Gromphadorhinini

Gromphadorhinini is a tribe of large, flightless, wood-inhabiting roaches comprising 20 known species in 6 genera , all but one from the island of Madagascar (the one exception being from Europa Island just off the coast of Madagascar). They are known collectively known as hissing cockroaches, capable of producing sound by forcing air through their abdominal spiracles, and many species are popular in the pet trade, especially the species commonly called "the Madagascar hissing cockroach", Gromphadorhina portentosa (though all members of the tribe can hiss, and 19 of the 20 species are from Madagascar). Remarkably, despite their size, 9 of the 20 known species of hissing roaches were not recognized until recently, having only been described in 1973.^[1]

As pets

Members of at least four of the genera in the tribe (Aeluropoda, Elliptorhina, Gromphadorhina, and Princisia) are widely kept as exotic pets. The best-known species is the Madagascar hissing cockroach, (G. portentosa), though this is debatable as at least two other species in the same genus, G. oblongonota^[2] and G. picea^[3] are commonly confused with it by pet dealers.

References

1. ↑ 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
2. ↑ http://www.roachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=3452
3. ↑ Delfosse, E. (2004) Les blattes souffleuses de Madagascar. Insectes 153: 19-22.