Panchlora sp. "White" Update!

[THIS IS A DRAFT POST FROM SEVERAL MONTHS AGO]

So, where we last left off, I had just added a new "roach hut" made of corkboard to my Panchlora sp. "White" enclosure. Well, I added another two, as they really seemed to love the first! 😄 One is vertically arranged like the first one, and the other is horizontally placed, buried under the substrate. The smaller nymphs especially seem poorly suited to burrowing, and prefer pre-made structures to hide in instead. The larger nymphs also share this preference, but I still see them burrowing from time to time, often from "roach-hut" to "roach-hut".

Unfortunately that female with the black ootheca cavity did die prematurely, I found her lying on the substrate with half of a very black, rotten ootheca sticking out of her. 😢 However, my other, healthy female produced a nice big litter of nymphs right before then, and died right after, (she was quite old in comparison to the sick female). So I do have quite a few nymphs now, should be around thirty all in all! 😀

Also, while experimenting with different foods, I noticed that this species really likes pre-killed mealworm pupae and larvae, almost more so than anything else I've fed them previously! 😮 It seems this species likes a lot of protein, so I started wondering whether they need pollen in their diet or not. See, pollen actually has a lot of protein in it, and I believe Panchlora adults have been seen visiting flowers in the wild... 

So, I decided to buy some artificial pollen online and feed it to my colony. I went with artificial pollen because I've heard some real pollen sources can be contaminated with pesticides, and the fake stuff was easier for me to find. Anyway, after testing with some less fragile species, I offered some of this artificial pollen to my Panchlora, and low and behold, they really seem to like it! 😃 I have yet to see if it increases nymph survival rates or reproduction success at all, time will tell. 

Kyle from Roachcrossing also suggested that this species may have lost it's gut flora sometime after being introduced to captivity, which could explain why they are doing so poorly in captivity now. Without gut flora, (the symbiotic bacteria that lives in their digestive tracts), they wouldn't be able to digest food properly. So, I added some Hemiblabera tenebricosa and Porcellio bolivari frass to my Panchlora enclosure as well, to try and help them regain some gut flora if they are truly lacking it. I can't tell if it's because of the rising number of nymphs, or the frass, but I have noticed an increased appetite in my colony, so perhaps it is working already. ☺

Anyway, some of my older nymphs are starting to mature now, I've got a few new adult males, and some females seem like they are subadults or at least pre-subs, so hopefully I'll have some new adult pairs soon! 😊

Here are some pictures of one of the males:

And some new shots of the enclosure:

Hopefully the colony will continue it's rise in numbers, I am unfortunately the last person in the US with a breeding colony of this species now, I'd really like to change that soon! 😬

Well, thanks for reading everyone, I hope you enjoyed, will see you all next time! 😉