Waxy Bois Update

So after looking at my Bantua sp. "Namibia" for a while, I've realized that the nymphs have a light colored, waxy coating on their exoskeletons, similar to Porcellionides isopods and some Tenebrionid genera. 😮 This is to aid in moisture retention, and to help shield them from the arid conditions they live in. I've seen it in plenty of Tenebs and Porcellionides, but I've never seen any roaches with that kind of coating! So now I'm calling my group of Bantua the "Waxy Bois". 😛
Unfortunately I was unable to get any pictures of them fully waxed up, much of their coating had rubbed off during transit, so I didn't notice it until after I first took pictures of my nymphs. I'll snap some pictures of the waxy nymphs at a later date I'm sure, but I just wanted to make note of this quirk in public, just goes to show how adapted they are to an arid habitat!

In other news, one of my females has matured, and the adults apparently have a much thinner waxy coating, if it weren't for the flash of the camera, I wouldn't even have noticed it! (which I find a bit odd to be honest). Additionally, she has changed color from dark brown to black now, and she's looking a lot snazzier in my opinion! 😁

Anyways, here are some pictures of her and her new look:

Ain't she a beauty! 😍 One of the other nymphs has just molted into a subadult male, so I should also get to see what the adult males look like in person soon!

Well, that's gonna do it for today's post, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all in the next one! 😉