very strange looking roach. any ideas?

[carmallarm]

I was feeding and watering my Dubia colony this morning when I saw a very strange looking roach sitting on top of the egg cartons. It was full-grown, and had vestigial wings, so I'm guessing it's either a female or a male one molt away from his adult size. This roach didn't run and hide when the other ones did when I opened the top of the cage, and it had this weird appendage-looking thing coming out of its rear end.

I wanted to post this picture because I have no idea if this is an egg sac, or a fungal infection, or whatever, and thought that maybe someone on this sight might know. Right now I have this roach separated from the rest of my colony, just in case it is infected. If anyone has any idea what's going on with this roach, please let me know.

 

[carmallarm]

Okay, the thing just retracted into the roach's body. If I inadvertently posted forbidden pictures of the roaches' mating rituals, let me know and I won't do it again. :lol: I'm still new to keeping roaches.

 

[WAFisherman]

That is the egg sack. Ever watch Aliens? Remember the queen?

It's actually a good sign. Means she is producing some nymphs for you

 

[carmallarm]

Thank you! I thought I was posting roach sex photos or something. Why was the egg sac outside her body, and then went inside later? Do the egg sacs need to be exposed to air sometimes, or is this a new egg sac?

 

[patrickb]

There are two reasons behind this. First the egg sac must air out a bit so that it can harden properly. The second is that the roach actually has two different organs or parts of their bodies for the oothecae. The first is similar to an ovary where the ooth is developed and then the second is a brood chamber where the ooth is incubated until hatching. Extruding the sac is necessary in order to transfer from the ovary to the brood chamber.

 

[carmallarm]

That is truly fascinating. Thank you!

 

[gregorydragon]

You just want to be careful not to stress them too much or they will expel the egg sack, thus killing the babies. You'll notice that the adults are shiny, while the nymphs are a dull browinsh-gray. You will also notice quite a size variance in some of them.

 

[carmallarm]

Last I saw, the egg sac was safely back inside the female, and I returned her to the colony. I make sure to feed from my roach colony only once a week or so until the colony is fully established with lots of adult females, and so they don't get stressed out with me rummaging around their cage. I am so happy to have switched to Dubias, and can't wait until the colony is healthy enough for me to feed more heavily off of it. Thanks for all the great tips!