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 collectively known as hissing cockroaches, capable of producing sound by forcing air through their abdominal

spiracle Spiracle or spiraculum may refer to: * Spiracle (arthropods), opening in the exoskeletons of some arthropods * Spiracle (vertebrates), openings on the surface of some vertebrates * Spiraculum, a genus of land snails in family Cyclophoridae Cycl ...

s, and many species are popular in the pet trade, especially the species commonly called "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 at maturity. They are native to the island of Madagascar, which is off ...

", ''Gromphadorhina portentosa''. Remarkably, despite their size, 9 of the 20 known species of hissing roaches were not recognized until recently, having only been described in 1973.C. van Herrewege. 1973. Contribution à l'étude des Blattaria de la faune Malgache. II. Description de huit espèces nouvelles appartenant aux genres ''Gromphadorhina'' Brunner v.W. et ''Elliptorhina'' gen. nov. Bulletin de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon, 42nd année, Numéro spécial du 150th anniversaire, décembre 1973. 75-103

As pets

Members of at least four of the genera in the tribe ('' Aeluropoda'', ''

Elliptorhina ''Elliptorhina'' is a genus of large, flightless, wood-inhabiting cockroaches comprising ten known species, nine of those found on the island of Madagascar and one, '' Elliptorhina lefeuvri'', found on Europa Island Europa Island (, ), in Ma ...

'', ''

Gromphadorhina ''Gromphadorhina'' is one of several roach genera in the tribe Gromphadorhini, all from the island of Madagascar. It is one of several genera known collectively known as hissing cockroaches, and common in the pet trade. In the older literature, t ...

'', and '' Princisia'') are widely kept as exotic pets. Although ''G. portentosa'' is considered the best known, and most popular pet, this is debatable since '' G. oblongonota'' and '' G. picea''Delfosse, E. (2004) Les blattes souffleuses de Madagascar. Insectes 153: 19-22. are commonly confused with it by pet dealers.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5885887 Cockroaches Insect tribes