Micky Maus is a biweekly comic book series featuring Disney characters. It is published in Germany by the Egmont Ehapa Publishing Company. Some (all?) issues come with a toy of sorts and the February 7, 2020 issue came with large rubber cockroach. I have forum member widukind to thank for securing me a copy and mailing it to me! The cockroach is not identified to the species level. My initial thought was something in the family Blaberidae. I tossed around several ideas, but finally settled on the Dubia roach, Blaptica dubia, as first suggested by forum member Isidro (Pardofelis on STS Forum). The figure was advertised as ‘Riesen-Kakerlake’ (giant cockroach) and that ‘damit wirst du dum prank-meister!’ (this will make you a prank master!). So, it was clearly sold to be a gag gift, of sorts.
The Dubia roach, also known as an orange-spotted roach, Guyana spotted roach, or Argentinian wood roach, is a medium-sized species of cockroach of Central and South America, from Costa Rica south to French Guiana, Brazil, and Argentina. The species is sexually dimorphic; adult males have wings functional for flight, whereas the females have reduced wing buds. Females are ovoviviparous and give birth to live nymphs rather than laying eggs. Dubia roaches are common in the pet trade as food for reptiles and amphibians.
The figure is 10.0 cm long, making it between 2:1 and 3:1 for an adult female. And we know the figure is a female due to its reduced wings. The figure is solid piece of hard rubber with softer rubber legs and antennae. The color is somewhat stylized but good enough to be associated with B. dubia.
I do not imagine most collectors are going to be racing to get one of these, but if you are a fan of novelty figures or unusual species, you might like this one. It is a bit big, so space might be an issue. As mentioned at the beginning, a forum member in Germany bought this for me. I am not sure how easy they are to acquire otherwise.
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Shame it’s not in 1:1, I’ve been in need of life sized feeder insects to go with my reptiles. Generic roach figures can pass well enough for males repainted but the female dubias are the recognizable ones.
As a reptile keeper I breed dubia roaches, but I also have an appreciation for the species This is a cool toy and one that I would have never imaged existed, let along come with a Disney comic book. Thanks for sharing!