It’s giant water bug season apparently! The fiance and I found several in one place but they were mostly smooshed. I only found one small one. THEN... we tried this new place that I’d never looked before around midnight tonight. They were bigger than any I’ve ever found before and there were SO MANY, I didn’t even have enough containers for them all… which isn’t a problem I run into often! I’ve exhausted myself from excessive amounts of joy.

I kept 3 giant water bugs for years in a tank and fed them feeder goldfish you can buy at the pet store for .16 cents each. They are low-maintenance pets, but can be dangerous to keep, so if you catch some, be extremely careful and make sure they have no way to escape their enclosure!

Video of all 5 newly-acquired water bugs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNiDwgCYw8w
Video of the puny first one we found feeding on a fish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU9sQhDI-I8
Video of my old water bugs from 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_moySOv4A *WARNING* do not watch these last two if you don’t want to see a fish being eaten by a bug.

I can’t tell you the times people have given me shit for feeding a “helpless little fish” to my waterbugs, btw. It’s amazing how people can put more value over a “cuter” animal’s life than one they find “disgusting”. There is no other way for these creatures to eat, and they deserve to live just as much as any other animal, predator or not.

http://penanggalan.tumblr.com/post/87065220577 Took forever but I think it's complete, if any info is wrong please let me know!! I just wanted to put together a big post to link to when people ask me specifics about roaches, separated into the most common topics.

The site's been super dead lately. I know a lot of you post your invert photos here, so why not there? Please help build the site back up into what it used to be! I love everything about this site; it's so useful and informative and lots of nice people to meet and learn from. I don't want to see it die ;o;

http://www.insectgeeks.com/ oh and please mention my account (cockroachmonster) in the area where they ask who referred you? :> I'm the top referrer on IG by a lot, and the 3rd most active member... which actually makes me a little sad, since I want it to be more actiiiiive! ;; You can earn butterfly points by commenting on my photos! 8D

These have cycled around a bit already, but just in case anyone hasn't seen them, here are some interesting new-ish discoveries in the cockroach world :)

Saltoblattella montistabularis: The hopping cockroach
Female Jump Sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xmk34T3qwM

Stealth of a Cockroach

Glowing Roaches Mimic Toxic Beetles

Anyone got anything else I may have missed? I thirst for roach/buggy knowledge!!!
Oh, and 537,000 views on my hissing roach video now, holy crap!

That's pretty awesome. It was around 70k yesterday, and about 30k just a few days ago o_o

I just wish the multitudes of comments I didn't approve (like, twice the amount that are shown) weren't so completely assholish, ignorant or blatantly just cruel. It gets overwhelming, after I first wake up and see the influx of "kill it with fire" and other attempts at wit flooding my inbox. :P I guess it got spread around some site called reddit, which I'd never heard of. I'm glad a lot of the comments are at least curious or even grateful the video exists as they appreciate learning something new. It's the most that I could hope for :3

F5! By First time changing my icon since I made this account in 2008 :) It's Ingrid, my orange head cockroach girl... for those who don't watch my main account. Which reminds me... I've been contemplating posting buggy art here. I will likely still post anthro insect art to my main account, but should I post non-anthro bug art here? Should I post invert-related trade/commission/gift art I receive here? WIP of invert art? I figure I could use this account for more than just photos, since I don't post those all that often. Any ideas appreciated!

Why are people so stupid? I mean, I know that's a vague question, but seriously? If I could ask some higher power just one question... it would be why people have all this potential and yet they waste it, sitting on the internet, being purposefully 100% tactless, ignorant and insulting?

Of course I speak of the kinds of comments I get here, on YouTube, and anywhere else I post information, photos or videos of my pets. I tend to post these things in places that aren't insect-specific, most of the time, so in a sense, I should probably anticipate a lot of ignorant, rude comments such as "OMG STEP ON IT". But am I so wrong for expecting just a liiiittle bit more from grown human beings?

"OMG WHY HAVEN'T YOU SPRAYED THEM WITH RAID YET."
Uh, let's see. I posted this video of my pets, with a description that uses as few big-person words as possible and in as short of sentences as possible in the hopes that it will be easier for underachieving 5th graders to understand, let alone, say, a 27 year old male with their YouTube favorites filled with things such as military videos and hunting shit, hell even a hardcore camo background adorns their userpage. I post this video stating their latin name and other information of which only a hobbyist or admirer of insects would bother educating themselves about. Let's see, maybe I haven't sprayed them with Raid because I LIKE them?

By the way, a teenager left this comment on my hissing roach birth video, and it got 9 thumbs up. :/ I stopped approving most comments like these because as we all know, internet bullies work in groups, and if they see one person being mean, they're more inclined to follow.

