I wasn't thinking they were purebred (hence asking her in confusion if that's what she meant), but considering them for being part of mine. I'd love to know what they are hybrids of, since they were labelled G. portentosa when I bought them I assume they may be part that. But G. oblongata and vanwaerebeki share some markings which mine have, so I'm wondering which of the two these markings could come from as either is a possibility I think. Hmm. 

Also nice to know you're lurking on fb too 😁
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Could be a mix of all three TBH, since they were just being sold as G.portentosa there's no telling what they've been mixed with. 

Yeah, I go by "TJ Ombrelle" on FB lol! :)

 
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