Deacon's new pets (God forbid if they get out, there'll be hell to pay)

The Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), also known as the hissing roach or simply hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 2–3 inches at maturity. They are from the island of Madagascar off the African coast, where they can be found in rotting logs.
Unlike most cockroaches, they are wingless. They are excellent climbers and can scale smooth glass. Males can be distinguished from females by their thicker, hairier antennae and the pronounced "horns" on the pronotum. Females carry the ootheca (egg case) internally, and release the young nymphs only after the eggs have hatched. As in some other wood roaches, the parents and offspring will commonly remain in close physical contact for extended periods of time. In captivity, these insects can live 5 years. They feed primarily on vegetable material.

The hisser has featured in Hollywood movies, prominently in Bug (1975) as roaches who could set fires by rubbing their legs together, and in Damnation Alley (1977) as post-nuclear-war mutant armor-plated "killer" cockroaches. In Starship Troopers, a movie about a war against an enemy called "The Bugs," a teacher is shown encouraging her students to step on this species as part of a TV propaganda broadcast.

A Madagascar hissing cockroach has been used as the driver of a mobile robot.[2] They have been encrusted with Swarovski crystals and used as necklaces and brooches. They were used in the reality television series Fear Factor. The species also made an appearance in the movie Men In Black in 1997. This was later parodied in the comedy Team America: World Police (2004), where a Madagascar hissing cockroach emerges from Kim Jong-il's body after his death, enters a tiny spaceship, and flies away.

Popular Culture
In September 2006, amusement park Six Flags Great America announced it would be granting unlimited line-jumping privileges for all rides to anyone who could eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach as part of a Halloween-themed FrightFest. Furthermore, if a contestant managed to beat the previous world record (eating 36 cockroaches in 1 minute), he would receive season passes for four people during the 2007 season. This is a difficult record to break because raw cockroaches contain a mild neurotoxin that numbs the mouth and makes it difficult to swallow[citation needed]. The promotion ended on October 29, 2006.

The roaches were used in a runway challenge for the sixth cycle of America's Next Top Model.
(taken from Wiki)