Therea olegrandjeani
Therea olegrandjeani, or Question Mark Roach, is a striking and visually iconic roach species native to India. It is prized for its bold black-and-white coloration and the distinct question mark-shaped marking on its pronotum. This unique pattern gives the species its common name and makes it a favorite among invertebrate hobbyists and display collectors.
Belonging to the Blaberidae family, the Question Mark Roach is a terrestrial species that lives when it gains its beautiful question mark black and white markings, but spends the majority of its life as a generic brown colored burrowing species, often found hiding under leaf litter and loose substrate. It is winged but flightless, with adults displaying a shield-like body and a clean, high-contrast exoskeleton, making it one of the most visually distinctive roaches in the hobby.
This species is slow-moving, peaceful, and odorless, making it ideal for display tanks or as a pet invertebrate. It is also suitable for bioactive enclosures, where it acts as a detritivore, feeding on decaying plant material, leaf litter, roach chow, and fungi, contributing to waste breakdown and nutrient cycling. One thing to note is that Question mark roaches, as adults, are capable of climbing glass and plastic quite well, so ensure your enclosure has a secure lid.
Therea olegrandjeani, or Question Mark Roach, is a striking and visually iconic roach species native to India. It is prized for its bold black-and-white coloration and the distinct question mark-shaped marking on its pronotum. This unique pattern gives the species its common name and makes it a favorite among invertebrate hobbyists and display collectors.
Belonging to the Blaberidae family, the Question Mark Roach is a terrestrial species that lives when it gains its beautiful question mark black and white markings, but spends the majority of its life as a generic brown colored burrowing species, often found hiding under leaf litter and loose substrate. It is winged but flightless, with adults displaying a shield-like body and a clean, high-contrast exoskeleton, making it one of the most visually distinctive roaches in the hobby.
This species is slow-moving, peaceful, and odorless, making it ideal for display tanks or as a pet invertebrate. It is also suitable for bioactive enclosures, where it acts as a detritivore, feeding on decaying plant material, leaf litter, roach chow, and fungi, contributing to waste breakdown and nutrient cycling. One thing to note is that Question mark roaches, as adults, are capable of climbing glass and plastic quite well, so ensure your enclosure has a secure lid.
Therea olegrandjeani, or Question Mark Roach, is a striking and visually iconic roach species native to India. It is prized for its bold black-and-white coloration and the distinct question mark-shaped marking on its pronotum. This unique pattern gives the species its common name and makes it a favorite among invertebrate hobbyists and display collectors.
Belonging to the Blaberidae family, the Question Mark Roach is a terrestrial species that lives when it gains its beautiful question mark black and white markings, but spends the majority of its life as a generic brown colored burrowing species, often found hiding under leaf litter and loose substrate. It is winged but flightless, with adults displaying a shield-like body and a clean, high-contrast exoskeleton, making it one of the most visually distinctive roaches in the hobby.
This species is slow-moving, peaceful, and odorless, making it ideal for display tanks or as a pet invertebrate. It is also suitable for bioactive enclosures, where it acts as a detritivore, feeding on decaying plant material, leaf litter, roach chow, and fungi, contributing to waste breakdown and nutrient cycling. One thing to note is that Question mark roaches, as adults, are capable of climbing glass and plastic quite well, so ensure your enclosure has a secure lid.
What's the ideal diet for a Question Mark Roach?
We highly recommend feeding this species a balanced diet of vegetables & proteins. Also, we suggest that you introduce cuttlebone or crushed egg shells into the enclosure for a calcium boost. For vegetables, we recommend bok choy, mustard greens, and collard greens, as well as organic butternut squash or whatever squash is readily available. Cucumbers can be given for water purposes only, but please keep in mind they mold easily, and springtails must be added to the enclosure to keep the mold spores to a minimum. For proteins, we recommend dubia chow or just regular dog food, either crushed up into a paste or wet down and tossed in.
How should I keep a Question Mark Roach?
For habitats, we highly recommend keeping these guys in our Large Fossorial Fissure or Arboreal Bliss enclosures. Choose the Arboreal. If you want them to have some verticality, give them plenty of room to grow. With our magnetically fitted and sealed lid, you don’t need to worry about any offspring they have escaping. We recommend our Royal Soil blended substrate for soil. It will retain the proper moisture gradient needed and not dry out as quickly as plain dirt might.
