|
Figure 2
Different stages of Hissing cockroaches. Note the white nymph
directly after moulting.
Hissing
The hissing sound is produced by one of the pairs of spiracles
or breathing tubes on the segments of the abdomen. The
spiracles allow respiration to take place. All the spiracles
have a constant gas flow, but those on the fourth segment are modified to take advantage of this flow to produce a
sound. The amount of air exiting the spiracle has also been
increased by the development of air sacks within the body.
These sacks act like bellows. All stages of
the hissing cockroach can hiss. Often an entire colony will
hiss loudly if their container is bumped. Sometimes a colony
will hiss for no apparent reason. Roaches also hiss
individually, especially at night. Adult males hiss when
fighting, courting and copulating. What is interesting is that
there is a lot of literature on the hissing patters of of
these roaches. Behaviour
Adult roaches can signal their intentions using postures
instead of sound. Aggressive movements include flicking their
abdomen, pushing with their abdomen, butting with their pronotum and lunging with their entire body. Submissive
behaviour include crouching and retreating. Other behaviour
include extending their abdomen, thrashing their abdomen and
standing on their toes (so-called "stilting"). Most of these
movements are used in encounters between competing males.
Abdominal extension may be correlated with release of
pheromones. Hissing cockroaches are
territorial. One adult male can defend a territory around
several adult females where only he is allowed to show
courtship and mate. Intruding males are pushed out of his
territory by using his pronotal projections. A male may hold
the same territory for several months, leaving only to feed.
Females and nymphs are free to enter and leave a
territory as they please. When a lot of males are
seen without legs or antennae it is an indication
that there are too little space or too many roaches in one
area. Males that get pushed out of a
territory do one of two things. Some males may group themselves just
outside the perimeter of the territory and are called "satellite"
males. Satellite males may move about from territory to territory.
They may fight with one another or with males holding territory.
When one of the
territorial males becomes disabled or cannot defend its
territory anymore, one of the satellite males
will replace him.
The second option for males is to place themselves as far
away as possible from other males to avoid fighting.
Non-fighting males are called "subordinates." Female hissers
can tell to which category a male belongs. Females approach
territorial males for mating more often than they approach
satellite males, and approach satellite males more often than
they approach subordinate males.
Courtship begins with the male and female
stroking each other's antennae. The pair then proceed
to body stroking. All of this antennal stroking is accompanied
by a subdued mutual hissing. Once attached to each other, the
male and female stretch out so they are facing in opposite
directions. They may remain in this position for 20 to 30
minutes.
| Top |
Keeping & Breeding Feeder Hissing Cockroaches:
Because female hissers are oviviparous (eggs hatch within
the body of the female), they are relative easy to breed. The
keeping and breeding of these insects are the same in many
aspects.
 We
obtained some of our initial roach stock in
little boxes of four adult roaches at an reptile expo and the rest
as individual roaches from a local pet shop. Hissing roaches
are now more available and can also be bought as young
adults for feeding stock. With the exception of mice they
are probably still the most expensive feeder items in South
Africa. Most
breeding colonies in South Africa will thus start with only a
few insects.
When buying Hissing cockroaches, open the distribution
container and determine the stage and weather the majority
or all of the insects are still alive. It is preferable to
buy roaches from containers with adequate or fresh food and
a water source.
Madagascar Hissing
cockroaches are ground dwelling creatures which lives beneath
forest debris including leafs, pieces of bark and rocks. When
any individual feels uncomfortable in terms of temperature,
humidity, food and dominance it simply moves on to another
little "niche" which fits their profile. In captivity this is
not possible so you need to create a variety of conditions to
suit all individuals.
Housing
After buying the initial stock, the first thing is to move the
roaches to a larger, more permanent container. Although roaches are able to climb
against most vertical surfaces, the housing container should still be be
high enough to prevent easy escapes. Escapees can be prevented
by using tight fitting lids on their own or in combination
with a 2 cm / 1 " layer of Vasaline™ at the top of the
container. 80 ℓ / 20 gal
(US) plastic containers, such as the ADDIS™
"Store It" or the "SA Leisure" rollerbox containers (55 x 42 x
32 cm / 22 x 16.5 x 13 ") should be more than enough for
a relative large colony of hissers. Another suitable container is a
900 cm / 3
ft aquarium / fish tank which is more practical in supplying
the natural diurnal rhythm (day and night cycle) which might
improve breeding performances.
Ventilation
can be in the form of small drilled holes or metal gauze
placed over an opening in the lid. Rather ventilate the lid
instead of the sides of the container. The
gauze should be fixed safely by pressing it against the
plastic sides after the plastic has been partially melted with
something like a soldering iron.
Substrates
According to literature there are a lot of possible substrates
which can be used to keep and breed Hissing cockroaches. The
optimum substrate should most importantly provide a constant
raised humidity for optimum reproduction. Other desirable
properties include that it must be free of toxins, free from
other bugs and insects, it must provide hiding for the nymphal
stages, it must be able to absorb spilled water and wastes and it must obviously be cheap and easy
obtainable. Some breeders also prefer that the substrate
should be soft and easy to separate from the nymphal stages
during cleaning.
Possible substrates include pine shavings,
sawdust,
potting soil, bark chips and red oats. Some breeders might also have
some success with no substrate at all or with the main food
source as substrate (i.e. a 2 cm / 1 " layer of milled
or flaked dog food), but there are a lot of
potential problems with that.
At this stage we have a lot of
success with moist potting soil. Its cheap, easily
obtainable from all nurseries and is a good medium for absorbing
water and wastes and to keep the relative humidity high. Make sure the soil is
not treated with insecticides. Non-treated potting soil brings a lot
unwanted creatures into the colony. Potting soil need to be replaced
in toto.
Pine shavings and sawdust are
relatively cheap, easily obtainable from pet shops and wood work
shops and a relative good medium for absorbing excess water and
waste products. Although wood
shavings offers excellent hiding for nymphs, they tend to get
stuck between shavings which makes this medium very difficult to
clean efficiently. Cedar wood shavings should be
avoided as it is usually protected with a toxin that inhibit
insect reproduction and growth. Pine shavings and sawdust need
to be replaced in toto.
Red oats have most of the properties of
pine shavings, but being a fines substrate, its easier to separate
nymphs from it. It is relative cheap and obtainable from most
co-operations or farm feed suppliers.
Bark chips are relatively cheap, easily
available from most large nurseries and makes excellent hiding for
the nymphal stages. It is not an excellent absorbing medium, but can be re-used after sifting the faeces from
the larger particles.
Substrates need to be replaced when excessively wet, full of
unwanted organisms or excessively soiled with faeces.
Hiding
Because hissers are territorial there must be a lot of hiding.
A nice way of provide natural hiding is by distributing flat
stones (i.e. with a diameter of about 4.5 cm / 3") over
the substrate, all over the floor space of the container. Each
stone will create a little territory for individual males to
occupy.
Other ways of supplying hiding are by using paper or plastic
egg trays stacked horizontally or vertically over the entire
floor space, by using groups of long toilet roll insides,
held together with something like string or elastic rubber bands,
or large pieces of tree bark. Paper egg crates and paper
toilet rolls insides does not make good hiding when a moist
substrate is used. Wet paper egg flats and cartons need to be
replaced when excessively wet or soiled with faeces. Currently we use plastic egg trays (Fig.
3)
as hiding for our colonies.
|
Miller, Stephen A. & Harley, John B. 1999 Zoology,
Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill.
2006-2009 Renier Delport -