Know Your Enemy
Accurate identification of pests is as important as choosing the best preventive pest management available on the market today. Preventive Pest Control has compiled a list of most common pests to help you identify the problem.
True Death's Head Cockroach
(Blaberus craniifer)
Characteristics
The true death head cockroaches are big cockroaches that have a length of 1 3/5 to 2 2/5 inch and up to 1 1/5 inch wide. Males are smaller than the females. They have a dark brown body and a moderate yellow to orange hue on their pronotum and wings. Their name was derived from the pattern of their pronotum that is similar to a skull.
Habitat
When the true death’s head cockroaches are found in their natural habitat, they are mostly on the ground of a forest, in rotten wood, or just hiding under the leaves. If these roaches are found near homes, they may be hiding in narrow gaps or hiding in gardens.
In most cases, these roaches are made as feeders, so it is common to see them in a glass container. Their glass container often contains great hiding places that provide all their needed nutrients and water.
Behavior
Although the adult Blaberus cranifer has wings, they cannot fly. The young ones do not even have wings to fly. These roaches cannot climb smooth surfaces, which make them great as feeders for scorpions, tarantulas and lizards. These roaches emit a mild odor when frightened, which makes some people disgusted by them. However, the odor that they emit is just mild that goes away after a while.
Food
These roaches eat fruits and vegetables, such as carrots and plums, but they can also eat moist cereal. In cases where food is scarce, the real death’s head cockroach can eat almost anything, including feces.
Life Cycle
The true death’s head cockroaches are slow breeders. However, if you are going to use them as feeders and is aiming to breed them, you may help them breed faster and survive better by keeping a heated environment that is about 85°F to 95°F. The humidity should also be kept to about 65 to 85%.
Once a female roach is able to breed, she will carry an egg case that contains 34 eggs. After three to four weeks, the nymphs are hatched. They will stay in the ground for the first and second weeks after hatching. These nymphs will require several molting before they become adults. Their common maturity happens after 4 to 5 months, and they may live for just a year.
Other Information and Tips
Since these roaches can be made as feeders or can become pets, expect to find them in pet shops. However, these roaches can still transmit diseases and can become house pests. If you regularly find these roaches in your home, even if you do not have a feeder, you may have an infestation. Make sure to regularly vacuum and clean your home, and search for places where these roaches might be harboring. Check the flooring of your garden to see signs of them. If you are still unable to solve the infestation, ask a help from a professional to have your area treated.
Photo by Simon Eugster --Simon 20:19, 13 April 2006 (UTC) (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons / resized from original
