Cockroach
Overview
Cockroaches are insect
s of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations. About four species are well known as pest
s.
Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach
, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach
, Blattella germanica, about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) long, the Asian cockroach
, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach
, Blatta orientalis, about 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in).
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations. About four species are well known as pest
Pest (animal)
A pest is an animal which is detrimental to humans or human concerns. It is a loosely defined term, often overlapping with the related terms vermin, weeds, parasites and pathogens...
s.
Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach
American cockroach
The American cockroach , also known as the waterbug, or misidentified as the palmetto bug , is the largest species of common cockroach, and often considered a pest. None of the Periplaneta species are endemic to the Americas; despite the name, P...
, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach
German cockroach
The German cockroach is a small species of cockroach, measuring about to long; however, they are known to get bigger. It can be tan through brown to almost black, and has two dark parallel streaks running from the head to the base of the wings. Although it has wings, it is unable to sustain flight...
, Blattella germanica, about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) long, the Asian cockroach
Asian cockroach
Blattella asahinai, the Asian cockroach is a species of cockroach that was first described in 1981 from insects collected on Okinawa Island, Japan. It is nearly identical to the German cockroach except for a few minor morphological differences. Like the German cockroach, it is about long, is tan...
, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach
Oriental cockroach
The oriental cockroach is a large species of cockroach, measuring about in length at maturity. It is dark brown to black in colour and has a glossy body...
, Blatta orientalis, about 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in).
Discussions
Encyclopedia
Cockroaches are insect
s of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations. About four species are well known as pest
s.
Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach
, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach
, Blattella germanica, about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) long, the Asian cockroach
, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach
, Blatta orientalis, about 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in). Tropical
cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives
and 'roachoids' such as the Carboniferous
Archimylacris
and the Permian
Apthoroblattina
were not as large as the biggest modern species.
ized Greek
name for the insect (Doric Greek
: βλάττα, blátta; Ionic
and Attic Greek
: βλάττη, blátte'
The English form cockroach is a folk etymology reanalysis of the Spanish word into meaningful native parts, although cock
referred to a rooster and a roach
is a type of fish.
Mantodea, Isoptera, and Blattaria are usually combined by entomologists into a higher group called Dictyoptera
. Current evidence strongly suggests that termite
s evolved directly from true cockroaches, and many authors now consider termites to be an epifamily of cockroaches, as Blattaria excluding Isoptera is not a monophyletic group.
Historically, the name Blattaria has been used largely interchangeably with the name Blattodea, and this name is used for the order by the current world catalogue, the Blattodea Species File Online. Another name, Blattoptera
has come into use for this same paraphyletic group. These earliest cockroach-like fossils ("Blattopterans" or "roachids") are from the Carboniferous
period between 354–295 million years ago. However, these fossils differ from modern cockroaches in having long external ovipositor
s and are the ancestors of mantis
es as well as modern cockroaches. The first fossils of modern cockroaches with internal ovipositors appear in the early Cretaceous
.
Cockroaches live in a wide range of environments around the world. Pest species of cockroaches adapt readily to a variety of environments, but prefer warm conditions found within buildings. Many tropical species prefer even warmer environments and do not fare well in the average household.
The spines on the legs were earlier considered to be sensory, but observations of their locomotion on sand and wire meshes have demonstrated that they help in locomotion on difficult terrain. The structures have been used as inspiration for robotic legs.
Cockroaches leave chemical trails in their feces as well as emitting airborne pheromones for swarming and mating. These chemical trails transmit bacteria on surfaces. Other cockroaches will follow these trails to discover sources of food and water, and also discover where other cockroaches are hiding. Thus, cockroaches can exhibit emergent behavior, in which group or swarm behavior emerges from a simple set of individual interactions.
Daily rhythms may also be regulated by a complex set of hormonal controls of which only a small subset have been understood. In 2005, the role of one of these proteins, Pigment Dispersing Factor
(PDF), was isolated and found to be a key mediator in the circadian rhythms of the cockroach.
Research has shown that group-based decision-making is responsible for complex behavior such as resource allocation. In a study where 50 cockroaches were placed in a dish with three shelters with a capacity for 40 insects in each, the insects arranged themselves in two shelters with 25 insects in each, leaving the third shelter empty. When the capacity of the shelters was increased to more than 50 insects per shelter, all of the cockroaches arranged themselves in one shelter. Researchers found a balance between cooperation and competition exists in the group decision-making behavior found in cockroaches. The models used in this research can also explain the group dynamics of other insects and animals.
Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. A peculiar exception is the Asian cockroach
, which is attracted to light. Another study tested the hypothesis that cockroaches use just two pieces of information to decide where to go under those conditions: how dark it is and how many other cockroaches there are. The study conducted by José Halloy and colleagues at the Free University of Brussels
and other European institutions created a set of tiny robot
s that appear to the roaches as other roaches and can thus alter the roaches' perception of critical mass
. The robots were also specially scented so that they would be accepted by the real roaches.
Additionally, researchers at Tohoku University
engaged in a classical conditioning
experiment with cockroaches and discovered that the insects were able to associate the scent of vanilla
and peppermint
with a sugar treat.
, which can reach 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in length and weigh more than 30 grams (1.1 oz). Comparable in size is the Central American giant cockroach Blaberus giganteus
, which grows to a similar length but is not as heavy.
Cockroaches have a broad, flattened body and a relatively small head. They are generalized insects, with few special adaptations, and may be among the most primitive living neoptera
n insects. The mouthparts
are on the underside of the head and include generalised chewing mandibles
. They have large compound eyes, two ocelli, and long, flexible, antennae
.
The first pair of wings (the tegmina) are tough and protective, lying as a shield on top of the membranous hind wings. All four wings have branching longitudinal veins, and multiple cross-veins. The legs are sturdy, with large coxae
and five claws each. The abdomen
has ten segments and several cerci
.
Female cockroaches are sometimes seen carrying egg cases on the end of their abdomen; the egg case of the German cockroach holds about 30 to 40 long, thin eggs, packed like frankfurters in the case called an ootheca
. The egg capsule may take more than five hours to lay and is initially bright white in color. The eggs are hatched from the combined pressure of the hatchlings gulping air. The hatchlings are initially bright white nymphs
and continue inflating themselves with air, becoming harder and darker within about four hours. Their transient white stage while hatching and later while molting
has led many to claim the existence of albino cockroaches.
A female German cockroach carries an egg capsule containing around 40 eggs. She drops the capsule prior to hatching, though live births do occur in rare instances. Development from eggs to adults takes 3 to 4 months. Cockroaches live up to a year. The female may produce up to eight egg cases in a lifetime; in favorable conditions, she can produce 300 to 400 offspring. Other species of cockroach, however, can produce an extremely high number of eggs in a lifetime; in some cases a female needs to be impregnated only once to be able to lay eggs for the rest of her life.
-eating species such as Cryptocercus
; these roaches are incapable of digesting cellulose
themselves, but have symbiotic relationships with various protozoa
ns and bacteria
that digest the cellulose, allowing them to extract the nutrients.
The similarity of these symbionts in the genus Cryptocercus to those in termite
s are such that it has been suggested that they are more closely related to termite
s than to other cockroaches, and current research strongly supports this hypothesis of relationships. All species studied so far carry the obligate mutualistic endosymbiont bacterium Blattabacterium
, with the exception of Nocticola australiensise, an Australian cave dwelling species without eyes, pigment or wings, and which recent genetic studies indicates are very primitive cockroaches.
Cockroaches, like all insects, breathe through a system of tubes called tracheae
. The tracheae of insects are attached to the spiracle
s, excluding the head. Thus cockroaches, like all insects, are not dependent on the mouth and windpipe to breathe. The valves open when the CO2
level in the insect rises to a high level; then the CO2 diffuses
out of the tracheae to the outside and fresh O2 diffuses in. Unlike in vertebrates that depend on blood
for transporting O2 and CO2, the tracheal system brings the air directly to cells
, the tracheal tubes branching continually like a tree until their finest divisions, tracheoles, are associated with each cell, allowing gaseous oxygen to dissolve in the cytoplasm lying across the fine cuticle lining of the tracheole. CO2 diffuses out of the cell into the tracheole.
While cockroaches do not have lungs and thus do not actively breathe in the vertebrate lung manner, in some very large species the body musculature may contract rhythmically to forcibly move air out and in the spiracles; this may be considered a form of breathing.
s to attract mates, and the males practice courtship rituals such as posturing and stridulation
. Like many insects, cockroaches mate facing away from each other with their genitalia in contact, and copulation can be prolonged. A few species are known to be parthenogenetic
, reproducing without the need for males.
