The Madagascar hissing cockroach is unique in its ability to make a "hissing" sound. These cockroaches hiss through the breathing spiracles located on their abdomens. This hissing sound is used to communicate with its own species and others. Four hisses with different social purposes and amplitude patterns have been identified: a male combat hiss, two types of courting and mating hisses, and an alarm hiss (a loud snake-like hissing that startles predators).
Communication Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Because the Madagascar hissing cockroach is only found in Madagascar, little conservation efforts have been done. This is due to political turmoil. Since the Malagasy people were forced out by the French colonizers in the 1960’s, the country has gone from dictatorship to dictatorship. It is difficult for field biologists to research the area due to the sparse network of passable roads. In the recent years, Liberation and international aid have made it easier for biologists to study Madagascar focusing on the hissing cockroach. The Madagascar hissing cockroaches huddle together in the forest. These pockets of natural forest are dying by degradation and fragmentation and because of this Madagascar has become a top priority for conservation biologists. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been contributed over the past three decades to help conservation efforts in Madagascar.
CITES: no special status
Madagascar hissing cockroachs have an incomplete or partial metamorphosis. They hatch from eggs as nymphs, which are quite similar to adults in general structure, but lack reproductive organs. Nymphs molt their exoskeleton six times as they grow to adulthood, a process that usually takes 6-7 months.
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis
There are no known adverse effects of Gromphadorina portentosa on humans.
This species is part of the nutrient cycling process in Malagasy forests. These forests are important as sources of timber, for water quality, and sources of other natural products.
Hissing cockroaches are also sold commercially in the pet trade.
Positive Impacts: pet trade
Elliptorhina laevigata plays a role in the rainforests of Madagascar by recycling a large amount of decaying plant and animal matter.
The mite Androlaelaps schaeferi, formerly Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi, is a common parasite of this cockroach. These mites form small clumps of four to six individuals at the base of the leg of their cockroach host. While it was originally thought that this mite was sanguinivorous (blood-sucking), recent studies showed that the mite simply "shares" in a cockroach's food items.
Ecosystem Impact: biodegradation
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Madagascar hissing cockroaches are detritivores. Their most frequent food is decaying plant material, including fallen fruit, because it is so readily available. They also eat smaller insects and animal carcasses.
Animal Foods: carrion ; insects
Plant Foods: leaves; seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit; lichens
Other Foods: fungus; detritus ; dung
Primary Diet: detritivore
Elliptorhina laevigata, the Madagascar hissing cockroach, occurs only on the the island of Madagascar.
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
Other Geographic Terms: island endemic
Elliptorhina laevigata is primarily found in the tropical lowland rainforests of Madagascar. They tend to live in the dry litter on the forest floor.
Range elevation: 0 to 1000 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest
Madagascar hissing cockroaches can live up to five years.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 5 (high) years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 5 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 2 to 5 years.
Typical lifespan
Status: captivity: 2 to 5 years.
Like most insects, Elliptorhina laevigata has a head, thorax, abdomen, and 6 legs. Unlike many cockroach species, they do not possess wings. Their exoskeleton is dark, from mahogany brown to black, and very thick, hard, and waxy. They have pads and hooks on their feet that allow them to climb smooth surfaces. Males possess a pair of large bumps or tubercles behind their head, these structures are much smaller in females. These horns are known as pronatal humps. Elliptorhina laevigata is one of the largest species of the cockroaches in the world, adults are 5.1 to 10.2 cm long, with males growing larger than females.
Range length: 5.1 to 10.2 cm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger; sexes shaped differently
Hissing cockroaches probably have many types of predators, but there are few documented relationships. Arachnids, ants, tenrecs, and some ground-feeding birds are likely predators. As previously mentioned, an anti-predatory strategy is an alarm hiss - producing a loud snake-like noise that may startle potential predators.
Male Madagascar hissing cockroaches produces acoustic sounds or hissing during courtship interactions with females. Males typically produce two types of signals, a calling sound and a courtship sound. The calling sound is a long distance song that is used to attract females while the courtship sound is used more during close range interaction.
