Australian Travel

The word cockroach is stemmed from the Spanish cucaracha. The cockroach is recognizable by a flat oval body, long threadlike antennae, and a gloss black or brown leathery integument. The head is held downward, and the mouthparts are directed backward instead of forward or downward as is the case for the majority of other insects. The male generally has two pairs of wings, unlike the female, who in some species, is wingless or appears with vestigial wings. The female produces eggs in egg cases (called oothecae). These are sometimes held protruding from her body or may be adhered in protected areas. After the female generates an egg case, the soft, white nymphs emerge. As their exoskeleton solidifies, it turns brown in appearance. The geometry and big size (certain species have a wingspread of longer than 12 cm [4.7 inches]) of cockroaches have made them a particular objective in the biological laboratory.

The cockroach prefers a warm, humid, dark living environment and is more often than not found living in tropical and other mild temperatures. Just a couple species have become pests. The insect inflicts damage upon more material than it digests and possesses a disagreeable scent. The food preference of the roach, which should be both plant and animal products, ranges from food, paper, clothing, and books to dead insects, especially bedbugs. Insecticides could be utilized in roach control.

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). In adult life, lasting about 1.5 years, the female generates 50 or more oothecae, each containing around 16 eggs that hatch after 45 days. Nymphal life goes from 11 to 14 months. The American cockroach, indigenous to tropical and subtropical America, possesses well-developed wings. However, many species tend not to be good at flying.

The German cockroach (Blattella germanica), a common pest in houses and sometimes erroneously thought of as a waterbug, is light brown with two dark stripes on the prothoracic region. The female produces the ootheca three days after mating and carries it for generally around 20 days. Because it is small in size (about 12 mm [less than 0.5 inch] long), this cockroach frequently can be brought into households in grocery bags and boxes; it has been taken through the globe by boat. Three or more generations can breed yearly. This cockroach, abundant around the water pipes of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City, has become called 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 paler 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 roughly 200 days, and there may be two generations in a year. Eggs might be dropped in clothes, wood molding, or cracks in the floor. With the advent of heated buildings this cockroach became more common in cooler temperatures.

The Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is considered one of the filthiest 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 has short, fully developed wings, but the female possesses vestigial wings. This cockroach has been distributed in vehicles of trade from its Asiatic origins to almost every temperate regions.

Wood roaches are not domestic pests. Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, the common wood cockroach, habits under logs and stones in northern latitudes. The male and female are so varied in appearance that they were first considered unique species. The male, 15 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1 inch) long, possesses wings that extend past the abdomen; the female is smaller and has much shorter wings. Cryptocercus punctulatus eats wood with the aid of certain protozoans in its digestive tract.

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