One Litter of HIssers, One Confused Guy

E

Edward

First Instar
For the last week or so I've noticed that a certain oblongonota female (Almost 3 inches)had started swelling up, her abdominal segments telescoping so that it was easy to see bits of white. Since I've only had them for about a month and a half, ordering them as large nymphs,(and I haven't seen any molts among the 2"+ roaches i ordered), I assumed that she was about to molt. When i woke up this morning at 6, to my surprise, dozens of slightly whitish/grey/brown nymphs were crawling all over inside the enclosure. My first litter :lol:

obviously the "premolt" female was mature and gravid, and now I'm starting to suspect the rest of my oblongonota are mature, although none of them are evidently 3"+. I've always thought that mature oblongonota were from 3"-4". Could i have runts? Or is there something else at play?

 
Where did you order them from. I would assume the same that she was immature.

What color is she? I have older nymphs of that species and size and there bodies are pure black still, no red coloring yet, and they also have the white stripes.

A picture would be great too!

 
I got them from Greg's Exotic Inverts. The characteristic brick-red color is clearly shown, but if you shine a light on the "black" nymphs you would see some faint red as well. The roaches don't usually show their white stripes, the female that gave birth doesn't show hers anymore. I'll put up some pics later today if i get the chance. Maybe their smaller sizes are a result of inbreeding. I'll probably order more oblongonotas from a different source for "fresh" breeding stock and to compare specimens.

 
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If they have the red then that's an indicator they were adults. Size varies so you cant always go by that I found out.

I guess the lines were due to being large and pregnant, but your right nymphs also get that before shedding.

 
Here's some pics of the mature (but under 3") female, some of her nymphs that were born today, and my enclosure.

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hmmm...the pics don't seem to be working. maybe the file size is too big? They're 4-5mb each.

 
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Yup, looks just like mine, and mine are pregnant. Sometimes overcrowding can lead to smaller roaches.

 
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