Madagascar hissing cockroach

Gromphadorhina portentosa

The Madagascar hissing cockroach , also known as the hissing cockroach or simply hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 2 to 3 inches at maturity. They are from the island of Madagascar off the African mainland, where they can be 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. They are excellent climbers and can scale smooth glass. Males can be distinguished from females by their thicker, hairier antennae and the pronounced "horns" on the pronotum. Females carry the ootheca internally, and release the young nymphs only after the eggs have hatched. 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 can live 5 years. They feed primarily on vegetable material.
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Uses

Madagascar's cockroaches can be kept as exotic pets. They require a small living area with an area for them to hide because they do not like the light. 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 first few inches with petroleum jelly to keep them from getting out. They can live on fresh vegetables along with any kind of pellet food that is high in protein, such as dry dog food. In the USA, 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. 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.
Madagascar hissing cockroaches This is of course a photo of a dubious technical quality, yet it does express my view on these insects quite well, as in that they scare me. Story time: It was in Tsingy, Madagascar earlier this year where after a very hot and long day full of walks I sat down at the porch of our cabin. It was pitch dark and I was just listening to the wildlife sounds, and trying to cool down from the day. For no real reason I switched on my flash light and surveyed my surroundings. There it was, just one meter away from me, an army of these mega huge cockroaches coming towards me. At eye height even, as they were crawling over the pole I was leaning on. I quickly went inside, sealed all openings and couldn't sleep for hours. End of story. I admit it, I have an irrational fear of insects, yet they also fascinate me. This photo very much makes me relive that scene. Antwerpen,Gromphadorhina portentosa,Madagascar hissing cockroach

Cultural

The Madagascar hissing cockroach has been known to be featured in Hollywood movies, prominently in ''Bug'' as cockroaches who could set fires by rubbing their legs together and, in ''Damnation Alley'' , as post-nuclear-war mutant armor-plated "killer" cockroaches. In ''Starship Troopers'', a movie about a war against an enemy called "The Bugs," a teacher is shown encouraging her students to step on this species as part of a TV propaganda broadcast.

A Madagascar hissing cockroach has been used as the driver of a mobile robot. They were used in the reality television series ''Fear Factor''. 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'' , where one emerges from Kim Jong-il'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 FrightFest. Furthermore, if a contestant managed to beat the previous world record , he would receive season passes for four people during the 2007 season. This is a difficult record to break because raw cockroaches contain a mild neurotoxin that numbs the mouth and makes it difficult to swallow. The promotion ended on October 29, 2006.

The cockroaches were used in a runway challenge for the sixth cycle of ''America's Next Top Model'', in which they were adorned with colorful decorations and attached to the models with a leash while they walked the runway dressed in the Jared Gold "Glinka" collection – getting very mixed reactions from the models .

Mutated Madagascar hissing cockroaches figure heavily into the plot of the comic book ''The Exterminators''.

On August 12, 1999, "Jungle" John LaMedica of Newark, DE, USA was placed in a plexiglass coffin with 20,050 giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches on the set of ''Guinness World Records Primetime'' in Hollywood, CA, USA.

Tyler the Creator featured a hissing cockroach in his video for Yonkers off of the album ''Goblin'' during which he bites the thorax off of the cockroach before vomiting it up.

In season 3 of Sony's serialized reality program ''The Tester'', these cockroaches are featured in the first episode's challenge Bug Out, where each contestant will have a square-glass box placed over their head with the cockroaches in them and then interviewed by the judges.

On 12 July 2010, Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Erofeev, curators of the exhibition "Forbidden Art 2006", were being sentenced in the Tagansky Courthouse, Moscow, on charges of "inciting religious hatred". The conservative Orthodox group "People's Synod" had objected to exhibits which depicted Mickey Mouse and Lenin as Jesus Christ. Members of Voina entered the court building, intending to release approximately 3500 live Madagascan giant cockroaches. It is not clear to what extent they succeeded. The process of raising and collecting the roaches is documented, but no photographic evidence from inside the courthouse has been released. Activist Yekaterina Samutsevich, among those who planned to infiltrate the court with insects, was later prosecuted in the same courtroom, before being sentenced to probation in the Pussy Riot trial.

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Status: Least concern
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderBlattodea
FamilyBlaberidae
GenusGromphadorhina
SpeciesG. portentosa
Photographed in
Belgium
United States of America