Meet the Insect Zoo Bugs!

Here are just some of the fascinating bugs that you can meet
at the Anderson Insect Zoo. Be sure to check the schedule to see when
Tom and Mark will be bringing these creatures to a children’s museum or park near you!

Giant Pumpkin Millipede

Millipedes do not actually have 1,000,000 legs, or even 1,000 (mille is the Latin for 1,000) but they do have a lot, and some species can have more than 700, though yours will probably have between 200 and 300 when it is an adult.

All Millipedes are members of the phylum Arthropoda, and the Class Myriapoda (along with the centipedes) and the subclass Diplopoda. This is a reference to the fact that each of what looks like the Millipedes body segments to you is in fact 2 body segments fused together. This explains why they have 2 pairs (4) legs on each apparent body segment.

Millipedes are essentially soil animals, and in some ecosystems they are more important than worms as agents of soil turn over, and like worms, they eat the soil as they burrow through it. All Giant Millipedes come from tropical or sub-tropical environments, like Africa. Different species of Millipede feed on different things in the wild. Many eat rotten fruits and vegetables, but some are specialists on fallen and decaying leaves.

Millipedes make wonderful and fascinating pets if cared for properly.

The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), also known as the Hissing Cockroach or simply Hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach reaching 2–4 inches at maturity. They are from the island of Madagascar off the African coast, where they can be found in rotting logs.

Unlike most cockroaches, they are wingless. They are excellent climbers and can scale smooth glass. Males can be distinguished from females by their thicker, hairier antennae and the pronounced "horns" on the pronotum. Females carry the ootheca (egg case) internally, and release the young nymphs only after the eggs have hatched. As in some other wood roaches, the parents and offspring will commonly remain in close physical contact for extended periods of time. In captivity, these insects can live 5 years. They feed primarily on vegetable material.

Hissing

The Madagascar cockroach has become characterized by its hissing sound, large size, and appearance. Their nickname, "hissing cockroach," is due to their ability to force gas through the breathing pores (spiracles) found on each segment of their thorax and abdomen. The Madagascar hissing cockroach is believed to be the only insect that can hiss in this exact manner, as most insects that make a "hissing" sound do so by rubbing together various body parts. (Some long-horned beetles, e.g., the Giant Fijian long-horned beetle, can squeeze air out from under their elytra, but this does not involve the spiracles). This hiss takes three forms: the disturbance hiss, the female-attracting hiss, and the fighting hiss. All cockroaches from the fourth instar (fourth molting cycle) and older are capable of the disturbance hiss. Only males use the fighting hiss; they use it when challenged by other males. This establishes a dominance hierarchy by one of the males backing down and the fight being over. Males hiss more often than females. Males hiss sometimes as a challenge of battle.

Hissing Cockroaches in Popular Culture

The Madagascar hissing cockroach has been featured in Hollywood movies, prominently in Bug, as cockroaches who could set fires by rubbing their legs together and, in Damnation Alley, as post-nuclear-war mutant armor-plated "killer" cockroaches. In Starship Troopers, a movie about a war against an enemy called "The Bugs," a teacher is shown encouraging her students to step on this species as part of a TV propaganda broadcast.

A Madagascar hissing cockroach has been used as the driver of a mobile robot. They were used in the reality television series Fear Factor. The species also made an appearance in the movie Men In Black, in 1997. In September 2006, amusement park Six Flags Great America announced that it would be granting unlimited line-jumping privileges for all rides to anyone who could eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach as part of a Halloween-themed FrightFest. Furthermore, if a contestant managed to beat the previous world record (eating 36 cockroaches in 1 minute), he would receive season passes for four people during the 2007 season. This is a difficult record to break because raw cockroaches contain a mild neurotoxin that numbs the mouth and makes it difficult to swallow. The promotion ended on October 29, 2006.

Hissing Cockroaches as Pets

Madagascar cockroaches can be kept as pets. They cannot fly like some species of roaches, and they are not aggressive and do not bite. They need a small living area and a spot for them to hide because they do not like the light. They also need sticks because they sometimes like to climb. They sometimes will choose trees if rotten logs and leaves are not available. Remember no cockroach will choose this over a log or leaves. The living area must be tested to see if they can climb it as they can climb most kinds. Fish tanks with screens work best but it is also wise to coat the first few inches with petroleum jelly to keep them from getting out

They can live on fresh vegetables along with any kind of pellet food that is high in protein, such as dry dog food. In the USA, some states require permits before this species can be kept as a pet or in breeding colonies. For example, the state of Florida requires such a permit. In fact, during outreach programs, the University of Florida’s Department of Entomology and Nematology, which has such a permit, allows only males to be taken out of the laboratory. This is to prevent the possible introduction of a gravid female into the environment.