The female usually attaches the egg-case to a substrate, inserts it into a suitably protective crevice, or carries it about until just before the eggs hatch. Some species, however, are ovoviviparous, keeping the eggs inside their bodies, with or without an egg-case, until they hatch. At least one genus, Diploptera
is fully viviparous.
Cockroach nymphs
are generally similar to the adults, except for undeveloped wings and genitalia. Development is generally slow, and may take anywhere from a few months to over a year. The adults are also long-lived, and have been recorded as surviving for four years in the laboratory.
It is popularly suggested
that cockroaches will "inherit the earth" if humanity destroys itself in a nuclear war
. Cockroaches do indeed have a much higher radiation resistance than vertebrates, with the lethal dose perhaps 6 to 15 times that for humans. However, they are not exceptionally radiation-resistant compared to other insects, such as the fruit fly
.
The cockroach's ability to withstand radiation better than human beings can be explained through the cell cycle. Cells are most vulnerable to the effects of radiation when they are dividing. A cockroach's cells divide only once each time it molts, which is weekly at most in a juvenile roach. Since not all cockroaches would be molting at the same time, many would be unaffected by an acute burst of radiation, but lingering radioactive fallout would still be harmful.
. These allergens have also been found to be linked with asthma
.
General preventive measures against household pests include keeping all food stored away in sealed containers, using garbage cans with a tight lid, frequent cleaning in the kitchen, and regular vacuuming. Any water leaks, such as dripping taps, should also be repaired. It is also helpful to seal off any entry points, such as holes around baseboards, in between kitchen cabinets, pipes, doors, and windows with some steel wool or copper mesh and some cement, putty or silicone caulk.
Diatomaceous earth
applied as a fine powder works very well to eliminate cockroaches as long as it remains in place and dry. Diatomaceous earth is harmless to humans and feels like talcum powder. Most insects, including bed bugs, are vulnerable to it.
Some cockroaches have been known to live up to three months without food and a month without water. Frequently living outdoors, although preferring warm climates and considered "cold intolerant," they are resilient enough to survive occasional freezing temperatures. This makes them difficult to eradicate once they have infested an area.
There are numerous parasites and predators of cockroaches, but few of them have proven to be highly effective for biological control of pest species. Wasps in the family Evaniidae
are perhaps the most effective insect predators, as they attack the egg cases, and wasps in the family Ampulicidae
are predators on adult and nymphal cockroaches (e.g., Ampulex compressa). The house centipede is probably the most effective control agent of cockroaches, though many homeowners find the centipedes themselves objectionable.
Ampulex
wasps sting the roach more than once and in a specific way. The first sting is directed at nerve ganglia in the cockroach's thorax
; temporarily paralyzing the victim for 2–5 minutes, which is more than enough time for the wasp to deliver a second sting. The second sting is directed into a region of the cockroach's brain that controls the escape reflex, among other things. When the cockroach has recovered from the first sting, it makes no attempt to flee. The wasp clips the antennae with its mandibles and drinks some of the hemolymph
before walking backwards and dragging the roach by its clipped antennae to a burrow, where an egg will be laid upon it. The wasp larva feeds on the subdued, living cockroach.
Bait stations, gels containing hydramethylnon
or fipronil
, as well as boric acid
powder, are toxic to cockroaches. Baits with egg killers are also quite effective at reducing the cockroach population. Additionally, pest control products containing deltamethrin
or pyrethrin
are very effective.
In Singapore and Malaysia, taxi drivers use Pandan
leaves as a cockroach repellent in their vehicles.
An inexpensive roach trap can easily be made from a deep smooth-walled jar with some roach food inside, placed with the top of the jar touching a wall or with sticks leading up to the top, so that the roaches can reach the opening. Once inside, they cannot climb back out. An inch or so of water or stale beer (by itself a roach attractant) will ensure they drown. The method works well with the American cockroach but less so with the German cockroach. A bit of Vaseline can be smeared on the inside of the jar to enhance slipperiness. The method is sometimes called the "Vegas roach trap" after it was popularized by a Las Vegas
-based TV station. This version of the trap uses coffee grounds and water.
