(2 1/2" Female?)

I started this forum post to ask you guys to help me get the true identity of these Hissers.  The photos above are of a female (??).  I thought they were A. insignis, but further research tells me G. grandidieri and internet sites show pictures of these guys under the name Princisia vanwerebeki.

When I went to photograph them for this post, I noticed tiny little while MITES(???) crawling on my female!!! What can I do to get rid of them?  Are they harmful??  Please Help!!!!!

You can put Phytoseiulus persimilis into the tank. They will eat them and when theres nothing else to eat they eat themselfs... You can also put the animals in a empty box (no substrate or food) and leave them there for 24 hrs. Refresh the substrate and wash the tank. Put in new substrate and after 24hrs put your animals back in.  Mites are attractive to food ( fruits, dogfood) and a moist soil.

 

Thank you for the info!!  I was just reading that these little mites ONLY live on the madagascars of a certain size...weird!  I will definitely take your advice about changing everything, and hopefully that will do it.  I looked up the predator colonies, and HOLY COW!!  The prices were out there!! :|

You can also speed up the process. Take a roache and brush the mite and eggs off with a soft brush (make up brush or soft painting brush).

http://www.hydro-gardens.com/spidermite.htm

This might help

http://www.bugnation.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=729&start=0

I have The G. grandidieri and their light stripes are almost pure white and my adults are closer to 6 inches while being about 9 months old

Please don't panic about the mites this site helped me when I found mites on my babies this is what it said

The madagascar hissing roach actually has a its own type of mite. These mites will feed on the food and saliva of the roach. They are harmless for the most part in small numbers but if you have too many you will need to clean your roaches.

The best way I found to do this is put them in a zip lock back with flour. Shake a little and it knocks off all the mites into the flour. Now mist your roach with water to remove all the flour off it. Not fun but it works.

I'm not sure that I agree about the cleaning thing, I've never had a bad infestation but I keep the substrate fairly clean and remove old food regularly. Wow that was a run on sentence, sorry.

here is the site:  http://www.madagascarhissingroach.com/

have fun
   

I'm almost positive that those are beneficial mites. Can you get a better picture? They're basically symbiotic with the roaches, feeding off of their food and whatnot while keeping them clear of debris. Don't kill them! No reason to.

The mites aren't harmful unless you see a lot of them, and then they're easy to remove by the flour method mentioned above. I don't even wash my roaches off after, i just dust them off with an old soft paintbrush and they seem pretty happy.

As for your species, there is some debate as to the taxonomy of the hissers. There are two so-called genera available on the market, Gromphadorhina and Princisia, but the two hybridize easily and have viable offspring that show traits of both parents. So i'm going to say that the taxa is in need of revision and genetic analysis would likely show that all species in culture are the same genera, and possibly also the same species.

Your hisser, specifically, is a male Gromphadorhina grandideiri and he has been heavily stunted. You'll know the males by their horns, and their last body segment (the genital area, as it were) will be very small where in the females the final body segment is large and smooth on the underside. You can find pictures online to help you absolutely determine the sex of your roach. It's easy once you see an example or two.

The Mites are good for the hissers like the previous posts have said...I did a whole write up on the roach forum regarding removing them...I'll post it in here too, but here's the link...You can try it too if you want ;)