You know, every time I get a major male popping up in one of my hisser cultures, that species becomes my new favorite roach for that week... and my
Gromphadorhina portentosa "Masoala" are no exception. 😂 Just had a very large and super pretty male pop up in my colony recently, and I just can't get enough of him. 😍 Not only is his coloration amazing, but the pronotum morphology is awesome as well, got a little scoop/extension at the front like large male
oblongonota (and the actual
HOLOTYPE of
G.portentosa).
Oddly large males from the "Cleveland Aquarium"
portentosa stock seldom, if ever produce pronotum extensions like that, kinda weird TBH considering that's a pretty common trait of the genus
Gromphadorhina, and I believe is where the name "
portentosa" even comes from, it translates roughly to "pig's nose", which you can kinda see if you squint your eyes while looking at a major male
portentosa with a significant anterior pronotum extension/scoop.
Anyways, morphology jargon aside, take a look at this beauty, (plus one of the gravid adult females):
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| Phone pics I thought were worth sharing |
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| Now for photos with my actual camera. Large/Major male |
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| Major adult male VS minor adult male |
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| Pair |
Such a pretty strain, really hoping these become one of the more popular portentosa strains in the US hobby, they're big, beautiful, and hardy! 😄
Well, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, stay buggy, and I'll see you all next time! 😉
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