(1st century), Abu Hanifa ad-Dainuri (9th century), and Kamal al-Din al-Damiri (14th century ) all offered medicines that either suggest grinding them up with oil or boiling them, and Lafcadio Hearn
claimed that in the 1870s many New Orleanians had great faith in a remedy of boiled cockroach tea.
where political opponents are compared to cockroaches, through the 1982 movie Creepshow
and TV shows such as the X-Files
, to the Hutu
extremists' reference to the Tutsi
minority as cockroaches during the Rwandan Genocide
in 1994 and the controversial cartoons
published in the "Iran weekly magazine" in 2006 which implied a comparison between Iranian Azeris and cockroaches. In the movie Men in Black
a giant alien cockroach is shown as a predator who eats a farmer and then uses his skin to disguise itself as a human being. In Oliver Twist, the children, Mr. Bumble, and Widow Corney sing about feeding Oliver cockroaches in a canister. Award-winning computer and video game series Fallout takes place in a post-nuclear war universe, in which enlarged, irradiated cockroaches are present as early enemies. This is a nod to the notion of their nuclear fortitude. Also, in Franz Kafka
's The Metamorphosis
, a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous insect with cockroach-like features. He views himself as repulsive in his new identity.
Not all depictions of cockroaches are purely negative, however. Twilight of the Cockroaches
depicts the extermination of cockroaches as a holocaust, and presents a happy ending as the pregnant lead cockroach, Naomi, escapes to mother many generations. In the Pixar
film Wall-E
, a cockroach that has survived all humanity is the best friend of the lead character (a robot), and waits patiently on him to return. The same cockroach survives getting squished twice. In the film Joe's Apartment
, the cockroaches help the titular hero, and the narrator of the book archy and mehitabel
is a sympathetic cockroach. In the book Revolt of the Cockroach People, an autobiographical novel by Oscar Zeta Acosta
, cockroaches are used as a metaphor for oppressed and downtrodden minorities in US society in the 1960s and 70s. The image of cockroaches as resilient also leads people to compare themselves to cockroaches. Madonna
has famously quoted, "I am a survivor. I am like a cockroach, you just can't get rid of me." "Cockroach", or some variant of it is also used as a nickname, for example Boxing
coach Freddie Roach, who was nicknamed La Cucaracha (The Cockroach) when he was still competing as a fighter. The album The Lonesome Crowded West by rock group Modest Mouse
features a song with the title and lyric "Doin' The Cockroach". In the Netherlands 'Zaza the cockroach' becomes a buddy of the boy called Pluk in a popular Dutch book for children: 'Pluk van de Petteflet', written by Annie M.G. Schmidt. In Suzanne Collins
's Underland Chronicles
series, giant cockroaches are allies of humans in the Underland, and they and a toddler named Margaret (a.k.a. Boots, or "the princess," as the cockroaches call her) love each other.
Entries at the University of Florida
/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Featured Creatures Web site:
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations. About four species are well known as pest
Pest (animal)
A pest is an animal which is detrimental to humans or human concerns. It is a loosely defined term, often overlapping with the related terms vermin, weeds, parasites and pathogens...
s.
Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach
American cockroach
The American cockroach , also known as the waterbug, or misidentified as the palmetto bug , is the largest species of common cockroach, and often considered a pest. None of the Periplaneta species are endemic to the Americas; despite the name, P...
, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach
German cockroach
The German cockroach is a small species of cockroach, measuring about to long; however, they are known to get bigger. It can be tan through brown to almost black, and has two dark parallel streaks running from the head to the base of the wings. Although it has wings, it is unable to sustain flight...
, Blattella germanica, about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) long, the Asian cockroach
Asian cockroach
Blattella asahinai, the Asian cockroach is a species of cockroach that was first described in 1981 from insects collected on Okinawa Island, Japan. It is nearly identical to the German cockroach except for a few minor morphological differences. Like the German cockroach, it is about long, is tan...
, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach
Oriental cockroach
The oriental cockroach is a large species of cockroach, measuring about in length at maturity. It is dark brown to black in colour and has a glossy body...
, Blatta orientalis, about 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in). Tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives
Blattoptera
Blattoptera , or proto-cockroaches, is a name given to various "roachid" fossil insects related to cockroaches, mantises and termites, and of general cockroach-like appearance and possibly habit. The group is on the rank of an order, though being paraphyletic is most often given without formal...
and 'roachoids' such as the Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
Archimylacris
Archimylacris
Archimylacris is an extinct genus of cockroach-like Blattopterans, a group of insects ancestral to cockroaches, mantids and termites.Archimylacris lived on the warm swampy forest floors of North America and Europe 300 million years ago, in the Late Carboniferous times...
and the Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
Apthoroblattina
Apthoroblattina
Apthoroblattina is an extinct genus of primitive cockroach from the Carboniferous Period. Fossils of the genus have been found in England, Wales, the United States, and Russia. The paratype specimen for the species A...
were not as large as the biggest modern species.
