Monday, December 30, 2019

Paranauphoeta rufipes

Formerly known as "P.discoidalis", which is a synonym for P.rufipes... The husbandry information in this caresheet can almost certainly be applied to P.formosanaP.lyrata, and perhaps the "basalis" group of Paranauphoeta as well.

Housing:

A gallon container will work well for a starter colony, these roaches aren't the fastest breeders, so it will take them a while to outgrow a container of that size. Width is more important than height, as they aren't very arboreal in any point of their life, (though they may appreciate some vertically slanted hides). All life stages can climb smooth surfaces, so a tight fitting lid is recommended.

A thin layer of substrate such as coconut fiber or potting soil should be provided, and you should top it with sphagnum moss, cypress mulch, bark chips, leaf litter, etc., to give the smaller nymphs something to hide under. Plenty of hides such as curved bark pieces, eggcrates, or paper towel rolls should be provided, in my experience if the hides aren't curved enough, and everything is flat and horizontal, the adults will have molting problems. I've also noticed that nymphs really like hiding under partially buried bark for some reason.

This species likes high humidity, and moderate to high ventilation, the air shouldn't get stagnant, and the substrate shouldn't be soggy. If the top layer of substrate dries out in between mistings, that's OK, and they may even prefer that.


Diet:

Dog/cat/chick feed, fruits and veggies work well for this species, and they have a particular fondness for fruits, especially apple.


Temperature:

This species breeds best when kept in the 75-85F° range.


Breeding/Life cycle:

Adults live approximately 4-8 months, with males dying first. Females give birth to small litters of 4-7 nymphs at a time, the first gestation period takes around two months, then after the first litter they usually produce one litter per month, until they lose their reproductive ability. The resulting nymphs take around 7 months to mature under optimal conditions.

This species is sensitive to having too many large springtails in the enclosure, such as Sinella curviseta, and they don't like a very dirty cage either, substrate should be replaced every year or so, however long it takes for it to become frass filled and degraded. They are also extremely susceptible to entomophagus fungi and protein hungry Trichoderma, so be sure to sterilize all hides and substrates that were collected outdoors.

Overall these are beautiful cockroaches, both nymphs and adults have stunning coloration, and I'd like to see them become more popular in the hobby!

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