''Gromphadorhina oblongonota'' is one of four roach species in the genus ''

Gromphadorhina ''Gromphadorhina'' is one of several roach genera in the tribe Gromphadorhini Gromphadorhini is a Tribe (biology), tribe of large, flightless, wood-inhabiting cockroaches comprising 20 known species in 6 gener all but one from the island of Ma ...

'', which is one of several genera collectively known as hissing cockroaches; like all members of the tribe

Gromphadorhini Gromphadorhini is a tribe of large, flightless, wood-inhabiting cockroaches comprising 20 known species in 6 gener all but one from the island of Madagascar; the one exception being from Europa Island just off the coast of Madagascar. They are c ...

, they are from the island of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. They are common in the pet trade, where they are known as "wide-horned hissers" and their scientific name is frequently misspelled as either ''oblongata'' or ''oblongonata''. This species is difficult to distinguish from the common '' G. portentosa'' and is commonly confused with it, although ''oblongonota'' tends to be significantly larger and somewhat darker than ''portentosa''.

As pets

All four known ''Gromphadorhina'' species are widely kept as exotic pets, with ''G. portentosa'' being arguably the most common. Many pet dealers, unaware of the fact that there are four species in the genus, classify their stock as ''portentosa'', even though they are selling ''oblongonota'', mixtures of ''portentosa'' and ''oblongonota'', or hybrids of these two species.

References

Cockroaches Endemic fauna of Madagascar Insects described in 1973 {{cockroach-stub