Parcoblatta molt

Vulgaris

Vulgaris

Fifth Instar
One of my Parcoblatta molted into an adult today. It was interesting to see how the wings unfurl. This one is a male. I am hoping I have some females so I can breed them. This is the first adult from the group of 6

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Ooh, very cool. I love Parcoblatta.

Do you have any idea which species? ID'ing these guys is really complex.

 
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It looks like virginica. I've raised a few different species, and pennsylvanica seems easiest to culture.

 
I cannot tell if this one is an adult female or a male nymph. I will be keeping watch for any mating couples, although I kind of doubt there are any adult females yet

another male molted today by the way. He is identical to the last one, but much smaller.

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Looks like a nymph to me. If you could get a pic of the underside of the abdomen, we can know the gender for sure.

 
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Thought I would share this with you guys. You were right. That individual in question molted today (another male of course). They just look so alien when they molt.

so I have three adult males now. And I looked at the other three. They look like they still have one more molt until they become last instar nymphs, and then another molt after that to adulthood. This is not looking great for my chances of breeding them :(

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You could try cooling the males down dramatically to increase their lifespan. It works with Saturniid moths; I'm not sure how it would work with roaches.

 
Neato picture! You can see the heart under the dorsal surface and the tracheae. Reminds me of those models with the clear skin so you can check out the anatomy.

 
Zephyr, thats sounds like a good idea. I might try it with one or two of them. What kind of temps are we talking?

BugManPrice, I don't know much about roach anatomy. Where exactly is the heart? Is it that spot in the abdomen?

 
Vulgaris said:
Zephyr, thats sounds like a good idea. I might try it with one or two of them. What kind of temps are we talking? BugManPrice, I don't know much about roach anatomy. Where exactly is the heart? Is it that spot in the abdomen?
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The cooling is a common mantid technique too. I think 50's (F) would be appropriate, but even lower is very possible. The heart is the gray stripe along the center of the abdomen.

 
My basement should be around that temp. I will check and see. Will the roaches go inactive I wonder? Maybe I will try it with one or two of them.

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A good question would be, when deciding the lower limit of temperature, is how they overwinter in their temperate climate. Maybe Orin or somebody would know whether they are inactive adults or ootheca that is surviving during the winter months.

It seems I read a paper where they were out collecting some sort of ‘roach (maybe Parcoblatta spp. or Ischnoptera deropeltiformis) as inactive adults during fall, but who knows what happens during winter…

 
They overwinter as half grown nymphs in my area (Pennsylvania). Right now, I can go take a walk through the woods and lift up rocks and find hibernating nymphs.

 
I started my colony from some pre-sub nymphs I found in February (there were also oothecae present, but the ones I collected didn't hatch). They were sluggish but warmed up and grew normally afterward. Adults should be fine with 40's.

 
40's is in the fridge! I will have to check the reading in the basement. Thank you for the information. I did not know that the adults could survive those temps.

Do you think I would need to warm them periodically for feeding and a "break" ?

 
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