Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
Scientific name: Gromphadorhina portentosa
Habitat: Madagascar
Time at Explorit: Many, many years
The hissing cockroaches have lived at Explorit nearly as long as anyone can remember. They have a voracious appetite for leftover fruits and some vegetables. The females appear to give birth to live young because they store the egg sacks inside their abdomen until the babies hatch and crawl out. One of the hissing cockroach's defense mechanisms is the hissing noise they can create. As they hiss they will tuck their head under their thorax in an attempt to look like the head of a larger more aggressive animal. This somewhat intimidating hissing sound is also used as a means of communication allowing them to warn of danger, define territory and signal for a mate.
Scientific name: Gromphadorhina portentosa
Habitat: Madagascar
Time at Explorit: Many, many years
The hissing cockroaches have lived at Explorit nearly as long as anyone can remember. They have a voracious appetite for leftover fruits and some vegetables. The females appear to give birth to live young because they store the egg sacks inside their abdomen until the babies hatch and crawl out. One of the hissing cockroach's defense mechanisms is the hissing noise they can create. As they hiss they will tuck their head under their thorax in an attempt to look like the head of a larger more aggressive animal. This somewhat intimidating hissing sound is also used as a means of communication allowing them to warn of danger, define territory and signal for a mate.