"You're only keeping those things to be shocking!!!"
I remember back when rats were "shocking" pets to keep, now they're as common as puppies or hamsters and people (thankfully) are beginning to embrace the idea that, hey, rats DO make awesome pets! Last I checked, people still keep them even though they're no longer shocking, likely because you know... people LIKE them?

"Only a psychopath would keep cockroaches in their home/find cockroaches fascinating."
I got this type of comment recently from some guy with "muslimpower" in his name and loads of videos of violence and shocking imagery in his favorites. I'm thinking this person should at least comprehend how terrible, shocking and disgusting the world can be, and that a video of a mother cockroach giving birth is by far the least of the world's worries?

"You are the most disgusting woman ever." / "I can't believe you're a girl and handling filthy bugs"
I get these all the time on YouTube especially (of course), I just don't approve them. It really HURTS, you know? It makes me wonder, if I were a male, would I get comments like these? I've also gotten comments on the opposite end of the spectrum; people wanting me to put my roaches in my mouth or stomp on them with high heels on :| Newsflash; I'm not doing this for shock value NOR as fetish fuel for people who like to see animals get murdered for sexual pleasure. Urgh. To me that's far more disgusting than a girl simply HANDLING an insect.

My pets are clean. I don't get roaches from dumpsters or even outside my house without giving them a period of a couple days in solitary to clean themselves off. No matter what kind of filth is on a roach, they will clean it off themselves and the germs will be gone, and if they have pesticide on them, they'll either die or there won't be enough to kill them. After I know they're clean, I let them into the rest of my colony. Most of my roaches are wild-caught these days, as several species I used to have are no longer legal in the state I live in now. I mainly keep the ones that I can find in the wild now; skunk roaches, banana roaches, surinam and a few others.

You can call me disgusting, but chances are, I know the biology and "dangers" of these insects far better than you. I've spent years handling roaches, letting them crawl on me, even kissing their little pronotums and digging around in their dirt when it was cage-cleaning time. If there were any risk of them being diseased or dirty or harmful in any way to humans, I'd have gotten sick by now, but I have not. Human beings used to live symbiotically with cockroaches and all insects. They were our handy little cleaners and we were thankful for them. In Europe, it was even customary to release roaches into new dwellings. I hate the way the world has become. A place where insects aren't welcome in human society makes me feel just as unwelcome for keeping them and loving them and respecting them.

1. What invertebrates give you the creeps/are you afraid of?
2. Which invertebrate do you feel you relate the most to, and why?
3. Do you ever get upset at how the general populous views insects?
4. How do you feel about the eating of insects? Why do you think certain countries find it taboo?
5. Do you keep any invertebrates? If you don't own any, which would you like to own if you could?
6. Have you drawn any invertebrates, anthro or non? Or have any invert characters?
7. Who is your favorite insect photographer? (Mine is blepharopsis.deviantart.com - just WOW)
8. Ever had any buggy dreams/nightmares? Share!
9. Favorite songs that mention/are about bugs?
10. Got a favorite invert cartoon/tv/movie/game character?

http://penanggalan.tumblr.com/post/.....015/smokybrown
Please comment/ "<3" if you found this informative! :) I'm hoping to acquire some smokybrown roaches soon; they are one of the most commonly depicted species of roach in art, cartoons, movies, illustration, etc. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbuOTFKM4T8
Saw him while walking to the bus stop on our way to the beach :]

These are some good (though some not very active) forums I'm on.

http://www.roachforum.com/
http://blattodea.net/
http://creepycrawlies.proboards.com/
http://bugnation.co.uk/

The first one is my favorite, it's quite active, I've made some friends there and there are many "roach gurus" there of whom I admire and have bought some rare species from :) bugnation's a good one, too. These are all good places to start if you want to learn more about roaches or other insects as well as reptiles, amphibians, tarantulas and other critters!

http://community.livejournal.com/bl.....philes/profile
Just made this today, please join! Discuss! Share links/photos/art!

http://penanggalan.tumblr.com/
This is my Tumblr. I post mainly photos of roaches, info, and the occasional art post, collections post and random link/video/photos. It's mainly just a stuff-I-love variety blog, but it might be worth a +follow if you want to see bug-related neat stuff I find :o)

That said, we've been packing up all our critters the past few days, preparing for the move. Roaches are being mailed off to a few folks from FA today after my journal I posted advertising them on my main account, and I'm condensing my whole collection of cockroaches into tupperware for safe traveling and cleaning out their old tanks so they'll be ready to re-decorate and house them once we're settled in the new house. We did a count of each species (of which we have TWENTY of), and there's an average of 50-100 of each roach species. I have over a thousand roaches. :O)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3614995/
This is what all bug-hating dumbasses look like to me. :)

I swear to god, my American cockroach nymphs play with each other. They slowly stand on their hind legs and swat at each other. Sometimes an adult will come over and break them up and chase them around a bit. It's so cute and hard to explain. I need to get a video of this sometime.

http://penanggalan.tumblr.com/
Stuff I don't post here, goes there. + art, random thoughts and ramblings.

