As most of you may know, it is easy to sex a dubia nymph by turning them over and comparing the last segments in the abdomen - males having consistent sized segments, females possessing one larger segment at the end. But today, when I was playing with the roaches again, I noticed another way to sex them just by looking at them from the top. Notice the two predominant segments on their back, just below their head segment. The males will have protrusions that will extend caudally (backward) towards the bottom, and the females have more "straight" looking segments with less obvious protrusions. Hope this helps!
4 years of biology and anatomy/physiology will do that to ya. I've actually been considering picking up an entomology (insect) class due to my recent interest in bugs haha
4 years of biology and anatomy/physiology will do that to ya. I've actually been considering picking up an entomology (insect) class due to my recent interest in bugs haha
Heh, I been thinking of going back to school just because of bugs. They definitely get the neural pathways in the brain working. I will be looking for what you described next time I check in on my Dubia, and even the Turks. In your observations, were these older nymphs that were close to maturing?
Yeah it's kinda like a game. You look at one and think oh its a male! Then you turn it over and see if you're right lol. But yes this has been a consistent feature in all sized nymphs, its just easier to tell on the larger ones. However good your vision is will be how well this trick works bc those newborns are teeny tiny. I can tell the difference on ones about 1/4"-3/8", any smaller than that you may need a microscope lol.