Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Gromphadorhina portentosa

Animal Class: Invertebrates

Length: 4 inches

Lifespan: 2 years

Diet: In the wild, they eat dead plant and animal matter. In the Zoo, they’re fed greens, carrots, and nutritional biscuits.

Habitat: This species lives on the forest floor layer of the Madagascar rainforest.

Description: This large, wingless cockroach has a dark brown to black head, thorax, and legs. The abdomen is colored dorsally with oranges, yellow, and browns. There is sexual dimorphism shown in hissing cockroaches. The males have bumps (pronotal humps) on the pronotum (the anterior portion of the thorax) and have feather-like antennae.

Hissing cockroaches are a vital part of their ecosystem. By eating dead plant and animal matter, they help to quickly recycle debris into fertilizer for plants, which makes the rainforest thrive.

Our Animals: The Zoo keeps a large colony of hissing cockroaches. These animals are also Ambassador Animals.