Nauphoeta cinerea Questions

Aphaenogaster

Aphaenogaster

Third Instar
I have a few questions regarding Nauephoeta cinerea (lobster roaches) that I was hoping someone could answer.

  • Given their high reproductive rate and generalist habits, I thought they might be useful in a composting system. Thoughts?
  • Will they continue to breed well at room temperature (~70 F)?
  • Has anyone ended up with allergy problems from this species?

Thanks in advance!

 
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On roachcrossing.com it says they will breed at ~68 F. Sorry I can't really answer the other questions.

 
They will breed slowly at room temp. They would be great for blattidaecomposting just because they eat everything. Never had any issue with allergies. Although people don't like them for their wiggliness and "speed".

 
Thanks for the responses!

RomanBuck - How slow is "slowly"? Will they breed fast enough to provide a steady source of feeders?

 
If you let them establish for like a year in heat and suddenly take them off heat they would do fine for a primary feeder. I have mine right by my house heating stuff and they breed like crazy. Being constantly at 78-90 with the heat from the baseboards makes life a whole lot easier.

 
They breed like weed in high temperature, I keep mine in 80F; 70F may be too low for fast breeding. I won't be surprise if they can cause allergy problem in some individuals; actually I've developed light allergy against roaches already but I don't know which species is the main reason since I have ~40 species lol. But I would suggest always be careful when dealing with large cockroach colony which has a lot of smell, fecal and debris.

 
RomanBuck said:
If you let them establish for like a year in heat and suddenly take them off heat they would do fine for a primary feeder. I have mine right by my house heating stuff and they breed like crazy. Being constantly at 78-90 with the heat from the baseboards makes life a whole lot easier.
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Forcep said:
They breed like weed in high temperature, I keep mine in 80F; 70F may be too low for fast breeding. I won't be surprise if they can cause allergy problem in some individuals; actually I've developed light allergy against roaches already but I don't know which species is the main reason since I have ~40 species lol. But I would suggest always be careful when dealing with large cockroach colony which has a lot of smell, fecal and debris.
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Thanks for the help! I appreciate it. :)

I'm just looking for a species that would make for an effective and productive composting organism, without the need for spending money on extra heat.

 
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Like I said, if you have them on heat for a while, that should be enough for them to breed and grow enough to start a really good compost bin thing. Eventually when I get 5,000 + large nymphs and adults I plan on doing that on a large scale.

 
RomanBuck said:
Like I said, if you have them on heat for a while, that should be enough for them to breed and grow enough to start a really good compost bin thing. Eventually when I get 5,000 + large nymphs and adults I plan on doing that on a large scale.
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Alright. I might try that soon. Thanks!

 
They are technically an invasive species here and as so are illegal to breed. Our current season gives of 93F after lunch time and N.cinereas here abound as much as the ants do. Lift a small boulder at a park and you'll see them scrambling all over the place. Lucky native wild lizards lol

 
I love my N. cinerea but it gets a little scary when you knock them all off of the egg crates and they start climbing the Vaseline.... Worst nightmare right there lol. Lesson learnt, never knock them off all of the egg crates lol.

 
How big is the compost pile going to be? If you have a large compost pile it will create its own heat. Ambient 70, with 80-100 within a foot of the surface. They should breed like wildfire in an environment like that.

 
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