HI, I keep dubia roaches and surinam roaches to feed to my tarantula and scorpion. Recently, I popped off the top of the roach cage and while I was rooting around, I found a couple of roaches that weren't the same as the others. I looked them up, and it would seem that lobster roaches have spontaneously appeared in the cage. I have had this colony for two years now, and never seen anything other than the dubias and the surinams. I'm trying to puzzle out how they got in there. Any ideas? And are any of the urban legends about lobster roaches infesting houses true? Cheers
Do you have photos of the new species that appeared? Lobster roaches are capable of infesting a house, but I wouldn't consider it a likely event. They aren't anything like german roaches (a true, known pest species). If you maintain at least moderately sanitary conditions in your home, your odds of an infestation are very, very low. I've had lobsters escape from time to time and have never been concerned, nor have I noticed any sign of them reproducing or growing in population size within the home. They can reproduce at lower temperatures than some species and have live birth, but these traits don't necessarily translate to a certain-pest. It's worth noting that the vast majority of roach infestations are caused by the German Cockroach, and these infestations most often happen in unsanitary, messy homes. Even American roaches, which are much more likely to infest a home than Lobster roaches, have difficulty proliferating in houses that are well-kept (they fare much better outside). While an infestation is hypothetically possible in a well-kept home, the odds are very unlikely. There simply aren't the food and moisture resources and refugia available to them to establish a large population in sanitary conditions (in my opinion).