I've been speaking to the Professor of Entomology at the University of Florida, and apparently I don't need a permit to have insects here unless they are agricultural or human pests. And most of the pest species I've captured were caught IN Florida, such as the skunk roaches, Australian, American, etc! I need to make absolutely sure, but I don't think I own a single invertebrate that is actually an invasive species, meaning I won't have to give away any pets when I move to Florida this April. YEE! :)

I also inquired about the University and he said this: "The University of Florida is a highly competitive university. Typically, we get 25-30K applicants for fall admission and accept about 6,600 of them. Your ability to be admitted would depend upon your high school grade performance and your SAT score. We do have an extensive number of Florida community colleges where students attend two years, obtain the AA degree and then apply to transfer to the University of Florida. It is at that time you would declare entomology as your major."

My SAT scores were relatively high, from what I remember... oddly, my math skills were higher than anything else; higher than 90-some percent of the country. But I still need to get a hold of them and make sure. To be some form of a scientist is my dream and always has been... I'm nearly 26 years old... it's now or never. I can't keep being so terrified of failure. I may waste years in college only to fail, but at least I would know that I tried... and as an entomologist, I'd be able not only to teach people about insects, but I would also be able to keep any insects I wanted and could educate people using them.

Here are some roaches I have available:

- Lobster
- Turkestan
- Australian
- American
- Discoid
- Dubia
Google them if you want to know what they look like! If you need latin names, ask.

If anyone's interested, send me a note! Cost of shipping + $5 per 10 roaches; up to 50 or so of each are available! I can ship worldwide. They are all very easy to care for, requiring only some dirt, a 5 gallon tank, a glass lid, some sticks, water, and old vegetables & dog food to eat.

Want roaches but have an excuse not to get them?.....
"I don't have enough space!" A large colony of one roach species would only take up about 10x6 inches of space on a table, seriously.
"I can't afford it!" It's cheaper to own a pet rock, haha.
"I don't want them infesting my home!" I've kept roaches for several years now, and never had a problem with escapees getting loose into the house. As long as you have a glass lid, it's hardly a concern that they will escape.
"My parents/significant other won't let me!" Well, that one I have no rebuttal for. Sucks to be you. :(

I could handle this many roaches just fine, but I like the idea of someone else sharing my enthusiasm for owning roaches and studying them, so I just thought I'd offer. :)

Please rate/comment/subscribe at the videos!!!!!

PART 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmmMLsBORDE
PART 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Spa2bc4QU

DETAILS:
Create art of insects. VERY vague, I know, but I hardly even care if it's anthro or non, painted or sculpted, insect or arachnid. As long as it's an invertebrate of some sort - you could win a prize for it! :>

I DO have some of my own insect characters you can use as inspiration or draw yourself :) They are:
Izz the Cockroach: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2158863/
Tei the black velvet stick insect: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1963094/
Celie the cecropia moth: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/713042/ and http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1572420/

NO OLD ART. Common sense. You want to enter the contest and earn the prize? Make something new, that's FOR the contest. LOL.:I

PRIZES:
I thought this might be a fun way to have a contest with prizes that wouldn't involve me having to put anything more on my drawing slate than I already have, but it would be a way for me to still get creative and have incentive to do something I've wanted to do for a while now: Use the molts of my pet insects, or the insects I've had that are dead in a crafty way... The prize would range from either jewelery, a framed print of one of my photographs I've taken, a custom box with a painted insect on it, or something else crafty. It would be your choice for the most part, as long as if you want something relating to a dead insect or molt, it's something I actually have. :) I would even be willing to do a custom photo shoot of an insect of your choice.

Depending on the number of entries, there may be a second and third prize :)

Contest will be judged based on how much effort you put into it and how accurate your work is to the insect you're portraying, as well as your skill level and creativity. I may have some folks help me judge.

Live insects I have (for the sake of photography):
Cockroaches, tarantulas, millipedes, stick bugs, giant centipede... just look through the gallery :)

Molts I have:
All of the above except for the 'pedes + many cicada nymph molts

Deceased insects I have: (not preserved, but longer smelly)
Stick insects, roaches, hm... I'm sure there are more. Will have to look

DEADLINE:
January 19th. This gives you 2 months! Depending on the amount of entries, this -may- be bumped up a bit, but not by more than a month!

