Parcoblatta ID

K

Kevin

Third Instar
I was thinking that all of my Parcoblatta sp were americana but I am now not so sure. I was guessing that species based on where I found them. Up in the mountains twain harte, Ca. After a few males matured in the last few days it appears that one male is smaller, a different color, and not as skinny/long as the other males. Now im really confused. Any ideas on what species im dealing with? 1 or 2?





Thanks

Kevin

 
Here is what male and female Parcoblatta americana look like

http://bugguide.net/node/view/228483

I dont know if the males can have different color forms or not, but to me the two males in your first photo look like different species.

In the second photo there are many male and female last instar nymphs

 
It's got to be Parcoblatta americana; it's the only (known) sp. in the genus in California. As Ralph stated, the color might be do to the exoskeleton not fully tanning yet. It could also just be individual variation.

 
Thats what I was going off of also..... it must be americana haha. Just an update. The darker brown male is a lot darker brown almost black. The reddish brown male has remained the same color.

Kevin

 
Whoops, didn't bother to think about it being California. :wacko: But the size, color, and shape of that male look so different compared to the others. Of course, cockroaches can be highly variable.

Hope a female matures soon.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Zephyr said:
New (undescribed?) species or color morph? :o
Click to expand...
It could possibly be a new species or local variant (although with insects they aren't named, leave that to the ornithologists). Really the only way to tell for sure would to be get a hold of some of adult specimens right out of the "wild".

 
Seeing as this culture is now in my possession...

I sent a message to Professor Neal at Purdue University regarding the coloration differences. (seeing as the orange male isn't in with the rest right now I assume he passed away earlier on:)

"Cockroaches can get a secondary infection, serratia, that makes them turn orange. The fact that your orange male died suggests that it may have had this disease. It is not unusual for species to have variation in color. Some of the size differences among adults are due to nutrition. Low protein diets will produce smaller adults."

 
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