Adult male hissing cockroaches defend mating territories from other males, and attempt to monopolize mating with all the females in their territory. Males interact by hissing, and in bouts of pushing and shoving. Cockroach mating can occur year around, but only when the climate is warm.
Mating System: polygynous ; polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Male hissing cockroaches are attracted and stimulated by the odor of the female. The males have specialized sense organs on their antennae for this. The amount of sex attractant secreted is higher in virgin females, although the output can be sporadic. It decreases with age. When the male is attracted to the female by this scent, he begins to hiss and touch her antennae. The pair then attaches to one another and turn rear to rear and remain in this position for 30 minutes. The females carry the ootheca, a long yellowish egg case, internally and they release the young nymphs after the eggs have hatched. Typically 15 - 40 cockroach nymphs will emerge.
Breeding interval: year-round
Breeding season: year-round
Range number of offspring: 15 to 40.
Average gestation period: 2 months.
Range time to independence: 5 to 10 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 7 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 7 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); ovoviviparous
Female Madagascar hissing cockroaches provision their eggs, then carry them after fertilization until they hatch.
Parental Investment: pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Female)
The Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), also known as the hissing cockroach or simply hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 5 to 7.5 centimetres (2 to 3 inches) at maturity. They are native to the island of Madagascar, which is off the African mainland, where they are commonly found in rotting logs. It is one of some 20 known species of large hissing roaches from Madagascar, many of which are kept as pets, and often confused with one another by pet dealers; in particular, G. portentosa is commonly confused with G. oblongonota[1] and G. picea.[2]
Unlike most cockroaches, they are wingless; The “hissing” sound (expelling air through their bodies) is their primary defense, to frighten potential predators, as they cannot fly and are easily captured. They can reproduce asexually, but usually reproduce sexually. They are excellent climbers and can scale smooth glass. Males can be distinguished from females by their thicker, hairier antennae and the very pronounced "horns" on the pronotum. Females carry the ootheca internally, and release the young nymphs only after her offspring have emerged within her. As in some other wood-inhabiting roaches, the parents and offspring will commonly remain in close physical contact for extended periods of time. In captivity, these insects have been known to live up to 5 years. They feed primarily on vegetable material.
As the common name suggests, the Madagascar hissing cockroach is characterized by its “hissing” sound, which some people claim sounds more like a rattlesnake’s tail or a rainstick. This is their primary method of warding off potentially insectivorous predators. The sound is produced as the insect forcefully expels air out of their specialized respiratory spiracles (orifices), mainly those that are located on the insect fourth body segment (abdomen),[3] although spiracles are found, more or less, on all segments of their abdomen. The Madagascar hissing cockroach is the only member of their group of cockroaches that can make audible sounds. Compared to crickets, this exact mode of sound production is atypical, as most insects that make noises do so by rubbing together various body parts ("stridulation"), such as the hind legs. Some long-horned beetles, e.g., the giant Fijian long-horned beetle, hiss by squeezing air out from under their elytra, but this does not involve the spiracles. In hissing cockroaches, the sound takes three forms: the disturbance hiss, the female-attracting hiss, and the aggressive or fighting hiss. All cockroaches from the fourth instar (fourth molting cycle) and older are capable of the disturbance hiss. Only males use the female-attracting hiss and fighting hiss; the latter is used when challenged by other males (males will establish a dominance hierarchy, and a submissive male will back down to end a fight). The hissing makes them a popular pet; initially, they will make the noises when picked up, though they quickly calm down and adjust to being handled and observed up-close.
The mite species Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi lives on this species of cockroach along the undersides and bases of the legs and takes some of its host's food as well as consuming particulates along the host's body. As these mites do not harm the cockroaches they live upon, they are commensals, not parasites, unless they build up to abnormal levels and start starving their host. Recent studies have shown that these mites also may have beneficial qualities for the cockroaches, in that they clean the surfaces of the cockroaches of pathogenic mold spores, which in turn increases the life expectancy of the cockroaches.
The Madagascar hissing cockroach has been known to be featured in Hollywood movies, prominently in Bug (1975) as cockroaches who could set fires by rubbing their legs together and, in Damnation Alley (1977), as post-nuclear-war mutant armor-plated "killer" cockroaches. In Starship Troopers, a sci-fi comedy film about future humans’ war against an alien species called "The Bugs", a teacher is shown encouraging her students to step on this species as part of a TV propaganda broadcast.
