I've been taking data on several of my colonies to see which species produces babies first.
What I've done is separated out a bunch of subadults of several species of Blaberid and allowed them to mature together. I recorded the date that the first female matures on (and if there aren't males present already, the date that the first male matures) and then I eagerly await the first batch of babies. There will be a margin of error for all of these (since it assumes that the first set(s) of babies came from the first female(s) to mature) but they should be relatively accurate. All of the species are put in set-ups that, from my experience, are usually the most encouraging to reproduction (for example, Blaptica dubia has a very shallow layer of coconut fiber substrate, whereas Eublaberus posticus will have an accumulation of frass instead) All the roaches are offered the same diet; a dry food mixture and fruit/veggies once a week which is left in the container until the next cleaning. Some containers are being kept slightly warmer than others, and the temperatures will be given relatively (for example, the Blaberus discoidalis are being kept higher on my rack and thus warmer than the dubia or posticus.) Each container has a varying number of adults (I did not standardize the starting numbers out of personal preference.) I check the containers once a week so each data set is biased by this means of checking (although if I'm expecting something I will check once or twice over the course of the week.) Yet again, the data will not be 100% revealing as to reproductive trends, but it should provide some interesting insight. The idea is to get a glimpse of the rate of the reproductive cycle for each species, and not necessarily the sheer number of babies born. (The latter idea would require standardization of numbers, because obviously a container of any species with 20 adult females will produce more babies than one with 10.)
So far, the only complete data is as follows:
Blaberus discoidalis
First adult female observed: ~August 18, 2011. (Adult males were present before the female(s) matured)
First babies observed: ~November 18, 2011.
Days between female maturation and parturition: 92 days.
What I've done is separated out a bunch of subadults of several species of Blaberid and allowed them to mature together. I recorded the date that the first female matures on (and if there aren't males present already, the date that the first male matures) and then I eagerly await the first batch of babies. There will be a margin of error for all of these (since it assumes that the first set(s) of babies came from the first female(s) to mature) but they should be relatively accurate. All of the species are put in set-ups that, from my experience, are usually the most encouraging to reproduction (for example, Blaptica dubia has a very shallow layer of coconut fiber substrate, whereas Eublaberus posticus will have an accumulation of frass instead) All the roaches are offered the same diet; a dry food mixture and fruit/veggies once a week which is left in the container until the next cleaning. Some containers are being kept slightly warmer than others, and the temperatures will be given relatively (for example, the Blaberus discoidalis are being kept higher on my rack and thus warmer than the dubia or posticus.) Each container has a varying number of adults (I did not standardize the starting numbers out of personal preference.) I check the containers once a week so each data set is biased by this means of checking (although if I'm expecting something I will check once or twice over the course of the week.) Yet again, the data will not be 100% revealing as to reproductive trends, but it should provide some interesting insight. The idea is to get a glimpse of the rate of the reproductive cycle for each species, and not necessarily the sheer number of babies born. (The latter idea would require standardization of numbers, because obviously a container of any species with 20 adult females will produce more babies than one with 10.)
So far, the only complete data is as follows:
Blaberus discoidalis
First adult female observed: ~August 18, 2011. (Adult males were present before the female(s) matured)
First babies observed: ~November 18, 2011.
Days between female maturation and parturition: 92 days.
Last edited by a moderator:
