Discoid Death Roach

Discoid Death Roach (scientific name: Blaberus discoidalis) is native to Central America and Mexico with a length of 3.5-4.5 centimeters. It is a well-known species of cockroach named after its similar appearance to a dead person's head roach. It is also commonly used as pet feed in the United States and other countries. Both males and females have wings, but they cannot fly and cannot climb smooth objects.

Chinese Name: 伪死人头蟑螂

English Name: Discoid Death Roach

Geographical Distribution: Central America and Mexico

Physical Characteristics: Length ranges from 35mm to 45mm

The Discoid Death Roach, a well-known species of cockroach, is often used as pet food in the United States and other places. Both males and females have wings but cannot fly and cannot climb smooth surfaces. The Discoid Death Roach has a length of 35mm-45mm and is named after its overall resemblance to a dead person's head. The Discoid Death Roach is native to Central America and Mexico. Friends who want to raise Discoid Death Roaches can only import them from abroad, and they need to know what the roaches are afraid of and avoid unexpected deaths during breeding.

The Discoid Death Roach (scientific name: Blaberus discoidalis) is recommended to be kept as a pet for enthusiasts of climbing. It is a species native to Central America and Mexico. Also known as cockroach and skull head, it is named after its similar appearance to a dead person's head. The Discoid Death Roach (English name: Discoid Death Roach), named after the pattern on its anterior dorsal plate resembling a human face, is also referred to as skull head. It is a well-known species of cockroach and is commonly used as pet feed in the United States and other countries.

1. Artificial Killing: Eliminate adult and nymph roaches. During the day, clean the cabinets and drawers and kill them on sight. At night, turn on the lights every half an hour after 8 pm in places with a high number of roaches, such as the kitchen, food processing areas, and warehouses, and kill them once. This can achieve better results.

2. Bait Killing: Use a glass bottle with a small opening and a large body. Apply sesame oil (or vegetable oil) around the opening and put some fragrant food inside the bottle. Place it in areas with a larger number of roaches at night. The roaches will crawl into the bottle and can be killed the next morning. Ant & Cockroach killer is ideal for bait killing.

3. Heat Killing: Roaches cannot withstand heat and will die within a few minutes at 60 degrees Celsius. Pour boiling water into hidden roach crevices to kill them with heat.

4. Blocking: For roaches hiding in crevices, fill the gaps with cement or clay to prevent them from climbing out and starving to death.

5. Chemical Killing: Ant & Cockroach killer, aerosol insecticides, pyrethroids, dichlorvos, etc. are all effective.

1. Habits

Cockroaches are nocturnal insects that are averse to light and have characteristics such as liking warmth, darkness, moisture, and quietness. The peak period of cockroach activity is from 21 to 23 in the first half of the night, and their activity gradually decreases after midnight and stops at dawn.

The suitable temperature range for cockroach activity is 28-33℃. Cockroaches are most active, have the largest food intake, grow fastest, and have the strongest reproductive ability in environments without light, noise, and suitable temperature and humidity.

Cockroaches are omnivorous insects with a wide range of food sources and can consume almost any organic matter. Cockroaches have a hibernation habit, and from late November to early March of the following year is their hibernation period. They are active in the remaining months, with the period from May to September being the peak period of activity and feeding. Cockroaches are insects with incomplete metamorphosis, and their development process consists of three stages: egg, nymph, and adult. These are the common habits of the three species of cockroaches with breeding value, but they also have differences:

(1) The life cycle of the discoid death roach is long. Under artificial breeding conditions, it takes about 10 months to complete one generation. In the natural environment, their life cycle is actually longer, and the lifespan of adults can be more than 1 year. A female can lay 40-60 egg capsules in her lifetime, and each egg capsule contains 16 eggs. Due to the protection of the egg capsule, the hatching rate and the survival rate of nymphs are high.

(2) The life cycle of the Australian death roach is also long, and it usually takes 9-12 months to complete one generation. The lifespan of adults is about six months. A female can lay 20-30 egg capsules, and each egg capsule usually contains more than 20 eggs.

(3) The German death roach can complete one generation in about 2 months under artificial breeding conditions, and the lifespan of adults can reach more than 200 days. Due to the high hatching rate and survival rate of nymphs and their short life cycle and strong adaptability, they have breeding value despite their small size.

2. Reproduction process

(1) Identification and selection of male and female. Male cockroaches have a slender body, small abdominal segments, and wings that extend beyond the tail. In winter and spring (from December to April) when the temperature is relatively low, the number of males is generally more than females. Generally, the lifespan of males is shorter than that of females. Female cockroaches have a robust appearance, large abdominal segments, blunt rounded abdomen and tail, and wings near the tail. After the nymphs from the same egg capsule molt, the female nymphs are 1.4 times larger than the male nymphs. Therefore, there are more female cockroaches than male cockroaches from May to November. It is best to introduce them in April-June each year. When capturing individuals from nature for breeding, there should be more females than males. Most cockroaches molt in May-June; mating begins one week after the molting of males and females. Nymphs from the same egg capsule can mate one week after molting, and they can lay eggs 10 days after mating. Males can mate multiple times in their lifetime, while females only need to mate once and can lay eggs multiple times throughout their lifetime. The number of eggs laid by females in their lifetime varies depending on the breed and rearing conditions. When selecting, choose a breed that is large, has strong reproductive ability, and is easy to manage. Currently, the most commonly bred breed is the discoid death roach.