Etymology
The name cockroach comes from the Spanish word cucaracha, "chafer", "beetle", from cuca, "kind of caterpillar." The scientific name derives from the LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
ized Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
name for the insect (Doric Greek
Doric Greek
Doric or Dorian was a dialect of ancient Greek. Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese, Crete, Rhodes, some islands in the southern Aegean Sea, some cities on the coasts of Asia Minor, Southern Italy, Sicily, Epirus and Macedon. Together with Northwest Greek, it forms the...
: βλάττα, blátta; Ionic
Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek .-History:Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century...
and Attic Greek
Attic Greek
Attic Greek is the prestige dialect of Ancient Greek that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek, and is the standard form of the language studied in courses of "Ancient Greek". It is sometimes included in Ionic.- Origin and range...
: βλάττη, blátte'
The English form cockroach is a folk etymology reanalysis of the Spanish word into meaningful native parts, although cock
Rooster
A rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels...
referred to a rooster and a roach
Rutilus
Rutilus is a genus of fishes in the family Cyprinidae, commonly called roaches. Locally, the name "roach" without any further qualifiers is also used for particular species, particularly the Common Roach Rutilus (Latin for "shining, red, golden, auburn") is a genus of fishes in the family...
is a type of fish.
Notable species
- Blattella germanicaGerman cockroachThe German cockroach is a small species of cockroach, measuring about to long; however, they are known to get bigger. It can be tan through brown to almost black, and has two dark parallel streaks running from the head to the base of the wings. Although it has wings, it is unable to sustain flight...
, German cockroach - Blaptica dubiaBlaptica dubiaThe Dubia Cockroach , also known as Orange-spotted Cockroach or Guyana Spotted Cockroach, is a medium/large species of cockroach, measuring about long. They are sexually dimorphic; the males have wings while the females have only tiny wing stubs...
, South American/Peruvian Dubia cockroach - Blatta orientalis, Oriental cockroach
- Blattella asahinai, Asian cockroach
- Blaberus craniiferDeath's head cockroachThe true death's head cockroach, Blaberus craniifer, is a cockroach which is very similar to the discoid cockroach and is a nice display animal for entomologists due to its striking appearance. Care for these animals is quite minimal and there is little odour associated with them. They do give off...
, true death's head cockroach - Blaberus discoidalisDiscoid cockroachThe discoid cockroach is also commonly called the false death's head cockroach. This species of roach lives in tropical South America. They can grow up to long and although they have wings as adults, they do not fly. They also can not climb smooth surfaces such as glass. These two characteristics...
, discoid cockroach or false death's head - Eurycotis floridana, Florida woods cockroach
- Gromphadorhina portentosa, Madagascar hissing cockroach
- laxta granicollisLaxta granicollisThe bark cockroach, Laxta granicollis, is a species of Blaberidae that occurs in Australia....
, Bark cockroach - Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, Pennsylvania woods cockroach
- Periplaneta americanaAmerican cockroachThe American cockroach , also known as the waterbug, or misidentified as the palmetto bug , is the largest species of common cockroach, and often considered a pest. None of the Periplaneta species are endemic to the Americas; despite the name, P...
, American cockroach - Periplaneta australasiaeAustralian cockroachThe Australian cockroach is a large species of cockroach, winged, and growing to a length of . It is brown in colour. It is very similar in appearance to the American cockroach and may be mistaken for it easily...
, Australian cockroach - Periplaneta brunnea, black Mississippi cockroach
- Periplaneta fuliginosa, smokybrown cockroach
- Pycnoscelus surinamensis, Surinam cockroach
- Supella longipalpa, brown-banded cockroach
Evolutionary history and relationships
A proposed phylogeny of the families.Mantodea, Isoptera, and Blattaria are usually combined by entomologists into a higher group called Dictyoptera
Dictyoptera
Dictyoptera includes three groups of polyneopterous insects - cockroaches , termites and mantids...
. Current evidence strongly suggests that termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s evolved directly from true cockroaches, and many authors now consider termites to be an epifamily of cockroaches, as Blattaria excluding Isoptera is not a monophyletic group.
