Hisser coloration & social behaviors

[Gonoporium]

Hi all,

So I recently decided I'd like to keep some hissers, bought a few online from an unknown source and received a rather mixed bunch. Clearly (to me at least) they are hybrids. I have not been keeping roaches long, and this is the first dealing I've had with hissers, so I was hoping someone could shed some light on what I actually have here. There is one all black female, and a varying range of coloration among the others. Are the black and orange slightly smaller striped ones sub-adults perhaps? If I let them all live together as is, would I likely see all these color forms in the nymphs, or would you say these are picked from separate colonies, and would only further hybridize? Can the all black form emerge from allowing these to propagate, or did it have two black parents? As you can see I have some nymphs.. these were dropped not long after receiving a clearly pregnant female in the group.

I've been watching their behavior. There is a dominant male who is sometimes challenged by another. He keeps his position on top of the shoulder bone I have in there (Sheep?) I've seen him mating one female with coloration similar to his own, but currently the black female has been sitting up there with him for two or three days, but has so far been rejecting his attempts to mate. Is this the typical ritual? Or does she only like black men?

Any thoughts or information about these guys would be great. Thanks

 

[Hisserdude]

View attachment 2648

Hi all,

So I recently decided I'd like to keep some hissers, bought a few online from an unknown source and received a rather mixed bunch. Clearly (to me at least) they are hybrids. I have not been keeping roaches long, and this is the first dealing I've had with hissers, so I was hoping someone could shed some light on what I actually have here. There is one all black female, and a varying range of coloration among the others. Are the black and orange slightly smaller striped ones sub-adults perhaps? If I let them all live together as is, would I likely see all these color forms in the nymphs, or would you say these are picked from separate colonies, and would only further hybridize? Can the all black form emerge from allowing these to propagate, or did it have two black parents? As you can see I have some nymphs.. these were dropped not long after receiving a clearly pregnant female in the group.

I've been watching their behavior. There is a dominant male who is sometimes challenged by another. He keeps his position on top of the shoulder bone I have in there (Sheep?) I've seen him mating one female with coloration similar to his own, but currently the black female has been sitting up there with him for two or three days, but has so far been rejecting his attempts to mate. Is this the typical ritual? Or does she only like black men?

Any thoughts or information about these guys would be great. Thanks

Looks to me like they're G.portentosa and P.vanwaerebeki hybrids of some sort. Because they're hybrids, the coloration is naturally very variable and random, attempts to fully isolate any one type of coloration will take a while and require stringent line breeding.