Some can not only watch, but even hear about cockroaches, while others, on the contrary, are ready to breed them at home. In nature, there are about two and a half thousand of these insects.
Many of them are pests, but not marble cockroaches. They are feed crops for snakes, spiders, toads, hedgehogs and other animals.
Who is he
This insect has several names. He is also called the ashen cockroach, nufuet. He comes from tropical countries. Spread throughout the world due to its unpretentiousness, vitality. They are not afraid of low temperatures, dry air and not very high-quality feed. Many insecticides also can not harm these insects.
Marble cockroaches are almost no different from their relatives. Their length is about three centimeters. Females are slightly larger than males. There are wings, but they cannot fly. Hunger is not terrible for them. Without food, they will live for several days. There is no need to look for special feeds either. Naufeta is omnivorous. They live about ten months.
You can’t name a beautiful exotic insect of an ash cockroach, but, as a food, it is rich in proteins and other nutrients that are necessary for the life of larger animals.
Naufeta refers to:
- type - arthropods;
- class - insects;
- detachment - cockroach-like;
- mind - Nauphoeta cinerea.
About nutrition
Let's talk about how the insect eats. As mentioned above, ashen cockroaches gladly eat everything that comes across on the road: cheese, bread, vegetables, fruits. In the wild, they eat smaller insects. At home, marble cockroaches are grown to feed other animals, which means they must have nutritional value.
The hosts feed them:
- Protein products: dry food for fish and cats, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese, bloodworms, the remains of meat dishes.
- Groats, compound feed, bran.
- Bakery products.
- Cabbage, lettuce, beetroot.
- Apples and pears.
- Flowers and herbs.
You can not give insects bananas, tomatoes, nuts, lard, cheese. Carbohydrate and protein foods should not be mixed. For these purposes, you need two feeders. The feed is updated after three or four days.
If you do not adhere to these rules, then naufuets can die ahead of time. Whatever they are omnivores, there are products that will harm them.
Insect house
It is called an insectarium for cockroaches. True, many say that it is not necessary to spend money on its purchase. A plastic container is perfect for these purposes. It can be purchased at a hardware store without any problems. Remember, the wall should be high, at least thirty centimeters. No lid required, insects will not run away. Although they have wings, they cannot fly and rise up. Wings were given to them in order to plan from a height.
For reliability, the walls of the house from the inside can be greased with thick petroleum jelly. Vaseline oil can not be used, it will spread on the walls. The strip should be about four centimeters wide from the top of the container. Insects cannot overcome this barrier. This protection is updated once every two months. Before applying a new layer, the old one must be removed using a paper towel or cloth. The petroleum jelly strip should be clean, free of dust and dirt.
Care Features
In order for marble cockroaches not to die prematurely, several rules must be observed.
- Do not forget to monitor the ratio of females and males in the group.
- First feed the males.
- At least once a month, drop adults into another container. They are the main colony. Small cockroaches should be kept separately. If everything is done according to the rules, then after a while you will need not one, but several containers. Each age and size has its own territory.
- Colonies should be updated once a year. You can add individuals from another colony to the main family. If the family is not renewed, fertility will decrease, young growth will be weak.
Breeding
It is a simple matter to deal with marble cockroaches. Their content is to create optimal conditions. As mentioned above, an insectiary is required. It must have ventilation holes, with a diameter of not more than two millimeters. Another good option is to close the container with a dense mesh. Sawdust is placed at the bottom. Planting density - per square decimeter, not more than one hundred individuals. The house should be in a warm, but not very lighted room. Air temperature ranges from twenty-five to thirty degrees, humidity is sixty percent and slightly higher. When the temperature drops, the insects will become sluggish, the reproduction intensity will decrease.
In the container where the insect will live, a shelter should be built. For these purposes, small boxes, egg trays are suitable. They are put on top of each other. There will be a cockroach where to hide.
As you can see, the content of Nauphoeta cinerea does not cause any difficulties. Now let's talk about getting offspring.
Insect breeding
In order for breeding of cockroaches to occur, it is necessary to leave at least two males for three females. They are placed in a separate container. Create optimal conditions for reproduction.
A method of reproducing offspring is parthenogenesis. One mating of a male with a female is enough. Marble cockroaches belong to the viviparous species. In order for the female to pay attention to the male, he emits a specific smell. Reproduction of cockroaches is very fast. But, if you do not update the colony at least once a year, the population may degenerate.
After fertilization, the female carries eggs in a kind of capsule called edema and is located in the abdomen of the insect. Sometimes the edema is pulled out to ventilate the eggs. The offspring appears in the period from two to four weeks. About thirty larvae appear immediately. Small cockroaches are kept as well as adults. At two months, they move into this category. During this period, the young growth several times discards the old shell.
There are two ways to control the reproduction of nufuet:
- sedimentation;
- lower temperature maintenance.
Marble cockroaches are those insects that can be beneficial.