Roach glue?

[Roachsmith]

My harlequins and s. lateralis get this odd sticky stuff stuff on them sometimes. What is it?

 

[Allpet Roaches]

A number of species have glands at the rear of the abdomen that pruduce a sticky defensive secretion. "African bullet" roaches produce a good amount. I'm not sure if you can find the exact chemical composition (which is likely to vary somewhat by species and even population) but this abstract lists two chemicals found in the secretion of A. hoeveni: Journal abstract for defensive secretion

 

[Fredrik]

A number of species have glands at the rear of the abdomen that pruduce a sticky defensive secretion. "African bullet" roaches produce a good amount. I'm not sure if you can find the exact chemical composition (which is likely to vary somewhat by species and even population) but this abstract lists two chemicals found in the secretion of A. hoeveni: Journal abstract for defensive secretion

A very informative site about the chemical composition found in cockroaches:

http://www.pherobase.com/database/order/or...Dictyoptera.php

Hope it helps.

Best wishes

Fredrik

 

[Roachsmith]

Thanks! That's really interesting. I wonder why they were releasing a defensive goo. I hadn't bothered them for a few days when I noticed it. Maybe they were fighting with eachother. I notice my s. lateralis only seem to get when they're hiding in my T tanks but not when they're with the colony.