Rat crisis averted. Ghost Buster ate just a few days ago and is doing fine, but I have a few sites bookmarked for rats to buy just in case the local pet store flakes out again. I bought 8 plump fuzzy rats for him which are varied in size and should last him a good while. Takes a load off my mind. :)

Anyhow, thought I'd post a new journal with links to some new YouTube videos of my pets! :)

Firstly, a look at a freshly molted giant cave roach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKbNxzz8438

Next, our giant centipede runs in terror from its roachy food. My poor, sheltered pets. XD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgg5bFbEb5I

We'll hopefully be going to a reptile show in Morgantown, WV on the 31st. All we need is to find a ride. Anyone else happen to be going and will be coming up from the south or going through the Beckley area? We'd happily help with gas money and food along the way :) Seems that there isn't a bus station in Morgantown! They'll be having a costume contest as well, for reptile/feeder-themed outfits. I'm really hoping to see some insect-related costumes! I wish I had one to wear, myself.

In other news, my cockroach-specific Twitter page has been revamped a bit. Let me know how it looks on your monitor! http://www.twitter.com/blattaphile/

1. I need frozen "fuzzy" rats.
2. I only own one snake, a red tail boa, and he's still a baby... so buying in bulk of more than 25 fuzzy rats would be far too expensive, and far too much of a waste. He would outgrow them before I got halfway through :/
3. Shipping on feeder sites is OUTRAGEOUS, especially for over 25 rats. It's like $50 shipping on any site I look.

I'm desperate. He REFUSES to eat mice, and I refuse to feed live. There are three pet stores here, all of which are undependable and completely ignorant as to how to help me find what I need. I used to be able to buy frozen rats at two of these pet stores, but now they only carry mice.

So yeah. BEFORE YOU COMMENT with something unhelpful that's going to get my hopes up for no reason, keep in mind that I need:

- UNDER 25 fuzzy rats.
- PREFERABLY close to West Virginia so shipping isn't outrageous.
- NO MICE. Not only will he NOT eat them, they're less nutritious than rats.

Please don't suggest methods for me to try to get him to eat mice. He won't, even after consulting many professionals and experts about it. Please don't suggest craigslist or asking pet stores locally, they are completely unhelpful as the town I live in is tiny and stupid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SVOFHgpBss

Sorry for the lack of updates lately... anything I've received bug-wise lately, I can't really share images of online just yet. >.> I have several connections for exotics, but first I need to look up permits. Does anyone have any clue how to obtain one for insects that are otherwise illegal to own in the US? Anyone I've asked seems to be afraid to even talk to me about it. Even entomologists I know don't have a clue, so if you have any leads, I'd be majorly impressed ;3

From my Cockroach-specific Twitter account, www.twitter.com/blattaphile -

---
A cockroach breaks wind every 15 minutes - it also continues to release methane for 18 hours after death.

Ancient Romans called roaches Lucifugia, a blanket term for various nocturnal pests. The word means light-fleeing.

In ancient Greece, physicians routinely mixed cockroach entrails with oil & roses, stuffing the goop into patients' infected ear canals.

Some paleontologists refer to the Carboniferous period as the "Age of Cockroaches". Roaches have hardly changed since then.

A roach can live for about a month without its head also because it does not have blood pressure, and is a poikilotherm/cold-blooded animal.
---

Follow my Twitter to see more! I update at least once or twice a week and have been posting since May.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_moySOv4A

Well, maybe not gory, but it looks like the fish is bleeding from its gills or at least spewing some kind of very reddish fluid. Which I've NEVER seen before in all the times I've fed him. Thought it would be interesting to share. :3 I love these guys.

From a friend at IG: Goldi/rhyparobia maderae roaches (look like this: http://lucihormetica.de/images/RHYP.....GOLD%2002s.JPG )
and from , death's head/Blaberus craniifer roaches (look like this: http://dinets.travel.ru/triniblaberus.jpg ) and giant cave/Blaberus giganteus roaches (look like this: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2198.....106beb.jpg?v=0 )

r. maderae are unique to the roach world in that they look after their young almost to adulthood. They also like to squeak, fling excrement, hiss, AND emit a foul-smelling odor as a defense. :D

b. giganteus, I've kept in the past, and they're one of my favorites. They have super long legs, and are almost certainly the longest of any cockroach kept by people, reaching nearly 4 inches.

Cicadas are starting to sing. I found several of their empty molts today whilst bug-hunting, as well as a couple more of these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrafeyPJ7hg though I presumed it would be too early in the season to find them! Photos and/or video soon!

Josh also got a white's tree frog today. :) I've adored them for years but never really thought to get one, and rarely see them in pet stores around here. I'll leave the photographing up to him since it's his pet. :>

Sooo it kinda pissed me off seeing all the "cockroaches are useless and disgusting and ttly should b extinct hurr hurr" type of groups on Facebook with practically no groups relating to the LOVE and RESPECT that insects deserve. I decided to make one. I don't expect it will make that grand of an impression, but at least it gets the word out there (I hope!). I know most of these people are probably children who simply don't know any better, so hopefully this will serve to educate at least someone out there that their blind hate of these creatures only shows their ignorance on the subject.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=129628388600