Florida's getting new problems...Madagascar hissing cockroaches

[madfloridian]

They are about 5 inches long, and I panic when I see one that is only one inch in length.

Hat Tip to Ybor City Stogie for the heads up. I had heard about them, but this picture is amazing.



Florida's latest pest: hissing cockroaches

The hissing roach can stretch up to 5 inches and hisses like a snake.
University of Florida researchers are alerting pest-control operators and homeowners to watch for several new species of Florida's least-favorite character, reports reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Along with the "hissers," the newest trespassers could include the Turkestan cockroach, lobster roach and the orange spotted roach.

All could inadvertently be introduced to the state, UF entomologist Phil Koehler warned. And once here, they'd thrive -- like every other wild, exotic thing that gets imported in this state. And we don't just mean New Yorkers.

Lizard owners may be aiding the import of the new varieties.

Roaches make a dandy replacement for crickets -- which are noisier, smellier and more expensive -- as reptile food.

Not only that we have a bunch of monkeys on the lam which have still not been caught. The tropical animal reserve, a private one, is last I heard escaping much regulation from authorities.

After Daring Escape, Monkeys On The Lam


The reddish brown patas monkeys, such as this one at New Orleans Audubon Zoo, are not considered dangerous and carry no diseases.

LAKELAND - A dozen monkeys that escaped from a wildlife preserve during the weekend have all the ingredients to start a successful colony in the wild, including mature males, reproducing females and a dominant troop leader.

The people-shy patas monkeys have thousands of acres of sod and ranch land to roam in northern Polk County, even the sprawling 870 square miles of the Green Swamp if they get that far. And they are among the fastest of primates, clocked at up to 35 mph.

But success in the wild for this group means avoiding unfamiliar predators and search parties. So don't look for this colony to follow the lead of rhesus monkeys that escaped captivity and have been living in the wild around Silver Springs since the 1930s. Still, the question remains how the Polk County pack got to this poin

Their keepers never thought the patases would brave the dark waters of an 8-foot-deep, 60-foot-wide moat around their 1-acre island preserve north of Lakeland. But they did. Every last one of them went into the drink and over a wall.

There are regular sightings still.

[babylonsister]

1. Sounds like a real zoo down there, mad. And those cockroaches!

:scared: Gross! At least you can hear them coming.

[TomInTib]

3. Hey 'sister, they are closer than you think.

I know a family in Alief that raises them.

Tarantulas, too.

Sells them to pet stores.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Run. Now.

Seriously.

[thunder rising]

4. Wanna tin foil? could inadvertently be introduced to the state,

[nytemare]

5. As if the 3 inch palmetto bugs we already have aren't enough.

Those things fly, and try to dive-bomb you.

[madfloridian]

7. Oh, they are awful things.

We have too many pests here now. There's something called a June Bug I think that flies out of the grass and right into my face during a walk near dark. Really ugly looking. Brush them off they fly right back.

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. I hate June bugs... they are like flying hummers, so clumsy and big.

[Maine-ah]

48. it's worse when you hear the dog crunching on them.

:puke:

[givemebackmycountry]

11. OMG I HATE those things!

OK
I'm a wussy.
I moved to a Orlando suburb in April.
First time I saw one of those things I almost had a heart attack.
In my second bathroom there is a cabinet above the toilet that I had a bunch of towels in.
I went to take one out and there he (or she) was.
Palmetto Bug.
About 3 inches big.
I RAN.
No, not IRAN.
I FREAKING RAN.

And I'm 6'4 and like 260!

I went into my bedroom and I got a sandal and I headed to dispatch this bastard.
It took a GOOD four or five BIG time whacks before this bastard was dead.
Then I picked him up with a paper towel and I ran his ass through the garbage disposal in the sink.
All the while screaming "DIE EM'EFFER!" for how badly he (or she) frightened me.

I'm telling you, these things are PRE-HISTORIC that's how ugly they are.

I'm such a wuss.

[fishnfla]

15. You'll get used to it

shit, i was messing with our sons football equipment today when one them buggers crawled up my arm...meh, not even a flinch, just go away.

the trick is to get the lizards in your place, they'll eat up the bugs right quick

when the lizards are not around, then you got snakes. its ok, bugs and lizards, they eat both.

[nolabels]

22. I like to take care and not harm the spiders that hang around the homestead

There were a lot more of them at one time but i think their population has modified with the slightly drier weather.

