Seperating Panesthia sp. Nymphs

Gsc

Gsc

Fifth Instar
As y'all all know, I'm on a quest to start a Panesthia sp. colony. I found a friend here in the US who had a few adults and recently said they produced a bunch of nymphs. I've read different opinions on when it is safe to seperate out the babies. What do y'all feel. If they've been with the parents for at least a month, do you think they have enough for the gut flora to get established in them so they could survive on their own?

Should I put a bunch of the substrate from my Macropanesthia roaches in their cage to help (ie Flora in the Macropanesthia feces...would that work like the gut flora from their parent's feces)?

I talked with one gentleman from Europe who produced a litter of Macropanesthia...he seperated out some of the babies pretty much right away and they did fine... There shuldn't be a ton of difference between Panesthia and Macropanesthia...

I'd love to hear everyones opinion...

Thanks,

Graham

 
I found this using a google search- Not Panesthia but close.... kinda answers my question...

"The objective of this study was to measure the possible effects of prolonged parental care on offspring growth in Korean wood-feeding cockroaches, Cryptocercus kyebangensis. In the field-caught subsocial woodroaches of C. kyebangensis, offspring with both parents were greater in both head width and body weight than those with single parents. Manipulation experiments showed that offspring separated from their parents could survive independently without parents, but they grew more rapidly when they remained with their parents. In particular, the effects of parental care on offspring growth were found to be stronger in groups with both parents than those with single parents. These results suggest that the prolonged parental care evolved in Cryptocercus has a significant impact on offspring growth."

 
Matt K said:
It pretty much depends on how badly you want that roach and how far you will go to rear them!
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I'll go all the way on these guys... I think that after a few months with the parental stock they should be ok (might not grow as fast), but heck, Panesthia take almost as long as Macropanesthia to mature anyways I believe... Hopefully I'll be able to get a few.

 
Matt K said:
It pretty much depends on how badly you want that roach and how far you will go to rear them!
Click to expand...
I'll go all the way on these guys... I think that after a few months with the parental stock they should be ok (might not grow as fast), but heck, Panesthia take almost as long as Macropanesthia to mature anyways I believe... Hopefully I'll be able to get a few.

 
Gsc said:
I'll go all the way on these guys... I think that after a few months with the parental stock they should be ok (might not grow as fast), but heck, Panesthia take almost as long as Macropanesthia to mature anyways I believe... Hopefully I'll be able to get a few.
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I think in months it is something like 24-30, compared to Macro's at 50-60.

 
I believe the life cycle of most Panesthia, specifically Panesthia angustipennis is similar to Gromphadorhina (though P. spadica may be closer to two years). The nymphs molt at a regular pace (once a month, not once or twice a year like Macropanesthia). Leave them with the parents for a while unless you risk losing your opportunity to get them.

 
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UPDATE: Well it's been probably 4 plus months since I got the small group of Panesthia nymphs... They are in a 5 gal bucket cage with ~6" of rotten wood...they tend to be HARD to find when trying to check up on them. So far, they're still alive... I can't really notice any growth so far. I have taken your advice Orin and offer a kibble or so of dog/cat food whenever I go through the colonies... don't know if they are eating them or not... 6 small panesthia nymphs probably couldn't eat a full kibble in 6 months- lol... anyways... still hoping to have a colony of them one day...

Graham

 
Gsc said:
Great Matt... 2- 2.5 years isn't that bad (kinda like a kingsnake- lol)...Graham
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Hi,

i have Panesthia a. yayeyamensis and Panesthia a. spadica in

culture.

I do not seperate the new borns and youngs from the parents

and i have not lost until now any youngs.

May be its good or not, but because of the good happens

i will work gain on this way.

This are only my experience!

best regards from germany,

Tommy

 
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