Madagascar+Giant+Hissing+Cockroach

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//Gromphadorhina portentosa//

Order: Blattodea

=**__Husbandry Information__**=

Housing Requirements

 * Zoo Atlanta keeps a breeding colony in a 20 gallon long tank. One side has a heat pad and soil that is misted daily while the other side is kept more dry. A humidity chamber (tupperware with a wet sponge inside) is accessible at all times. The water bowl is filled with small rocks to prevent drowning.
 * Zoo Atlanta's program roaches are housed in an approximately 11x8 inch kritter keeper with cricket water (gel water). Animals are removed by handlers and placed in a small kritter keeper singly to be transported to programs.

Diet Requirements

 * Madagascar hissing cockroaches are decomposers, eating fallen vegetation on the forest floor and returning nutrients to the soil. In captivity they eat fruit and vegetables.
 * Madagascar hissing cockroaches are not considered a pest species due to their specialist diet. We offer them fresh greens and vegitables in addition to dog food as a protein source.

Notes on Enrichment & Training

 * We offer bamboo leaves, pine cones, and leaf litter as enrichment

=__Programmatic Information__=

Tips on Presentation

 * Presented on the hand, public touching allowed.
 * The name "cockroach" can turn people off. Introduce it is an amazing insect from Madagascar, then reveal it's identity as a cockroach after they have touched it. A rose by any other name . ..
 * This is a great animal to let the public not only touch, but hold - it's a great way to involve them in your presentations too!

Tips on Handling

 * A good method is the "envelope" method. Hold it as if you were passing someone an envelope. Hold it near the base of your fingers, with your thumb providing very gentle pressure and control on the thorax, leaving the abdomen exposed for touching. Adjust as necessary.
 * Zoo Atlanta presents these animals on a flat open hand allowing the roach to move about and using a hand over hand method if they are moving a lot. Handlers must keep a close eye on them as they move because a drop of even a few feet can be devastating for invertebrates.

Potential Messaging

 * Insects are animals, too! Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches are a charismatic mega-invertebrate and so are a good introduction to what makes an animal an animal. They move, reproduce, eat, etc.
 * Insects are a lot like you (and so deserve respect!) Their exoskeleton is made of keretin, just like human fingernails and hair. They have muscles, nerves and a beating heart. They have complex behaviors: Madagascar Hissing Cockroach males defend a territory and use their humps for fighting; females protect their young; they live together in groups and can make noise for communication.
 * Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot with many endemic species. Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches live on this amazing island, along with lemurs, fossa, emerald green pill millipedes, tenrecs, many different chameleons and lots of other species. It's important to conserve biodiversity for many reasons. The roaches can be used to start a discussion about how animals are chosen for conservation programs and which are important to conserve (they all are!)
 * Importance of decomposers. Importance of all of the "little animals" to the web of life and the balance of nature.

=__Acquisition Information__= Very commonly kept, and easily bred in captivity.

=__Comments from the Rating System__=
 * Natural Science Center of Greensboro: Do not allow volunteers to handle
 * Henry Vilas Zoo: Teach insect and invertebrate attributes and ecosystem role
 * Zoo New England, Stone Zoo: A fantastic, easy program animal for any handler. So many different educational messages, and kids (of all ages) love insects - or at least intrigued by them!

=__Natural History Information__=

Range and Habitat
Madagascar Found in forests

Physical Description
The Madagascar hissing cockroach is a large species of cockroach, growing up to three inches long. Their hard outer shell, called an exoskeleton, is shiny and brown, and their head, legs, and antennae are black. Like other insects, they have six legs and three body parts – the head, thorax, and abdomen. It can be difficult to see the head, as it is small and carried beneath the pronotum, the first segment of the thorax. In males, the pronotum also bears two “horns,” bumps in their hard exoskeleton, which are used in combat. The females lack these horns, and tend to be a little larger than males.

Life Cycle
Female hissing cockroaches will produce around 50 eggs inside an ootheca, a specialized egg-case around one inch long. This species retains the eggs inside her until they hatch, at which time she gives birth to live young. When the babies are born, they are the size, shape, and color of a grain of rice, and will get darker as they grow. As the juveniles mature, they molt their exoskeleton several times in order to reach their adult size.

Behavior
Madagascar hissing cockroaches are nocturnal, emerging at night to forage on the forest floor. They are communal and live in family groups with a dominant male presiding. Although they do not have wings and cannot fly, they are excellent climbers. These cockroaches also have a symbiotic relationship with a species of mite which live on the cockroach. The mites consume debris on the cockroach so the cockroach stays clean!

Threats and Conservation Status
Although their population in the wild is considered stable, their habitat is threatened by mining and agriculture.

=__Did you know…__= > __Photographs__
 * As their name implies, these cockroaches hiss. They do this by forcing air through holes called spiracles on their abdomen. It is believed that no other insects can hiss in this way. Hissing is a means of communication used when threatened by predators, when defending territory, and during courtship.
 * Although quite large, hissing cockroaches are not the biggest cockroach species in the world – Australia’s burrowing cockroach, //Macropanesthia rhinoceros//, is heavier and the giant cockroach from the Caribbean, //Blaberus giganteus//, is longer.

=__Contributors and Citations__=
 * Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, San Jose
 * Saint Louis Zoo
 * Baton Rouge Zoo