(2) Hatching and development. The incubation period of cockroaches is 3-12 weeks. They hatch from the side or back of the egg capsule and emerge as nymphs. In order to increase the hatching rate and prevent nymphs from being eaten by adults, the method of picking egg capsules for centralized hatching is adopted. This means collecting the egg capsules laid by the adults to a place and putting them into an incubator box with a temperature of 28-32℃ and a relative humidity of 75%-90%. The incubator box should be water-proofed, clean, and free from contamination. The nymphs that have just hatched from the eggs are white, and they molt once after a few hours, gradually changing their color. They molt a total of 5-13 times during their maturation process before becoming adults. The length of the development time varies depending on the breed and rearing conditions. The discoid death roach generally lays eggs in June-July, and the nymphs hatch in August. They usually overwinter in the form of egg capsules or nymphs, and molt in May of the following year. The nymph stage lasts about 300 days.

3. Feeding methods

(1) Wooden box feeding method. The specifications of the feeding box are: length 70 cm, width 50 cm, height 60 cm, and the cover panel is movable for operation. Make a small window of 20 cm in length and 15 cm in width in the front and back of the box, and seal it with wire mesh for observation and air circulation. The feeding box does not have a bottom board, which facilitates cleaning and hygiene. Place the feeding box in a flat house or building (preferably with a cement floor). Nail a square wooden strip on the front and back sides of the box, 10 cm away from the box opening, to place the wooden frame. The wooden frame is "U"-shaped and made according to the width of the feeding box. The two sides of the frame can be placed on the two wooden strips inside the front and back of the box. Glue the wooden frame with paper (thicker is better), and then stack the wooden frames in the feeding box one by one (leaving an empty space at one end for feeding and water). This becomes the habitat for cockroaches. Choose healthy cockroaches as breeding insects, and breed them in the feeding box. Put a small amount of feed and initially feed them with juicy, nutritious fruit peels, bread, steamed buns, and rice, providing sufficient clean drinking water. Feed the cockroaches every 3 days. It is better to place the feed on the top of the wooden frame in the box, and the drinking water can only be placed on the bottom of the box. Clean and sanitize the box every 3 days. Gently move the feeding box, clean it, and then put it back in place before feeding and changing the water. Cockroaches lay eggs mostly on the paper of the wooden frame, and nymphs will hatch after more than one month of incubation.

(2) Pot feeding method. Choose a suitable size of a pot depending on the volume of cockroach breeding. Place old newspapers or cowhide paper (cement bag paper) rolls in the pot for cockroaches to rest. Cover the opening of the pot with a wooden board, preferably with wire mesh. Place the water and feed in fixed locations to allow cockroaches to form conditioned reflexes and eat at fixed positions. It is best to use a ceramic bowl to hold the feed in the pot, so that the leftover food will not fall into the bottom of the pot, reducing the difficulty of cleaning and sanitation. Other feeding management measures are basically the same as the wooden box feeding method.

(3) Greenhouse breeding. Build a greenhouse with black plastic sheeting and leave gauze windows at both ends for ventilation. In winter, use double-layer plastic film for insulation or use heating methods such as fire or electricity to maintain temperature. Leave a pathway in the middle of the greenhouse. Place feed troughs and water troughs to prevent cockroaches from drowning in the water, a sponge can be placed in the water trough. Soft materials with gaps or foam boards used for packaging chicken eggs can be placed on both sides of the greenhouse, or wooden breeding boxes can also be placed. This method is suitable for large-scale breeding with low cost and investment, but it is not easy to capture the adults.

4. Feed formulation. Cockroaches have low requirements for feed, and they can be fed with almost any available food. The following feed formulas are used to improve the breeding efficiency of breeding cockroaches.

Formula one: 90% cornmeal, 0.5% salt, 0.5% limestone powder, 5% fishmeal, 2% lard, and 2% brown sugar.

Formula two: 75% cornmeal, 15% wheat flour, 2% dry yeast, 4% soybean cake, 1% limestone powder, and 3% rapeseed cake.

Formula three: 70% cornmeal, 20% molasses residue, 3% dry yeast, 1% fishmeal, and 1% bone meal.

Cockroaches have a small food intake, so each feeding should not be too much.

5. Feeding management

The feeding management of cockroaches mainly includes "six guarantees and three prevention":

1. Guarantee of warmth: adopt a greenhouse box breeding method and maintain a temperature environment of 28-33℃ throughout the year.

2. Guarantee of water: water is more important to cockroaches than food. Cockroaches will die if they are deprived of water for 2 days during the nymph stage. The water trough should always contain water.

3. Guarantee of food: in order to ensure that cockroaches develop quickly, become strong, and have strong reproductive ability, the feed trough should never be empty, especially at night, it must be fully fed.

4. Guarantee of humidity: the relative humidity of the environment where cockroaches live should be above 70%. If it is too dry, some water should be sprayed.

5. Guarantee of quietness: keep cockroaches away from noise and avoid human disturbance.

6. Guarantee of darkness: the place where cockroaches are bred should be dark, and cockroaches should be bred in a dark room or box.

1. Prevention of pesticide hazards: Cockroaches are sensitive to various pesticides such as imidacloprid, diazinon, malathion, and carbamthrin. Pesticides are prohibited in places where bee-mimicking cockroaches are bred.

2. Prevention of diseases and pests: Disease prevention includes preventing diseases in cockroaches themselves and preventing cockroaches from becoming hosts of other pathogens. Pay attention to the hygiene of cockroach's environment and diet.

3.Prevention of natural enemies: Mice, bats, ants, etc., eat cockroaches. Pay attention to prevent natural enemies from invading during breeding.