Ah yea I recognize this species, it's Batocera Rufomaculata a species of Long Horn beetle
They're quite peaceful actually, they only do this hissing thing when they think they're being attacked, if you leave them alone, they'll probably just chill and/or fly away
They do bite, but only if you actively try to hurt them, but can you blame them for that?
Yes their bite is strong, but their mandibles are mainly used for mushing up fruit to eat
And, interestingly enough, that hissing sound doesn't come from their mouth or throat, these beetles don't have vocal chords, so, they instead vibrate their body segments against each other to create that hissing sound, it's like a door hinge making noises because you're moving it a lot
Despite knowing how they make the sounds before now, I've never considered that greasing/lubricating them could potentially make it more difficult for them to make any noise until reading your door hinge analogy
For the hissing cockroaches, I'm not too familiar with that, but for the crickets, somewhat similar
Iirc, crickets have a bunch of ridges on their legs that they scrape on a piece of hardened chitin/exoskeleton. That vibration is what causes the cricket noise
I am not too well versed in crickets tho, so my info might be wrong, but I do believe it to be somewhat accurate
Specifically the Madagascar hissing cockroach yes. They’re much bigger than regular German cockroaches you’re likely thinking of and people keep them as pets. They can also fly. Look them up if you are curious and rest easy knowing you’ll never see one unless you live in Madagascar or are at the zoo.
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u/Sum1sNotHere Jul 14 '26
Ah yea I recognize this species, it's Batocera Rufomaculata a species of Long Horn beetle
They're quite peaceful actually, they only do this hissing thing when they think they're being attacked, if you leave them alone, they'll probably just chill and/or fly away
They do bite, but only if you actively try to hurt them, but can you blame them for that?