But maybe also, as you state, our increase in the population of lizards are cutting into some of the goodies the spiders like eat :D

[nytemare]

31. One summer afternoon...

I was going to drive home from my parent's house in Orlando, as I started to drive away, about 50 of the fuckers crawled up my windshield to the top of the car. I had a conniption. Luckily, they were outside of the car. There must have been a swarm of them that landed on it. I suppose they all flew off, because I just slammed the gas to get them off when I saw them.

Needless to say, when I got home, I ran out of my car like lightning. I got the bug spray from inside and doused the outside of the car.

Ick.

[peruban]

13. You think that's bad...

The little german cockroaches are vicious suicidal tanks. I've seen them kamikaze dive off a table counter into behind the fridge. I know they eat them in most of the world (high in protein) but I just can't get over this phobia.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

23. Holy fucking shit I remember them well.

My grammy lived in Margate, FL near some kind of water treatment facility. We spent the summers with her when we were kids and they were always a big problem in the house. I swear to god they were so big you practically expected them to ask if they could use the phone! :scared:

[Solly Mack]

6. Turf battle! The Mad Hisser verses the Palmetto!

or not...

[marmar]

8. Hissing cockroach? I was wondering what happened to Katherine Harris.

:P

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Jeb?

That you?

[Vickers]

10. Maybe the hordes of wild iguanas around here will take care of 'em.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Oh wait...they're vegans.

:(

[elfin]

12. Hissers also ought as pets

They are a popular experience in the various Bugs Alive! interactive exhibits at natural history museums. Though ugly, they seem benign, but do not know what associated effects might ensue if they spread out into the "real world".

[RaleighNCDUer]

38. I work at one of those museums, and the Madagascars are benign.

They're an outdoor species, they won't invade homes. They depend on the naturally rotting vegetation for food - inside a house they'd starve to death. They would actually be competing with Palmetto bugs for that niche, as as they don't fly they'd be at a disadvantage. I suspect they would not survive to make an appreciable effect as an invasive species.

(Caveat: I am not an entomologist - my boss is, and I shared my office with cages filled with multitudes of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches for several years, along with numerous black widows, tarantulas and other critters which helped break me of my arachnophobia.)

[Caretha]

14. Run Monkeys Run!

I like the story about the escaped Monkeys best! I wonder if they're figuring out how to bake a cake with a file in it to rescue the rest of their brethen.

Jeez....I just had a flash back of "Planet of the Apes".

[madfloridian]

21. Isn't that a wonderful story of the monkeys swimming the moat?

They still haven't found many of them. There will probably be colonies before long.

[VoodooGuru]

16. oh, wtf...

I am never going back to Florida again. I may die of the willies there.

[trotsky]

17. See, a lot of people bash Minnesota for its tough winters...

but those winters also ensure we NEVER get bugs anywhere near that. I'll take cold over monster bugs, thankyouverymuch.

[rockymountaindem]

19. Me too. Cold dry climates tamp down on the bugs.

I can't believe I didn't appreciate the climate more growing up in Colorado. All we had was the occasional moth and that at least provided some fond childhood memories of my dad running around like a keystone cop trying to swat it. I'll pass on the truck-sized roaches.

[tnlefty]

18. Jeebus, I've seen those hissing cockroaches on National

Geographic programs, and they freaked me out. I'm not sure, but I think I'll take the monkeys for $100, Alex, lol. I hope that the big cat refuge centers are more escape proof. :hi:

[PDJane]

20. I landed in a Florida hotel infested with those things...

And after having one of them take off across the table with an 18 oz soda, decided to get the hell out and find a better kept hotel. There had to be one somewhere, figured I.

Got into a lovely little bed and breakfast, spotlessly clean, at about 2:00 am that had a room, and decided to ignore the "Please don't kill the lizards." sign on the room door. After the olympic-strength roaches, I figured that the lizards were benign.

I woke up at about three thirty to the sound of crunching, turned on the light, and found a lizard above my head on perched on something, with roach parts sticking out of his mouth. I pulled the covers over my head, rolled over, wished him luck with his chosen diet, and slept.

I honestly don't mind things like the wolf spiders, but I do have a MAJOR problem with roaches.

[Edweird]

24. Yep, the lizards are my friends. We've got all kinds of 'em, too.

Especially down south where the climate is more hospitable....

