Do female roaches produce egg sacs without fertilization?

[Sapphire]

Hi all!

My sister likes weird pets, so when I got roaches she decided they were "cute" and she wanted some as pets. I picked out a few mid-sized ones (which I had identified as females) and gave them to her, and they've since grown up and are nice healthy adult female pet roaches. Later I gave her some males, but she has kept them separate. The females have not once been with male roaches since reaching maturity.

However, she just told me that she saw one with an egg sac sticking out of it today. :?

So, are female roaches like chickens? Do they produce eggs/egg sacs even if they aren't fertilized? I've never had males and females separate, so anytime I see a female with an egg sac, I assume she's "pregnant," but maybe that's not always the case? I assume that, if they do produce eggs without being fertilized, that they'll just discard the egg sac before long.

Thanks for any info!

 

[clear]

Very interesting question and I dont have an answer for it. Let us know what happens!

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Yes they can produce an egg sac but if never with a male their will be no babies. Is it possible any of them came in contact with a male? Also sometimes a female can push out a fat pocket. But if all else fails just wait and see if their are any babies. An interesting fact an American roach once pregnant can in deed keep producing babies without ever coming in contact with another male. Dubias on the other hand need the male to keep injecting the sperm packet into the female to keep producing babies. Hope this helps....

 

[Sapphire]

Yes they can produce an egg sac but if never with a male their will be no babies. Is it possible any of them came in contact with a male? Also sometimes a female can push out a fat pocket. But if all else fails just wait and see if their are any babies. An interesting fact an American roach once pregnant can in deed keep producing babies without ever coming in contact with another male. Dubias on the other hand need the male to keep injecting the sperm packet into the female to keep producing babies. Hope this helps....

That is interesting! My sister said the female ended up dropping the egg sac, so I guess they just produce them and get rid of them if they haven't actually been fertilized. I wonder if they'll continue to produce egg sacs their whole life or if it's just a one time thing. Hm. Never thought I would know so much about tropical cockroaches. lol