What is a Cockroach?
The word cockroach is a corruption of the Spanish cucaracha. The cockroach is recognizable by a flat oval body, long stringlike antennae, and a glossy black or brown leathery integument. The head is bent downward, and the mouthparts are pointed rearward instead of forward or downward as is the case in most other insects. The male often has two pairs of wings, whereas the female, who in some species, is wingless or appears with vestigial wings. The female produces eggs in egg cases (known as oothecae). These are at times held away from her body or could be adhered in protected parts. After the female deposits an egg case, the soft, white nymphs emerge. As their exoskeleton hardens, it turns brown in appearance. The geometry and large size (certain species possess a wingspan measurement of higher than 12 cm [4.7 inches]) of cockroaches have turned them into a significant interest in the biological laboratory.
The cockroach takes a warm, humid, dark living environment and is frequently found in tropical and other mild climates. Just a small number species have become pests. The insect inflicts damage upon more material than it digests and possesses a unpleasant odour. The nutrition of the roach, which includes both plant and animal products, ranges from food, paper, clothing, and books to dead insects, particularly bedbugs. Insecticides should be preferred in roach destroying.
The American cockroach (species Periplaneta americana) is 30 to 50 mm long (up to about 2 inches), reddish brown, and inhabits outdoors or in dark, heated indoor areas (e.g., basements and furnace rooms). During adult life, lasting about 1.5 years, the female generates 50 or more oothecae, each containing about 16 eggs that hatch after 45 days. Nymphal life goes from 11 to 14 months. The American cockroach, originally from tropical and subtropical America, has well-developed wings. However, most species tend not to be good flyers.
The German cockroach (Blattella germanica), a common pest in houses and occasionally erroneously thought of as a waterbug, is light brown with two dark stripes on the prothoracic area. The female creates the ootheca three days post mating and carries it for generally around 20 days. Because it is tiny in size (about 12 mm [less than 0.5 inch] long), this cockroach often is carried into residences in grocery bags and boxes; it has moved through the globe by boat. Three or more generations may breed yearly. This cockroach, found abundantly throughout the water pipes of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City, is now labeled the Croton bug.
The brown-banded cockroach (Supella supellectilium) is similar to the German cockroach but is even smaller. The male has totally developed wings and is brighter in hue than the female, whose wings are stunted and nonfunctional. Both sexes have two light-coloured bands across the back. The adult life span is generally around 200 days, and there could be two generations a year. Eggs might be dropped in clothes, wood molding, or cracks in the floor. With the advent of heated buildings this cockroach became common in cooler locations.
The Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is considered one of the dirtiest 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 resembling that of the American cockroach. The male possesses short, fully developed wings, and the female possesses vestigial wings. This cockroach has been carried in vehicles of trade from its Asiatic origins to every temperate regions.
Wood roaches are not domestic pests. Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, the common wood cockroach, habits beneath logs and stones in northern latitudes. The male and female are so unlike in appearance that they were originally considered individual species. The male, 15 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1 inch) long, has wings that extend past the abdomen; the female is smaller and possesses much shorter wings. Cryptocercus punctulatus digests wood with the help of particular protozoans in its digestive tract.
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