Geographic Range
Gromphadorhina portentosa
, the Madagascar hissing cockroach, occurs only on the the island of Madagascar.
- Other Geographic Terms
- island endemic
Habitat
Gromphadorhina portentosa
is primarily found in the tropical lowland rainforests of Madagascar. They tend to
live in the dry litter on the forest floor.
- Habitat Regions
- tropical
- terrestrial
- Terrestrial Biomes
- rainforest
Physical Description
Like most insects,
Gromphadorhina portentosa
has a head, thorax, abdomen, and 6 legs. Unlike many cockroach species, they do not
possess wings. Their exoskeleton is dark, from mahogany brown to black, and very thick,
hard, and waxy. They have pads and hooks on their feet that allow them to climb smooth
surfaces. Males possess a pair of large bumps or tubercles behind their head, these
structures are much smaller in females. These horns are known as pronatal humps.
Gromphadorhina portentosa
is one of the largest species of the cockroaches in the world, adults are 5.1 to
10.2 cm long, with males growing larger than females.
- Other Physical Features
- ectothermic
- heterothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- male larger
- sexes shaped differently
Development
Madagascar hissing cockroachs have an incomplete or partial metamorphosis. They hatch
from eggs as nymphs, which are quite similar to adults in general structure, but lack
reproductive organs. Nymphs molt their exoskeleton six times as they grow to adulthood,
a process that usually takes 6-7 months.
- Development - Life Cycle
- metamorphosis
Reproduction
Male Madagascar hissing cockroaches produces acoustic sounds or hissing during courtship interactions with females. Males typically produce two types of signals, a calling sound and a courtship sound. The calling sound is a long distance song that is used to attract females while the courtship sound is used more during close range interaction.
Adult male hissing cockroaches defend mating territories from other males, and attempt
to monopolize mating with all the females in their territory. Males interact by hissing,
and in bouts of pushing and shoving. Cockroach mating can occur year around, but only
when the climate is warm.
- Mating System
- polygynous
- polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Male hissing cockroaches are attracted and stimulated by the odor of the female. The
males have specialized sense organs on their antennae for this. The amount of sex
attractant secreted is higher in virgin females, although the output can be sporadic.
It decreases with age. When the male is attracted to the female by this scent, he
begins to hiss and touch her antennae. The pair then attaches to one another and turn
rear to rear and remain in this position for 30 minutes. The females carry the ootheca,
a long yellowish egg case, internally and they release the young nymphs after the
eggs have hatched. Typically 15 - 40 cockroach nymphs will emerge.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- seasonal breeding
- year-round breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- fertilization
- ovoviviparous
Female Madagascar hissing cockroaches provision their eggs, then carry them after
fertilization until they hatch.
- Parental Investment
-
pre-fertilization
- provisioning
-
protecting
- female
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
protecting
- female
-
protecting
Lifespan/Longevity
Behavior
Male Madagascar hissing cockroaches establish territories that are defended from other
adult males. Aggressive hissing and posturing behavior is used to warn intruders away.
The male that is larger and hisses more usually wins. The dominant males stand on
their "toes," which is called stilting. Stilting is a way for males to "show off."
The males use their pronatal humps when fighting other males to defend territories.
Fighting between males does not appear to injure the males. Females and nymphs are
more social and do not fight with one another or with males. The cockroaches are nocturnal
and they avoid light.
- Key Behaviors
- terricolous
- nocturnal
- motile
- sedentary
- territorial
- social
Home Range
Territory sizes are rather small. A male may sit on a rock for months and defend it
from other males, only leaving to occasionally obtain food and water. Females do not
defend a territory like this.
Communication and Perception
The Madagascar hissing cockroach is unique in its ability to make a "hissing" sound.
These cockroaches hiss through the breathing spiracles located on their abdomens.
This hissing sound is used to communicate with its own species and others. Four hisses
with different social purposes and amplitude patterns have been identified: a male
combat hiss, two types of courting and mating hisses, and an alarm hiss (a loud snake-like
hissing that startles predators).
- Other Communication Modes
- pheromones
Food Habits
Madagascar hissing cockroaches are detritivores. Their most frequent food is decaying
plant material, including fallen fruit, because it is so readily available. They also
eat smaller insects and animal carcasses.
- Primary Diet
- detritivore
- Animal Foods
- carrion
- insects
- Plant Foods
- leaves
- seeds, grains, and nuts
- fruit
- lichens
- Other Foods
- fungus
- detritus
- dung
Predation
Hissing cockroaches probably have many types of predators, but there are few documented
relationships. Arachnids, ants, tenrecs, and some ground-feeding birds are likely
predators. As previously mentioned, an anti-predatory strategy is an alarm hiss -
producing a loud snake-like noise that may startle potential predators.
Ecosystem Roles
Gromphadorhina portentosa plays a role in the rainforests of Madagascar by recycling a large amount of decaying plant and animal matter.
The mite
Androlaelaps schaeferi
, formerly
Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi
, is a common parasite of this cockroach. These mites form small clumps of four to
six individuals at the base of the leg of their cockroach host. While it was originally
thought that this mite was sanguinivorous (blood-sucking), recent studies showed that
the mite simply "shares" in a cockroach's food items.
- Ecosystem Impact
- biodegradation
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
This species is part of the nutrient cycling process in Malagasy forests. These forests are important as sources of timber, for water quality, and sources of other natural products.
Hissing cockroaches are also sold commercially in the pet trade.
- Positive Impacts
- pet trade
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no known adverse effects of Gromphadorina portentosa on humans.
Conservation Status
Because the Madagascar hissing cockroach is only found in Madagascar, little conservation
efforts have been done. This is due to political turmoil. Since the Malagasy people
were forced out by the French colonizers in the 1960’s, the country has gone from
dictatorship to dictatorship. It is difficult for field biologists to research the
area due to the sparse network of passable roads. In the recent years, Liberation
and international aid have made it easier for biologists to study Madagascar focusing
on the hissing cockroach. The Madagascar hissing cockroaches huddle together in the
forest. These pockets of natural forest are dying by degradation and fragmentation
and because of this Madagascar has become a top priority for conservation biologists.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been contributed over the past three decades
to help conservation efforts in Madagascar.
Additional Links
Contributors
Ashley Jessee (author), Radford University, Karen Powers (editor, instructor), Radford University.
- Ethiopian
-
living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- island endemic
-
animals that live only on an island or set of islands.
- tropical
-
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
- terrestrial
-
Living on the ground.
- rainforest
-
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
- ectothermic
-
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
- heterothermic
-
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- metamorphosis
-
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
- polygynous
-
having more than one female as a mate at one time
- polygynandrous
-
the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- year-round breeding
-
breeding takes place throughout the year
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- internal fertilization
-
fertilization takes place within the female's body
- ovoviviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs develop within the maternal body without additional nourishment from the parent and hatch within the parent or immediately after laying.
- nocturnal
-
active during the night
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- sedentary
-
remains in the same area
- territorial
-
defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- pheromones
-
chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- carrion
-
flesh of dead animals.
- detritus
-
particles of organic material from dead and decomposing organisms. Detritus is the result of the activity of decomposers (organisms that decompose organic material).
- biodegradation
-
helps break down and decompose dead plants and/or animals
- pet trade
-
the business of buying and selling animals for people to keep in their homes as pets.
- detritivore
-
an animal that mainly eats decomposed plants and/or animals
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