General Improvements
Since the site overhaul, new features have become available. Among them are the Search and Sort options. By clicking the magnifying glass at the top right of any page, you may now easily search for whatever you desire. For example, searching for “Blaberus” will bring up all pages relevant to the search word. Refining the search to “Blaberus discoidalis” will bring up more selective results.
Using the sorting tabs on the drop-down and side menus, you can narrow your search for the roach you need. Species can now be sorted by their adult size (tiny, large, etc) their type (non-climbing, pet, hisser, etc), care level (easy, expert, etc), and even by the continents they’re found on! Non-roach invertebrates, supplies, and other products are also available in these menus.
Detailed Species Pages
Each species now comes with its own page and information. At the top of the page is the roach’s common name, followed by its scientific name, and clickable images of the species as well as a map of its range. The maps are color-coded with the following meanings:
Blue: This is the roach’s native range from which it originated.
Green: This is the roach’s likely native range for which confirmed data do not yet exist.
Red: This is the roach’s introduced range, where it has colonized.
Purple: This is the roach’s likely introduced range, where it theoretically can be found outside its native range.
Black Arrow: This shows where this particular strain of roaches was collected from.
Some pictures have an Heirloom sticker on them, which means that this form or variety was selectively bred for or preserved by hobbyists and will consistently produce similar-looking individuals.
Beneath this is a clickable drop-down menu displaying detailed stats about each roach.
Detailed Species Stats Example -Click-
Finally, there is a more artistic description of each roach containing condensed notes, special characteristics, fun facts, or information about how the species was collected.
For non-roach invertebrates, some of this information may be unavailable due to the difficulty of finding, processing, or translating in-depth knowledge on each species. I will try my best to make my insight and experience with each species available.
New Pricing
As a means of encouraging the continued culturing of roaches (as opposed to just keeping individuals alive), the new pricing format contains substantial price breaks for buying roaches in the new increment, the Starter Colony (by default, the lowest increment that feeder roach species are available in is synonymous with a starter colony). Aside from being voted the most popular new format option, I feel it will give newcomers to the hobby (as well as older hobbyists interested in new species) a better baseline for starting colonies, as well as preserve precious genetic diversity that is often lacking in cultures of rarer species. Mixed nymphs are still available for purchase individually for those who would like to keep a few of different species as pets.