Formerly in the genus Corydidarum, which has become a synonym of Pseudoglomeris.
This caresheet is applicable at least in part to other Pseudoglomeris species, but for a more thorough write up on the other species, see my other caresheet for them here.
Housing:
A one gallon container will work well for a starter colony, they can then be moved to a larger enclosure as they start breeding. This species enjoys a lot of verticality, so keep that in mind when picking out an enclosure. An airtight lid is suggested, as all life stages can climb smooth surfaces, and males can fly. A climbing barrier such as silicone oil can be used around the upper rim of their setup, but it's possible small nymphs could get trapped and drown in such barriers, so make sure the barrier is only a thin coating.
A thin layer of substrate should be provided, such as coconut fiber or peat moss. Plenty of hides in the form of curved hardwood or cork bark slabs slanted against each other, cork hollows, and perhaps small rotten logs with holes bored into them should be provided. This species seems to prefer thicker bark with lots of large cracks and crevices, pockets and dents in it, with cork being their favorite. I've noticed cottonwood bark works pretty good as well.
This species does enjoy climbing and is rather arboreal, so they'll appreciate you arranging their hides to be vertically slanted, and/or adding climbing branches to their setup.
While most people seem to assume this species likes it very moist, they actually seem to prefer low surface humidity, but high air humidity. It seems best to keep only a third or so of the enclosure consistently humid, with light mistings of the entire enclosure every few days if your air humidity is particularly low. They should be given a moderate to high amount of cross ventilation, as good airflow seems to be pretty important to these and other arboreal roaches. Stuffy, stagnant air appears to greatly slow down reproduction, but too much ventilation combined with very low ambient air humidity can also cause issues.
Diet:
A staple diet of fresh fruits, along with pollen or artificial pollen works best for this species. They will also feed on alternative protein sources like dog/cat/chick feed or fish flakes, and will appreciate being offered a variety of foods, but seeing as they are palynivores, they much prefer getting their protein from pollen or artificial pollen, and do best when it's offered consistently.
Temperature:
The Vietnamese strains of this species can grow and breed OK when kept in the 75-85F° range year-round. However recent evidence suggests offering a mild winter diapause may improve their yearly breeding rates and colony health, at least in more Northern lines.
Most of the temperate Chinese strains of this species do best when kept in the 75-85F° range through Spring, Summer and much of Fall. However, they definitely seem to need a winter diapause, normally starting in November and ending February, at around 60-65F° to thrive.
Breeding/Life cycle:
Adult males can live for at least 5-7 months under optimal conditions, with females often living twice as long. Females gestate for around 1.5-2 months under optimal conditions, depending on clutch size, (however, gestation times can be doubled or even tripled if kept too cool, too humid, fed improperly, if not given enough ventilation, or if put through any number of other stressors). Normal sized litters contain roughly 15-20 nymphs, which then take 8-12 months to mature, depending on diet and temperature.
Newborn nymphs hang on to the undersides of females for at least one molt, and they don't seem to care whether the females they cling to are their birth mothers or not. They'll even cling to the undersides of males if their numbers are high enough. It seems L1 nymphs rarely survive if separated from adult females long term.
Newborn nymphs hang on to the undersides of females for at least one molt, and they don't seem to care whether the females they cling to are their birth mothers or not. They'll even cling to the undersides of males if their numbers are high enough. It seems L1 nymphs rarely survive if separated from adult females long term.
This species can be sensitive to pest infestations, and likely high numbers of isopods and large prolific springtails, (like Coecobrya cf. tenebricosa "Tropical Pink", Entomobrya unostrigata, etc.). Additionally, like Perisphaerus, this species doesn't eat it's shed skins, which are quite thick, so to keep things hygienic the top layer of substrate should probably be removed and replaced every now and then.
Overall this species is an extremely beautiful one, intermediate in difficulty. And much like Perisphaerus spp., they can be rather prolific if kept properly, (though reproduction can be greatly slowed with even slightly substandard conditions). Definitely a species every Blatticulturist should own, I hope to see them become more commonly kept as the years go by! 😁
