The roaches you will see at the Museum are the descendants of animals given to our assistant director about 12 years ago. 

Found wild only in Madagascar, they are commonly sold as reptile food in the United States.  However, hissing cockroaches are very interesting insects in their own right.  They are live-bearing roaches, their young are born alive instead of in eggs.  The “hissing” that gives them their name comes from the use of air and vocal cord-like structures in their breathing tubes; most insects make sound by rubbing together wings or legs.  Males battle for dominance and can easily told apart from the females by their thick antenna and prothorax bumps (horns).