Flat Horned Hisser

Product Details

Aeluropoda insignis, commonly known as the Flat Horn Hisser, is a large hissing cockroach from Madagascar. If exotic tropical insects are your thing, you’re into hissing roaches, or you’re looking for a fun and interesting aquarium specimen or even a pet, these are a must-have!

To start, Flat Horned Hissers are extraordinarily beautiful in both color and form. And we happen to have some of the most beautiful specimens available! A deep red/purple/mahogany color augments their pleasingly symmetrical shape, which, as their name implies, is relatively flat. Males appear masculine, with aggressive horns, wide, symmetrically pleasing bodies, and large black legs.

However, appearances don’t always tell the whole story in the insect world. While Flat Horn Hissers look aggressive, they tend to be calm and easily tamed with regular handling. One thing about being a huge insect is that they have fewer predators, and this results in a generally relaxed attitude.

Flat Horn Hissers are relatively rare and not available from many cockroach breeders. They reproduce slowly, with a long gestation time, and females carry relatively few nymphs. But they are just as easy to keep and breed as other roaches from Madagascar. In fact, they thrive in a range of conditions and are quite easy to care for. They prefer temperatures between 70°F and 85°F for general good health, with conditions on the upper end of the scale being optimal for breeding.

Read more about hisser care and breeding.

As you probably guessed, Flat Horned Hissers are…flat. In fact, these roaches are as flat as a pancake! Their bodies are wider and much flatter than the common Madagascar hissing cockroach or the closely related Wide Horn Hisser. There are a few exceptions, such as gravid females with abdomens full of eggs and individual roaches after a period of heavy feeding. However, most of the time, they resemble a Frisbee more than a football.

They also have horns, or so they’re called. Both sexes have them, but they’re much more prominent on males. They consist of two large, flat-black protrusions on the back of their shell, sandwiched between two massive antennae. They are quite cool-looking. When housed together, males use their horns to battle with each other, hissing and charging to establish dominance.

The hissing sound males make is fairly prominent. It’s similar to the sound cats make when threatened, but not nearly as loud or menacing. They make this hissing sound by squeezing air through a special cavity in their abdomen. Interestingly, they actually have different hisses for different purposes. Mating, fighting, and “general alarm” each have different tones. With a little experience, you can distinguish between hisses.

Like other hissing cockroaches, the Flat Horn Hisser can grow fairly large. Males can reach a length of approximately 3 inches, depending on diet and living conditions, and they live 3-5 years. Females are usually a bit smaller than males. They eat a variety of foods but prefer carrots, apples, bananas, squash, and our roach chow. Their housing should include plenty of dark space and some material, like cardboard egg crates, to move around on. You can also use natural materials such as wood and leaves, if you prefer.

Here are some ways the Flat Horn Hisser compares to hissing cockroaches as a group:

• They are flatter, size is average
• Their appetite is average and they grow more slowly
• They are faster and nymphs are much faster
• Nymphs explore more and will escape when possible
• They are more active
• They require more frequent cleaning

NOTE: We treat our Flat Horned Hissers the same as our organic Dubia roaches, which means they enjoy only organic foods.

Because they can climb glass and smooth plastic, you’ll need to provide housing with either a tight lid or a 2-inch strip of petroleum jelly around the rim. Females give birth to around 10 to 20 nymphs, and because they carry their young internally, you don’t have to provide any special substrate for breeding. As far as humidity goes, they prefer levels of 70% and above.

Flat Horn Hissers are great for children and others with little or no experience keeping insects. They’re cool, interesting to look at, and fun to watch. They hiss, and they become accustomed to handling. They’re harmless to humans and other animals.

They’re also relatively clean members of the already clean cockroach family. Their waste dries into frass, which is easily removed. Our experience has consistently shown that the food we feed our roaches has a higher potential for contamination than any other item in their enclosure.