[Liberal_in_LA]

35. note to self: Avoid Florida. Hawaii is infested with mice. They were in my hotel, outside,

everywhere.

[rucky]

25. They make great pets.

Seriously. They're pretty cool critters.

[123infinity]

26. I moved away from Tampa and Florida back when the cockroaches learned to fly.

That pretty much did it for me.
:scared:

[RebelOne]

46. Those cockroaches learned to fly a long, long time ago.

I lived in South Florida until 1989. I remember in the '60s, there were some in my apartment. And they would dive bomb me.

[IDemo]

27. "monkeys on the lam which have still not been caught." Hmmm....

who does that make me think of? :)

[pitohui]

28. don't stress it, new orleans supposedly got them years ago...and i never see them

in fact i never saw one in madagascar either but they were introduced (as pets) some years ago and supposedly escaped into new orleans -- i have NEVER seen a wild one and i recently asked the owner of a pest control co. if he had a big problem w. them -- he said they never see them either

these are PETS, that's why the roach in the photo is playing on the young lady's face, it's her PET

in my humble opinion the simple german cockroach is still the worst...a large harmless outdoor loving "cockroach" like the palmetto bug may look big and scary but they don't try to take over a house the way the little guys do...and the madagascar hissing cockroach is not an issue, except to make people feel bad about having a pet that is easy to care for and no bother to anyone except the sensation seeking reporters of this world

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew. She's got one on her face!

:puke:

[pitohui]

30. it's her pet, no different from letting your cat lick your face EOM

m

[emilyg]

32. Are you nuts????????????

I'll take 100 cats to 1 of those thingies.

[pitohui]

37. i'd take 100 of those things to 1 cat

beauty is in the eye of the beholder and no one ever suffered a severe allergy or asthma attack or had to end a relationship with someone they loved because of a madagascar hissing cockroach, whereas the "cute" hair/dander of the cat (to which a significant percentage of the population is allergic) has caused a great deal of human anguish

point to one family dinner spoiled because of a child's madagascar hissing cockroach but everyone with danger allergies or asthma aggravated by their dander allergies has a story of a special day spoiled because of a cat, hell, there's a discusssion about the subject right now in the lounge

[emilyg]

39. I'll give you a star for good sense

I'll still take cats.

[RaleighNCDUer]

40. Well, after spending 15 year raising Madagascars my boss developed

an allergy to THEM - now he can't touch them. But he is the only case I ever heard of.

[Eurobabe]

49. I have a cockroach allergy, seriously!

I had a wheal test done in 2005, turns out I am HIGHLY allergic to dust mites and German cockroaches, several types of tree pollen, grasses and mildly allergic to cats -- but my babies aren't going anywhere.

I absolutely DESPISE cockroaches. They make me want to hurl :puke:

[Liberal_in_LA]

33. fluffy cat VS armored, many legged roach. lol.

[Liberal_in_LA]

36. Worst most ugliest bug ever... Don't click here if you are sensitive

Potato bug or jerusalem cricket. Saw one outside as a child...suffered permanent mental anguish.

[SoCalDem]

41. maybe the escaped pythons can eat them..or the nutrias

and maybe they can all eat some kudzu )

[zazen]

42. after seeing a few nasty large cockroaches, my 7-year-old said, "well, at least they don't fly"

I could only keep the brutal truth from her for so long.

I grew up on the soundfront in Wilmington NC in a house built in 1880. I didn't go to bed one night without seeing them crawling on the walls. Thirty years later I still go into a clinical panic attack when I see one. Not good.

But actually, the hissing ones are cute. My daughter's played with them at the museum, where she volunteered. I think I can personify them if I think they're communicating with me. It's the shape-shifting alien-speciesish malevolence of the large American cockroach that sends me.

[madfloridian]

43. Last report...all but 5 of the monkeys have been captured.

I have sort of been hoping they would remain free, but that is not practical.

[OwnedByFerrets]

44. I didnt know Katherine Harris was from Madagascar.

[Bake]

45. Great. If Florida has them it's only a matter of time

before they show up here in MS. Just freakin' great. My wife will see one of those the first time and run screaming back to KY.

Bake

[Eurobabe]

47. Ewwww, gawd, I saw those things on

America's Next Top Model one cycle. If one landed or crawled on me, I actually think I would die. I endured fire ants and palmetto bugs in Texas, one year was enough for me. :puke: :puke: