Is anyone keeping Megaloblatta?

Axolotl

Axolotl

Seventh Instar
Forum Supporter
I'm just wondering if Megaloblatta blaberoides or Megaloblatta longipennis are available in the hobby here in the U.S.

 
Nope. People not in the US have tried keeping them a handful of times, but getting them to drop ooths and getting said ooths to hatch is really difficult and I'm not sure if anyone has gotten ooths to hatch consistently (or at all). Be nice to get them in the US hobby though!

 
@Xenoblatta is keeping Megaloblatta currently, but he's in Columbia. No one I know of has ever been successful getting F1 nymphs, all their ooths never hatch, plus I think only one facility here in the US has ever had live individuals in captivity, never any hobbyists. 

 
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@wizentrop had this to say about this species.

I tried working with this species last year. Reared a few pairs of adults, got several nice and chunky oothecae. Then I waited. I am still waiting. The oothecae are the sensitive stage for this species, they must require very specific conditions in order to hatch. They ended up not hatching, and even though one of them still looks good, I suspect they just went bad. I might try to work again with Megaloblatta, but right now it is not worth my time.
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And:

Let's take Megaloblatta for example. After I figured out their preferred diet, substrate and humidity, even before obtaining oothecae what really struck me as problematic for culturing them is their activity pattern. They CANNOT be kept in confined spaces. This is a flying cockroach, and they do fly A LOT. Like, every night. It must be something crucial in their biology. So they try to take off inside their container over and over until they damage their wings, and this happens quite fast unfortunately. No one would like a culture of broken-wings Megaloblatta.
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I wonder if @Allpet Roaches and @Peter Clausen have any input as well.

 
Tleilaxu said:
@wizentrop had this to say about this species.

And:

I wonder if @Allpet Roaches and @Peter Clausen have any input as well.
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I think that the big flying problem that Gil had with his specimens must vary from species to species, as I wrote to @Xenoblatta, and his adults don't try flying too often, and certainly haven't beat their wings to shreds yet. Maybe the species Gil was keeping is a canopy dweller, whereas the species Xenoblatta has is more of an understory species.

No one has figured out a proper incubation methodology for Megaloblatta ooths yet though, which is a shame...

 
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This is disappointing news, but also ... challenging? I don't have the space now, but I wouldn't mind giving them a go in the future once my roach-rearing skills hit 10/10. Where is everyone getting their adults? Are they even able to be imported to the U.S.?

 
Axolotl said:
This is disappointing news, but also ... challenging? I don't have the space now, but I wouldn't mind giving them a go in the future once my roach-rearing skills hit 10/10. Where is everyone getting their adults? Are they even able to be imported to the U.S.?
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@Xenoblatta lives in Columbia, and @wizentrop has collecting permits and caught his as nymphs I believe, (he lives in Canada BTW). No one has imported them into the US in forever, and I doubt it'll happen anytime soon. :(

 
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