Selective Breeding B. Dubia

[buddylee79]

Hello Everyone,

I am pretty new to roaches and have lots of questions. Some might be stupid but is there really a stupid question?

1.)I was wondering if selective breeding worked with roaches (b. dubia in particular). The reason I ask is I have some very nice and quite orange Dubias and was just thinking if I kept them seperate, would or could i end up with orange or mostly orange dubias?

 

[RosenKrieger]

I'm pretty sure you can. It'd at least be a cool experiment. Why don't you try it and let us know what you get.

 

[buddylee79]

I'm pretty sure you can. It'd at least be a cool experiment. Why don't you try it and let us know what you get.

I am trying, and will definately let you all know how it goes..

 

[BugmanPrice]

How an insect (and any other organism) looks is defined by two parts. First, the environment... The food given, light, and other factors experienced in a roach colony over time can change the colors. Secondly there is the genetics...due to differences in how parents look and what is passed on to the offspring. If the trait you want to increase, the "orangeness", can be attributed to the environment then you may not be able to increase the abundances of the orange ones because the environment is not inherited, or you maybe able to if you offer whatever environment you were offering to them in the first place. If it's determined by genetics, then you can possibly get more orange ones by letting individuals with that color breed and letting individuals without that color not breed. Long answer short you may or may not be able to depending on what’s causing it (often a combination of them are affecting the coloration). Good luck.

 

[Zephyr]

I've seen both these and "normal" individuals in my colonies, so I'm going to have to decide with genetics being the key factor.

 

[BugmanPrice]

I've seen both these and "normal" individuals in my colonies, so I'm going to have to decide with genetics being the key factor.

Neat, I would defiantly pursue it. You should keep track of what parents have it and what offspring have it, maybe we could find a neat inheritance pattern (IF it’s genetics, still could be environment).

 

[buddylee79]

Neat, I would defiantly pursue it. You should keep track of what parents have it and what offspring have it, maybe we could find a neat inheritance pattern (IF it’s genetics, still could be environment).

I currently have three females of what appears to more orange than normal as well as a few males. I have them seperate from the others and I guess we will see what happens. Even if nothing happens it's all fun...