Mites on Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

5 min readMar 28, 2022

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Androlaelaps schaeferi (Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi) is a mite that lives on the Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa). Mites are nearly always present at one time or another with hissing cockroaches. After you have your colony or individual roaches for a while, you may begin to notice tiny light-colored creatures crawling on the roaches. The mites live on a single roach, unless they get passed on from roach parent to roach baby.

Are they dangerous?

These mites only live on the roaches and will not harm them or live on humans. They’re doing these cockroaches a favor. By cleaning up the old food and debris, the mites help keep them free of mold and pathogens, potentially extending the roaches’ lives.

How to detect them?

The mites crowd together in the crevices — places where the cockroach can’t brush them off. They are usually concentrated between the host’s legs and around the spiracles. These mites form small clumps of four to six individuals at the base of the leg of their cockroach host.

Example on Reddit

They get their meals near the cockroach’s head, gobbling up the food bits and saliva that the roach leaves behind. When they get thirsty, they head to the spiracles: the openings the roach uses to breathe. The mites get water vapor from them. The mites have preferred locations on the cockroach body that maximize their hydration.

Is it a parasite?

No. In 1995, Yoder and Barcelona investigated mite feeding through the use of colorant dyes. They found that the mites would only ingest the dye when they fed on food for the cockroach. No evidence was found of mite feeding on the cockroaches.

The mites are phoretic, they use the cockroaches as transportation to a food source. Phoresis is an interaction in which one organism attaches itself to another (the host) solely for the purpose of travel.

Bubalornis-on-Buffalo — Bubalornis on the buffalo’s back (Commensalism)

Why do they appear?

Their presence often indicates a problem with sanitation within the cage. Leaving food or dead roaches in the living environment can attract these mites and provide a medium for their survival.

Can I remove them?

If you breed cockroaches only for yourself, then you should not do this. The mites help keep them free of mold and pathogens.
If you’re someone who raises hissing cockroaches to feed to your tarantulas, and there are many who do, you may need to fight the mites.

Ways to remove the mites

Mites can be removed by gently shaking the roach in a plastic bag with a small amount of flour added. The mites fall off the roach and into the flour. Remove the roach, then tie up and discard the bag. Gently spray the excess flour off the roach with plain water from a plant mister or wash bottle.
Mites may also be removed by brushing the roach with a small paintbrush. Repeat the treatment if mites reappear.
Wash off each cockroach under warm water then place them in a new cage. This is fine for people who don’t keep many hissing cockroaches, but is next to impossible for very large colonies.
Purchase predator mites, generally sold as Hypoaspis sp., from a natural control beneficial insect and mite company. When the predators have cleaned out the nasty mite population, they’ll die off themselves, usually completely.