What is a Cockroach?

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 aimed downward, and the mouthparts are pointed rearward instead of forward or downward as is the case with the majority of other insects. The male usually has two pairs of wings, whereas the female, who in some species, is wingless or has vestigial wings. The female generates eggs in egg cases (called oothecae). These are at times held away from her body or could be stuck in protected areas. After the female generates an egg case, the soft, white nymphs emerge. As their exoskeleton hardens, it turns brown in shade. The structure and large size (particular species demonstrate a wingspan measurement of more than 12 cm [4.7 inches]) of cockroaches have made them objects of study in the biological laboratory.

The cockroach takes a warm, humid, dark living habitat and is usually thriving in tropical and other mild climates. Just a couple species have become pests. The insect damages more material than it consumes and emits a disagreeable odour. The eating habits of the roach, which can be both plant and animal products, ranges from food, paper, clothing, and books to dead insects, especially bedbugs. Insecticides should be taken in roach removing.

The American cockroach (species Periplaneta americana) is 30 to 50 mm long (up to about 2 inches), reddish brown, and lives in an outdoor habitat or in dark, heated indoor areas (e.g., basements and furnace rooms). In its adult life, lasting about 1.5 years, the female drops 50 or more oothecae, each possessing usually 16 eggs that hatch after 45 days. Nymphal life goes from 11 to 14 months. The American cockroach, originally from tropical and subtropical America, possesses well-developed wings. However, the majority of species are not often good flyers.

The German cockroach (Blattella germanica), a common pest in households and sometimes erroneously thought of as a waterbug, is light brown with two dark stripes on the prothoracic area. The female creates the ootheca three days after mating and carries it for around 20 days. Because it is small in size (about 12 mm [less than 0.5 inch] long), this cockroach often can be brought into households in grocery bags and boxes; it has moved through the world by boat. Three or more generations can occur yearly. This cockroach, found in abundance around the water pipes of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City, became called the Croton bug.

The brown-banded cockroach (Supella supellectilium) closely resembles the German cockroach but is a little bit smaller. The male possesses fully developed wings and is paler in colour than the female, whose wings are undeveloped and nonfunctional. Both sexes have two light-coloured bands along the back. The adult life span is around 200 days, and there could be two generations a year. Eggs may be dropped in clothes, wood molding, or cracks in the floor. With the invention of heated buildings this cockroach became more common in cooler areas.

The Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is held as 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 resembling that of the American cockroach. The male has short, fully developed wings, but the female possesses vestigial wings. This cockroach has been taken by vehicles of trade from its Asiatic origins to almost every temperate regions.

Wood roaches are feral pests. Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, the common wood cockroach, is found beneath logs and stones in northern latitudes. The male and female are so different in appearance that they were originally seen as unique 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 digests wood with the help of select protozoans in its digestive tract.

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