Most pet shops have had this neat creature at one time or another. However, it is very uncommon to see males fight unless you constantly watch your roaches. Hissers do not have a defensive smell but rely on their thickness of hide and noise-making abilities to defend themselves. Females among most cultures can reach seventy millimeters although males are normally much smaller. The Harlequin roach is certainly among the neatest looking of the pet roaches and is a very quick moving medium sized species.
Nymphs start out life as a plain tan color but slowly molt to become very incredible looking adults.
Harlequin roaches easily scale smooth surfaces and like most other glass climbers can be controlled by petroleum jelly. Also, this roach is an egg laying species. The Firefly roach, being from South America, is a somewhat convincing mimic of the firefly beetles that live there. This little roach is very quick and unfortunately both young and adults are more than happy to climb smooth-sided containers such as aquariums and critter cages. The only way to guard against all escapes is to tape or hot glue microscreen to holes in an airtight container or to Velcro a screen lid onto an aquarium.