Parcoblatta molt

Different species of Parcoblatta here but I have noticed very young babies all the way up to sub adults during fall and winter. Then the snow buries them all......

Kevin

 
The reading from the basement ranged from 58 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It seems to stay in that range. So I wonder if that or the fridge would be better ?

 
Periodic warming would probably be a good thing. After all, they would be slightly active in January thaw-type weather. Just not too warm.

 
Here is a photo of two of the nymphs. I cannot tell if they will all be males and my hopes to breed them would be gone, or if at least one will turn out to be female

sorry the image is not good quality. My photobucket account is broken and i had to drastically resize the pic to upload it here

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They are for sure subadult? If so, then they are females. Could you try to get a pic of the underside of the abdomen? Males will have the tip divided into two segments, whereas females will have one large segment.

 
Yes, they are still smaller around 8 mm or so, while the one adult male is almost 20 mm!

Will try for that shot

 
Ok they look like females to me based on what you said!!!! I will have you know that I put these poor little things through a lot of stress with the capturing and photographing. :D they are not used to being handled like that.

Once again, sorry about the bad pics, i had to resize. by the way, the two underside photos are two different individuals (the last one is a cropped version of the second one)

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Looks like you have a couple of females!

Parcoblatta aren't especially fond of handling though :lol: !

 
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BugmanPrice said:
Mature Parcoblatta spp. females have reduced wings…REALLY reduced wings and from the picture (at least) I can’t see any.
Click to expand...
I wanted to make sure the small size of the wing buds were due to the gender and not the age (since a pre-sub male wouldn't look much different from a female).

 
Well the largest (and my favorite) of the males escaped into my house today. I was airing out the cage since I saw a tiny bit of mold, and I left the lid off for a bit. I am used to doing this when they were all nymphs because the nymphs cannot climb the sides. But apparently the adults can, and he was gone in a flash. I looked all over but there are just too many places for him to hide

my only hope of seeing him again is if he comes to our lamp at night. I hear that they come to lights

 
We probably should've warned you about this... :unsure: Fortunately, males are indeed attracted to lights. It shouldn't be terribly difficult if you have a few suitable lights. Putting out bait might be a good idea too.

 
Too late :(

I heard screaming this morning and mom told me how there was this "huge light orange beetle" in the bathroom when she got up. I need not mention the poor thing's fate. It makes me feel bad just thinking about it :(

 
Stupid me made another fatal mistake and the last two males escaped. :( :(

The only good news is that one of the females molted again and is now either a last instar or an adult. But if I can't turn up one of the males, it is hopeless. I am so mad at myself for letting this happen

 
Aw! Set up some lights, turn everything over, and block any exits.

Are the female's wings squarish and covering half the abdomen, or do they look like the wing buds in your previous picture?

 
I will setup a bait in the bathroom this time. We leave a night light on in the bathroom plus there is a sink in there so that might be where they show up. This time I will tell my parents to be on the lookout (and hopefully they won't be mad)

I have looked all over, I cant find them. I think they escaped last night.

The female still has wing buds it looks like. I ill try to get a photo. her color has drastically changed though; she is much darker now

 
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she is the one near the top of the photo

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