What is a Cockroach?
The word cockroach is a corruption of the Spanish cucaracha. The cockroach is characterizable by a flat oval body, long thin antennae, and a shiny black or brown leathery integument. The head is directed downward, and the mouthparts are pointed to the back instead of forward or downward as is the case in many other insects. The male generally has two pairs of wings, but the female, who in some species, is wingless or possesses vestigial wings. The female creates eggs in egg cases (known as oothecae). These are on occasion held coming out from her body or may be adhered in protected places. After the female generates an egg case, the soft, white nymphs emerge. As their exoskeleton toughens, it turns brown in shade. The form and huge size (particular species have a wing spread of longer than 12 cm [4.7 inches]) of cockroaches have made them a keen objective in the biological laboratory.
The cockroach likes a warm, humid, dark living habitat and is usually found living in tropical or other mild temperatures. Only a couple species have become pests. The insect inflicts damage upon more material than it consumes and possesses a unpleasant smell. The food preference of the roach, which should be both plant and animal product, can be from food, paper, clothing, and books to dead insects, particularly bedbugs. Insecticides could be preferred in roach removing.
The American cockroach (species Periplaneta americana) is 30 to 50 mm long (up to about 2 inches), reddish brown, and lives outdoors or in dark, heated indoor locations (e.g., basements and furnace rooms). During its adult life, usually about 1.5 years, the female drops 50 or more oothecae, each possessing about 16 eggs that hatch after 45 days. Nymphal life takes from 11 to 14 months. The American cockroach, originally from tropical and subtropical America, has well-developed wings. However, many species are seldom great at flying.
The German cockroach (Blattella germanica), a common pest in houses and is on occasion incorrectly referred to as a waterbug, is light brown with two dark stripes on the prothoracic region. The female generates the ootheca three days post mating and carries it for about 20 days. Because it is small (about 12 mm [less than 0.5 inch] long), this cockroach often is taken into houses in grocery bags and boxes; it has gone from nation to nation by boat. Three or more generations could live yearly. This cockroach, found abundantly in the water pipes of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City, is commonly labeled the Croton bug.
The brown-banded cockroach (Supella supellectilium) resembles the German cockroach but is even smaller. The male has fully developed wings and is lighter in colour than the female, whose wings are short and nonfunctional. Both sexes have two light-coloured bands across the back. The adult life span is roughly 200 days, and there can be two generations annually. Eggs can be dropped in clothes, wood molding, or cracks in the floor. With the invention of heated buildings this cockroach became more common in cooler locations.
The Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is considered one of the most disgusting of household pests. It is oval, shiny black or dark brown, 25 to 30 mm (1 to 1.2 inches) long, with a life cycle similar to that of the American cockroach. The male possesses short, fully developed wings, and the female has vestigial wings. This cockroach has been taken by vehicles of business from its Asiatic origins to every temperate regions.
Wood roaches are feral pests. Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, the common wood cockroach, can be found under logs and stones in northern latitudes. The male and female are so differing in appearance that they were first believed to be individual species. The male, 15 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1 inch) long, possesses wings that go past the abdomen; the female is smaller and has much shorter wings. Cryptocercus punctulatus eats wood with the aid of particular protozoans in its digestive tract.
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