Therea petiveriana escapees do quite well...

[wodesorel]

Yeah, I have no idea where or how they're escaping. I'm trying to remember if I may have dropped a container of them earlier this summer, but for the life of me I can't recall if it was them or the flat horned hissers. (Or both. I have butterfingers.) They might have gotten loose when I sorted them in the spring, but I have no idea where they could have been hiding this whole time.

Anyway, in the last few weeks we're finding near-adult Domino nymphs all over the house. The hallway, bathroom, crawling down the wood stairs (they are really talented little things, I sat and watched the show for a bit before collecting it), the middle of the living room. Hubby has found several in the dirty laundry in the basement, but I think it's more likely they're being carried down from the bathroom rather than making it that far on their own.

If they were dropped, that means they've been wandering the house for a couple of months at least. Every one we're finding still looks great, so they certainly do okay in Northern homes. Hubby is getting a little concerned about the whole thing. I doubt they could breed or that the ooths would be okay in the house... right? I'm not cursing us to a super-cute roach infestation in two years, am I?

 

[wcbpolish]

I'm laughing a little inside... sorry... at least they are cute roaches and not Germans. If anyone sees them, just call the beetles.

Maybe you could set homemade traps (cone/funnel over container with bait) to capture them.

 

[RomanBuck]

The ooths need a humid environment to hatch, so unless you have areas that are exceptionally humid, you are fine although it would be neat to have a cute roach infestation

 

[RomanBuck]

I'm laughing a little inside... sorry... at least they are cute roaches and not Germans. If anyone sees them, just call the beetles.

Maybe you could set homemade traps (cone/funnel over container with bait) to capture them.

yes, it's appropriate to laugh a little

 

[Forcep]

I'd love to have a Therea infested house But I think the coming winter will eventually kill the ones which are still wandering...

 

[wodesorel]

I am a little worried about humidity and temp... We live in a century home, so the basement is a little more dank then I'm comfortable with, especially around the laundry area where they keep getting found. And as far as temp - last winter their tank was below the window and it stayed in the low 60s for about four months straight. I had well over 1,000 babies this past spring. And I started off with 6 large nymphs two years ago, so we're talking population explosion despite the temps.

So winter in an old house might not have the same effect on them as it does on other species. I've had lats get loose and never make it outside the critter room. I've dropped containers of hissers and had them run around for a while in there as well but only one tiny nymph ever made it across the hall onto the bathroom ceiling. I've found adult Giant Caves in the storage closet that is directly off the critter room, but again - never in the main house. This is the first time I've found any of my creepy crawlies loose and apparently thriving outside that room. It's a little unnerving.

Also, hubby has stopped screaming my name when he finds them. Last night he just let out this enormous sigh, and carried it upstairs to the "unknown" container I have set up for them until they mature. That worries the most.... I have to wonder if it's a sigh of resignation that he has to put spiders in my sheets in retribution.... h34r: