Post-mating duration

[hundefrau]

Helloo

I know this is probably the ultimate newbie-idiot question, but how long does a mating pair stay connected by their butts after mating? (I really tried to find information myself, first, but German Google was less than helpful...)

One of my A. tesselats female and the newly dominant male have been connected for several hours now. Like as in "a lot of several hours".

I'll be honest, I never got the exact duration, as university keeps me away a lot and my roaches often mate when I sleep, but usually when I get home (or wake up) after a few hours, they went on their merry way already.

Is he maybe just trying to keep her from mating again so soon?

Thank you in advance, as always

 

[Test Account]

It’s actually not really much of a dumb question

I never kept roaches, but post-mating connections for insects in general are highly variable and influenced by species and circumstances. With many heteropteran bugs, you can walk into their habitat and see roughly 40 to 70 percent of the adults connected at any given moment. On the other hand, a number of carabid beetles seem to have brief copulations and very little mate-guarding

For roaches specifically, I suggest you visit the link I sent you in the “Mating initiation” forum post. The book says that long periods of connection is not unusual in roaches

Cheers