Why Discoid Roaches Are the Quietest Feeder Insect Option

How Crickets Make Their Noise

If you've ever kept crickets as feeders, you know the sound: that constant chirping, especially at night, that can drive you up the wall. That noise is stridulation. Male crickets produce it by rubbing their wings against each other in a very specific way. One wing has a row of tiny teeth-like structures (the scraper), and the other wing has a textured surface (the file). When the cricket rubs them together, it vibrates the wings, and the wings amplify the sound like a speaker. The purpose is communication — males chirp to attract females and to claim territory.

This mechanism is built into the cricket's body plan. Crickets have specialized wing anatomy with all the right teeth, ridges, and reinforcements to turn friction into sound. It's an elegant system for what it does, but it also means you can't just turn off the noise. A cricket colony will chirp whether you want them to or not.

Dubia Roaches and Their Limited Vocalizations

Dubia roaches (another popular feeder species) are quieter than crickets because they don't have the same stridulation anatomy. However, they're not completely silent. Some dubia colonies, especially when stressed or in high population density, produce a low hissing or rustling sound. It's nowhere near the volume of crickets, but in a quiet room, you might notice it. The sound comes from movement and occasional distress signals, not from a specialized sound-making apparatus.

The Discoid Difference: No Sound Organs

Discoid roaches (Blaberus discoidalis) are genuinely silent because they lack the anatomical features required to produce sound. They have no scrapers on their wings, no file-like structures, and no wing reinforcements designed for stridulation. Their bodies simply aren't built to make noise. When discoid roaches move, bump into each other, or climb the container walls, you hear mechanical noises — the scratching of their feet, the tapping of their bodies — but no chirping, hissing, or stridulation.

Unlike crickets, which need to communicate over distance to find mates in wild grasslands, discoid roaches evolved in environments where they live close together in colonies. They rely on pheromones (chemical signals) for communication and finding mates, not sound. This behavioral adaptation allowed them to skip the acoustic weaponry entirely. It's a genuinely quieter evolutionary strategy.

What Sounds You Might Still Hear

Even though discoid roaches make no chirping or hissing, you're not in a completely silent room when you have a large colony. You'll hear the rustling of movement as hundreds of tiny feet walk across substrate. You'll hear the tap-tap-tapping of their antennae and bodies against container walls and each other. Some keepers describe it as a gentle, low-frequency rustle — almost like a very quiet wind in leaves. But it's nothing close to the volume or persistence of cricket chirping. Most people don't even notice it after a few days, and it certainly won't keep you awake at night.

Practical Implications for Apartment Living

If you're sharing a space with roommates, live in an apartment, or keep reptile feeders in a bedroom, this difference is huge. A cricket colony in a bedroom will chirp all evening and most of the night during breeding season. Discoid roaches, by contrast, are negligibly noisy. You can keep them in a closet, under a bed, or in a living-room cabinet without disturbing anyone. Many apartment keepers specifically choose discoid roaches (or dubias) over crickets for exactly this reason.

Noise Level Comparison Summary

To be concrete: crickets produce sound levels in the 80-100 decibel range depending on colony density (similar to lawn mower noise). Dubia roaches are essentially silent, maybe 40-50 decibels of ambient rustling if you have a large population (similar to quiet office noise). Discoid roaches are also essentially silent at the same 40-50 decibel range of ambient rustling, indistinguishable from general activity noise in your space.

If quiet feeders are a dealbreaker for your living situation, both discoid and dubia roaches deliver on that front. But discoid roaches add the advantage of being unable to fly and unable to climb smooth surfaces, which makes them even easier to manage safely in an apartment setting.