The Emergence of Malarum Blattae: Tan and Ina

Hey guys.
You all apa kabar? Its been a while... Anyway, Ina got lost 3 weeks a go . Man , I was totally freaked out and kinda down... My little fella was gone missing for the whole 3 weeks. Ina just completely vanished from my sight. I ve searched everywhere for her; in the drawer, behind the wardrobe and in fact under my bed but still no signs of her....On top of that, the most terrible thing happened was; Tan was gone missing too... I was double and superduper scared.. What if I couldnt find them and everthing turned out to be a mating time... Walla weii! That thought drove me crazy for 3 days... And everyday, I kept starrring at the empty aquarium... Still the sillhouetes of Tan and Ina floating across my mind... But.. Allah servat me!!hehe.. Thank god... after 3 days went missing, finally I found Tan, the big fat roach, back. He was crawling around the mattress. Tan, you caused a lot of trouble la.. I grabbed and picked him up and put it back in the aqua..where he belonged to.. I started to wonder how they could managed to escape though there were no cracks or holes. Suddenly, aha! there was a little crack about 1 cm width. wah,, Tan and Ina were so unique that they could squeeze themselves out through that puny crack. Well, actually, there was no lid for the aqua. I only used chopping plate and a book to cover it over. Can consider my fault la..So, if u left any crack even about 1 cm width, u would end up seeing your roaches vanish. Well at least that would be a lesson to me... Ok fine, at last I found Tan.. but how about Ina? I embarked again the search for Ina but fracking no signs of her anymore.. Perhaps, she left me and Tan for good... So, I started to forget Ina knowing her would die out there.. on one condition la..If she didnt cross breed with her far far relatives, the american brotherhood roaches la...So, I just shared my love with Tan alone; feeding him with banana, apple, cat food, potato and bread.. But seriously, he enjoyed strongly banana and potato lol. After 3 weeks in the big aqua alone with no mate, I realized he was depressed because he stopped eating food, not sure if he was gonna molt.. Yet, I changed him into a small aqua yesterday.. And to my surprise, when I was tiding up my table, suddenly Ina appeared right in front of me. walla weis, miracle, she didnt leave the place wakaka.. I thanked Allah so much for letting us meet up once again.. I immediately grabbed her and placed her in the small aqua with Tan.. A couple of minutes after being released, I dont know, some kind of pheromones from Ina that attracted Tan's attention and so he rushed out from his hidding place towards Ina and finally, they became united once more.. OOo so sweet....what a happy ending...So, the emergence of Ina back after 3 weeks went missing has sparked a spirit in myself to share my love, joy and experience with Ina and Tan again.. I sprayed the coconut bedding and fed them with banana..They were all happy and enjoyed the food once more.. What I hope is that they grow big and do not sneak out again...

-THE END-

Its already been a week...

Hey guys,
yesterday indicates its been a week since i bought you two. and Tan! ur getting bigger, He likes to eat but Ina, why do u always hide urself and do not eat? hahaha, anyway cheers!

At last, one of the warriors turned up...

Gud morning guys,

It's been a day Ive waited for you two to come out and eat and only this morning, I saw Tan showed up and slogged away at eating the cat food haha. But, I couldnt see Ina. Where were you? Didnt you like the food Ive catered for ya? Anyway, happy gluttoning n get bigger fast!

Hey, you guys like to spend the time under the log ya?No wonder I couldnt find ya somewhere in the cocofiber. Anyway again, hope to know both of you like the new house!

Everything about Tan & Ina

How to tell the difference between male and female hissers:
1. Male has define 'humps' on the anterior part of the pronotum but female does have only slight one.

2. Male has hairs on the feelers particularly, at the base (scape and pedical and maybe to some extent, the flagellum) but female does not have.

3. Male has a narrow ventral plate at the tip of the abdomen but female does not have.

OK, here's my hypothesis on the gender of Tan and Ina.
From my point of view based on my in situ observation in accordance to the above 3 criterias, I expect the larger one is the male because:
a. He matched with the 3rd characteristic, that is the ventral sternum at the tip of the abdomen is narrow.

b. He got some kinda ' humps' on the anterior part of his pronotum.

The smaller is expected to be the female since she didnt fulfill any of the above criteria. Therefore, Tan is the larger one and Ina is the smaller brat. However, since Tan is around 3.3cm and Ina is 2.2cm at present, further observation will be made after the next moult.

D-day (12 Jan 2009): The Rise of 'Prehistoric Warrior'

The day has come when I'll be getting a pair of my favourite roaches, the Hissing Cockroach of Madagascar, Gromphadorhina portentosa, today. I've been craving to get this species ever since I was in Korea. This was the first insect pet that ever intrigued me a lot and their ancient, prehistoric appearances had successfully deviated my interest to entomology. Congrates guys! Farewell ENGINEERING for good and there would be no TURNING BACK and I wont regret it. I first came across this tiny puny of you when I was surfing the net. There were myriad kinds of insect pets I ran into but among them, you guys were rock! Then I realized I had to do something with my lustful desire of getting you guys. So, I went to Shindang (One of the renowned markets in Seoul; where they sell various kinds of pets from snakes, birds, fish and to even tarantulas) to look for you but unfortunately, luck was not on me....I went back and tried to forget u and I remained dormant until I found my first ever insect pet, the lucanid, forgot the sps name...... Jeng Jeng... There they were, came to me in a plastic container from Dylan, a friend of mine. I almost went bananas when I saw them.. only God knows how delightful I was... Still I wasnt sure if they came in pairs since Dylan couldnt sort out the gender. They were like in 3rd instar. Not suree...Anyway, welcome pals. Let today be your day!!