Some lucky guests witnessed the miracle of birth when one of LSC’s Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches gave birth while on display in Eat & Be Eaten.

Female hissing cockroaches will often have 15 – 40 babies at a time. Their offspring, called nymphs, are white when they are first born and darken a few hours later when their exoskeletons harden. Over the next six months, these baby cockroaches will shed their exoskeletons six times before they become full-grown adults.

The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach in the top right of this picture gave birth to all of the babies seen here.

Here you can see the dark black eyes on one of the baby Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. A few hours later, the insect's whole body darkened when his exoskeleton hardened.