In 1984, a guest named Adam Zweig appeared on Late Night With David Letterman, demonstrating his pet Madagascar cockroach “climbing the tightrope over the fires of hell and the pit of doom”.[4]
A Madagascar hissing cockroach was used by artist Garnet Hertz as the driver of a mobile robotic artwork.[5]
They were frequently used in the reality television series Fear Factor, where in one episode of the 2002 series, featuring Celebrities competing for charity, the host, Joe Rogan, ate one as part of a wager with contestant Alison Sweeney of "Days of Our Lives" after she had what Rogan has since described as 'the greatest freak-out in "Fear Factor" history' after panicking during a stunt. While normally she would be eliminated, as the show was for charity, it was decided that if she ate 3 worms she would advance to the final stunt regardless. In addition, Rogan would eat a cockroach as part of the bet.
The species also made an appearance in the movie Men in Black in 1997. This was later parodied in the comedy Team America: World Police (2004), where a cockroach emerges from a Kim Jong-il puppet’s body after his death, enters a tiny spaceship, and flies away.
In September 2006, amusement park Six Flags Great America announced that it would be granting unlimited line-jumping privileges (for all rides) to anyone who could eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach, as part of a Halloween-themed promotion for their annual FrightFest. Furthermore, if a contestant managed to beat the previous world record (eating 36 cockroaches in 1 minute), they would receive season passes, for four people, for the 2007 season. Despite any protein or additional nutrients, cockroaches contain a mild neurotoxin that numbs the mouth and makes it difficult to swallow.[6] The promotion ended on October 29, 2006.
Since 2011[7] the Bronx Zoo has held a roach-naming and gifting program themed for Valentine's Day[8] allowing their Madagascar hissing cockroaches to be named by benefactors. Funds raised are donated to Wildlife Conservation Society, the parent nonprofit organization of the zoo.
Madagascar cockroaches can be kept as exotic pets. They require a small living area with an area for them to hide because they dislike light sources. The cockroaches prefer warmth and they cannot function in cold weather. Due to their propensity to climb, the living area must be tested to see if they can climb it as they do in their natural environment. Fish tanks with screens work best but it is also wise to coat the top few inches with petroleum jelly to keep them from getting out of the habitat that they are kept in. They can live on fresh vegetables along with any kind of pellet food that is high in protein, such as dry dog food.[5]
In the US, some states require permits before this species can be kept as a pet or in breeding colonies. The state of Florida requires such a permit. This is because of the similarity between Madagascar and Florida in climate, which makes them potentially invasive. In fact, during outreach programs, the University of Florida's Department of Entomology and Nematology, which has such a permit, allows only males to be taken out of the laboratory. This is to prevent the possible introduction of a pregnant female into the environment. It is also possible to raise them to feed other pets, as they are reasonably high in protein. Reptiles are often given roaches as food.
G. portentosa growth stages The Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), also known as the hissing cockroach or simply hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 5 to 7.5 centimetres (2 to 3 inches) at maturity. They are native to the island of Madagascar, which is off the African mainland, where they are commonly found in rotting logs. It is one of some 20 known species of large hissing roaches from Madagascar, many of which are kept as pets, and often confused with one another by pet dealers; in particular, G. portentosa is commonly confused with G. oblongonota and G. picea.
Unlike most cockroaches, they are wingless; The “hissing” sound (expelling air through their bodies) is their primary defense, to frighten potential predators, as they cannot fly and are easily captured. They can reproduce asexually, but usually reproduce sexually. They are excellent climbers and can scale smooth glass. Males can be distinguished from females by their thicker, hairier antennae and the very pronounced "horns" on the pronotum. Females carry the ootheca internally, and release the young nymphs only after her offspring have emerged within her. As in some other wood-inhabiting roaches, the parents and offspring will commonly remain in close physical contact for extended periods of time. In captivity, these insects have been known to live up to 5 years. They feed primarily on vegetable material.
