When ordering from Roach Crossing, you agree to abide by the below terms and outlining conditions.

(Updated 7/25/2023)

In order to continue providing the caliber of service and diversity of stock I have been able to offer, Roach Crossing will be retaining its $30 minimum order (not including shipping) policy. Thank you for understanding and I look forward to a subsequent increase in client satisfaction.

IMPORTANT: If you are affiliated with a research entity, academic institution, or zoo, please use the kkandili@umich.edu e-mail to contact me.

Roach Crossing’s Guarantee on Stock Purity:

I have made it my mission over the last decade to source and raise only the best insect stock despite numerous obstacles. I guarantee that the stock you purchase is identified to species as accurately as the present science allows. All roaches are 100% guaranteed to be pure, unhybridized stock with locality information provided when available. All isopod cultivars are guaranteed to breed true within the parameters of their cultivar description. You will never receive “Orange”, “White Out”, etc. that do not consistently and only produce those phenotypes. Roach Crossing will guarantee the stability of these lines for at least 3 generations though reversions, while extremely rare, do occur. If you have followed proper sterilization protocol for adding organic matter to your colony and individuals occur that do not match the outlined phenotype, I will reimburse you for the cost of the original colony or replace it for free.

This is the Roach Crossing guarantee: our lines are of unbeatable quality.

Conditions:

•  When your order request has been received, I will issue a price quote including shipping costs.
• Payment can be done via Paypal, Zelle, check, or money order. If any of these do not explicitly work for you, we can discuss potential alternatives. I will not ship until payment has been received.
• Shipping is generally done on Tuesdays, or on the specified and agreed upon ship date. The most common delay will be of one week from the agreed upon shipping date. If there are changes to the shipping date, I will notify you as soon as possible. General delay and week-by-week shipping information is occasionally posted on the home page, which is usually updated before e-mails about delays are sent. Check the home page often for the fastest updates on potential changes.
  
• I ship via United States Postal Service. The default shipping is priority mail, which generally takes 2-4 days. During the winter (due to cold temperatures), I will usually ship via express mail. Although guaranteed overnight to many locations, this is not always the case, and the implications of this can be discussed beforehand. If you would like to upgrade from priority mail to express mail for any reason, please let me know and your shipping cost will be adjusted accordingly.
• Tracking information is forwarded automatically via USPS’s click-and-ship service. Many e-mail providers will send this notification e-mail to your trash or spam. Please be sure to check these on your shipping week if the USPS e-mail hasn’t arrived in your inbox!
• During cold conditions I will include a 48-72 heat pack with the order, as well as insulation. These costs will be rolled into the packing costs.
• If you unbox your order and most of the organisms have perished, contact me within 24 hours. I may request photographic evidence of the box and packaging. If 50% or more of one or more species arrives dead, and if these constitute 50% or more of the total species sent, I will re-send the order as soon as possible for free (alternatively, I can issue a refund for the order) if the order was sent by a mutually agreed upon shipping service (priority, express, etc). If all but one or two species arrive alive, I may offer to replace the perished species for just the price of shipping.
• I will guarantee live arrival of invertebrates open unboxing under the scope of the above definition and claim no responsibility for invertebrate deaths resulting from subsequent incorrect housing or care. I will, however, discuss appropriate care and solutions to common husbandry problems if you need assistance.
• If you are unhappy or unsatisfied with your order, or if you have any questions relating to care and maintenance, do not hesitate to ask me! I love questions and am always eager to help. :)

***A note on culture purity. I grow many of my clean-up crews and isopods in-situ with my roaches and other invertebrates. Occasionally, there may be additional organisms shipped with cultures (ex, isopods with large roaches, springtails with various roach species, discarded roach oothecae with dwarf white isopods, etc). Though I try my best to ensure I ship only what has been ordered, hitchhikers do happen, and are very likely with some species. If you have a problem with this, please notify me beforehand; to date I have not had any complaints but as I have expanded my clean-up crews into more cultures, I feel this necessary to mention. In general, if it has been shipped with your order, it is completely safe for you and your invertebrates.
As for springtails, due to their size and inconspicuous nature there is occasional mixing of different varieties (though I do strive to maintain independent, pure cultures of each variety.) I will guarantee springtails cultures to be 90% pure. At present (3/4/2020), all springtail cultures currently maintained at Roach Crossing except Cyphoderus similis are 99.0% pure.

(Updated 3/4/2020)

Terms:

• Nymph: The immature state of an insect that undergoes incomplete metamorphosis.
• Larva(e):The immature state of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis
• Instar: A measure of the development stage in insects. First instar (or L1) is the stage at birth; subsequently, the second instar (or L2) is the next stage achieved when the insect molts for the first time.
• Pupa(e): The intermediate development stage in insects that undergo complete metamorphosis which lies between the last larval instar and the adult stage.
• Cocoon: A casing created by some insects (primarily those that undergo complete metamorphosis) to protect the pupal (or, in others, the resting) stage. With respect to this site, it also includes the pupa contained within.
• Adult: An organism that is sexually mature.
• Mixed (count): A mixture of nymphs and adults of the species listed. If specified, it will be a mixture of just nymphs of various sizes, or just larvae of various sizes. In a mixed count, roughly 1/3 of the individuals will be small, 1/3 medium, and 1/3 large immatures with adult pairs being added to the overall number. For non-insect invertebrates, a mixed count will contain the above ratio but with adults being included in the “1/3 large” portion of the aforementioned count. If the above 1-1-1 ratio is not available, I will substitute additional individuals to compensate; for example, if a 15 mixed count is ordered and precisely 15 mixed individuals in the aforementioned ratio are not available, then either an appropriately corresponding number of large (10), medium (15) or small (20) individuals will be sent instead. If “mixed” is used to refer to an individual (as in, “Mixed nymphs: $2/each”), the specimens sent will be of any size dependent on what is currently in my colony.
• Small nymph/larva: An individual insect that is approximately 1/3 grown.
• Medium nymph/larva: An individual insect that is approximately 2/3 grown.
• Large nymph/larvae: An individual insect that is approximately 3/3 grown but is not yet an adult.
• Large pair: A male/female pair of insects that may include two large nymphs, one large nymph and one adult, or two adults.
• Starter colony: The smallest quantity of individuals recommended by Roach Crossing to start a colony after taking into consideration factors such as preservation of genetic diversity, colony establishment time, and the Allee effect.

International Shipping

Roach Crossing is able to ship internationally to certain locations. Necessary import permits are the responsibility of the purchaser and need to be forwarded for physical copies to be included with the order. There is a $350 USD minimum for all international orders, not including shipping cost. There is no live arrival guarantee on international orders.