Vinegarroons

Thelyphonida is an arachnid order comprising invertebrates commonly known as vinegaroons (or vinegarroons). They are often called uropygids in the scientific community after the former order Uropygi. They are also known as whip scorpions because of their resemblance to true scorpions and because of their whip-like tails.

Vinegarroons range from 25 to 85 mm (0.98 to 3.3 in) in length, with most species not longer than 30 mm (1.2 in); the largest species, of the genus Mastigoproctus, reaching 85 mm (3.3 in).

Vinegarroons use only six legs for walking, having modified their first two legs to serve as antennae-like sensory organs. Many species also have very large scorpion-like pincers. They have one pair of eyes at the front of the cephalothorax and three on each side of the head, a pattern also found in scorpions.

Vinegarroons have no venom glands, but they have glands near the rear of their abdomen that can spray a combination of acetic acid and oconoic acid when they are bothered. The acetic acid gives this spray a vinegar-like smell, giving rise to the common name vinegarroon.

Vinegarroons are carnivorous, nocturnal hunters feeding mostly on insects and millipedes, but sometimes on worms and slugs. Mastigoproctus sometimes preys on small vertebrates. The prey is crushed between special teeth on the inside of the trochanters (the second segment of the leg) of the front legs. They are valuable in controlling the population of roaches and crickets. Vinegarroons live as long as seven years.

The Carolina Praying Mantis

The Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) is a praying mantis native to the Southern United States and one of six species found in North America. It grows to approximately 2.5 in (64 mm) in length.

The Carolina mantis has a dusty brown, gray, or green color useful as camouflage in certain environments. An unusual trait is that its wings only extend three quarters of the way down the abdomen in mature females, which can be distinguished by the large eyespots on its inner wings.

Sexual cannibalism occurs in roughly one quarter of all intersexual encounters of this species, though specimens of this species will engage in cannibalism regardless of age or gender if the opportunity presents itself.

Carolina mantis oothecae can be purchased in garden supply centers as a means of biological control of pest insects. It is the state insect of South Carolina.

The Hercules Beetle

The Hercules beetle is one of the largest species of beetle in the world, and is natively found in the jungles of South America. The Hercules beetle is the largest and most well known of all of the rhinoceros beetles, a group of large beetles that are closely related to the famous scarab beetle.

The Hercules beetle is found throughout the tropical jungles and rainforests of Central and South America, where the Hercules beetle spends the majority of it's time foraging through the leaf-litter on the forest floor in search of something to eat. The fallen debris also helps to hide this enormous insect as it moves about.

There are thirteen known species of Hercules beetle found in the jungles of South America and the Hercules beetle was named for it's sheer size as some males have been known to reach nearly 7 inches in length. Although it is quite rare for these beetles to get quite so big, the average adult Hercules beetle is usually between four and fifteen centimeters long depending on the species.

The most distinctive feature of the Hercules beetle has to be the enormous horn-like pincers which protrude from the forehead of the males. These horns can grow longer than the Hercules beetle's body and are mainly used for solving disputes with other male Hercules beetles. Female Hercules beetles do not have horns but their bodies are thought to be larger, but shorter than their male counterparts.

The Hercules beetle is an omnivorous animal but it;'s diet both in it's larvae and adult stages, is primarily made up of decaying plant matter. Rotting wood is the favored meal of the Hercules beetle, along with fruits and other plant matter and the occasional small insect.

The Hercules beetle is said to be the strongest creature on earth for its size, able to carry 850 times its own body weight but these enormous insects are still hunted by numerous animals throughout the jungles of Central and South America. Bats, rats and birds are the main predators of the Hercules beetle along with reptiles and omnivorous mammals.

The larval stage of the Hercules beetle will last one to two years, with the larva growing up to 4.5 inches in length and weighing up to 120 grams. Much of the life of the Hercules beetle larva is spent tunneling through it's primary food source of rotting wood. After the larval period, transformation into a pupa, and molting occur, with the Hercules beetle then emerging as an adult.

Today, the Hercules beetle is threatened as much of it's natural habitat has been lost to deforestation or been affected by both air and water pollution.