Historically, the name Blattaria has been used largely interchangeably with the name Blattodea, and this name is used for the order by the current world catalogue, the Blattodea Species File Online. Another name, Blattoptera
Blattoptera
Blattoptera , or proto-cockroaches, is a name given to various "roachid" fossil insects related to cockroaches, mantises and termites, and of general cockroach-like appearance and possibly habit. The group is on the rank of an order, though being paraphyletic is most often given without formal...
has come into use for this same paraphyletic group. These earliest cockroach-like fossils ("Blattopterans" or "roachids") are from the Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
period between 354–295 million years ago. However, these fossils differ from modern cockroaches in having long external ovipositor
Ovipositor
The ovipositor is an organ used by some animals for oviposition, i.e., the laying of eggs. It consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to prepare a place for it, and to place it properly...
s and are the ancestors of mantis
Mantis
Mantis is the common name of any insect in the order Mantodea, also commonly known as praying mantises. The word itself means "prophet" in Latin and Greek...
es as well as modern cockroaches. The first fossils of modern cockroaches with internal ovipositors appear in the early Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
.
Behavior
The spines on the legs were earlier considered to be sensory, but observations of their locomotion on sand and wire meshes have demonstrated that they help in locomotion on difficult terrain. The structures have been used as inspiration for robotic legs.
Cockroaches leave chemical trails in their feces as well as emitting airborne pheromones for swarming and mating. These chemical trails transmit bacteria on surfaces. Other cockroaches will follow these trails to discover sources of food and water, and also discover where other cockroaches are hiding. Thus, cockroaches can exhibit emergent behavior, in which group or swarm behavior emerges from a simple set of individual interactions.
Daily rhythms may also be regulated by a complex set of hormonal controls of which only a small subset have been understood. In 2005, the role of one of these proteins, Pigment Dispersing Factor
Pigment dispersing factor
Pigment dispersing factor is a gene that encodes for the protein PDF, which is part of a large family of neuropeptides. The analogous hormone, pigment dispersing hormone was named for the diurnal pigment movement effect it has in crustacean retinal cells, and was initially discovered in the...
(PDF), was isolated and found to be a key mediator in the circadian rhythms of the cockroach.
Research has shown that group-based decision-making is responsible for complex behavior such as resource allocation. In a study where 50 cockroaches were placed in a dish with three shelters with a capacity for 40 insects in each, the insects arranged themselves in two shelters with 25 insects in each, leaving the third shelter empty. When the capacity of the shelters was increased to more than 50 insects per shelter, all of the cockroaches arranged themselves in one shelter. Researchers found a balance between cooperation and competition exists in the group decision-making behavior found in cockroaches. The models used in this research can also explain the group dynamics of other insects and animals.
Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. A peculiar exception is the Asian cockroach
Asian cockroach
Blattella asahinai, the Asian cockroach is a species of cockroach that was first described in 1981 from insects collected on Okinawa Island, Japan. It is nearly identical to the German cockroach except for a few minor morphological differences. Like the German cockroach, it is about long, is tan...
, which is attracted to light. Another study tested the hypothesis that cockroaches use just two pieces of information to decide where to go under those conditions: how dark it is and how many other cockroaches there are. The study conducted by José Halloy and colleagues at the Free University of Brussels
Free University of Brussels
The Free University of Brussels was a university in Brussels, Belgium. In 1969, it split into the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel....
and other European institutions created a set of tiny robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s that appear to the roaches as other roaches and can thus alter the roaches' perception of critical mass
Critical mass (sociodynamics)
Critical mass is a sociodynamic term to describe the existence of sufficient momentum in a social system such that the momentum becomes self-sustaining and creates further growth....
. The robots were also specially scented so that they would be accepted by the real roaches.
Additionally, researchers at Tohoku University
Tohoku University
, abbreviated to , located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It is the third oldest Imperial University in Japan and is a member of the National Seven Universities...
engaged in a classical conditioning
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is a form of conditioning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov...
experiment with cockroaches and discovered that the insects were able to associate the scent of vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
and peppermint
Peppermint
Peppermint is a hybrid mint, a cross between the watermint and spearmint . The plant, indigenous to Europe, is now widespread in cultivation throughout all regions of the world...
with a sugar treat.
Description
Cockroaches are generally rather large insects. Most species are about the size of a thumbnail, but several species are bigger. The world's heaviest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroachGiant burrowing cockroach
The giant burrowing cockroach is also known as the rhinoceros cockroach and litter bug . They are native to Australia and mostly found in tropical parts of Queensland...
, which can reach 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in length and weigh more than 30 grams (1.1 oz). Comparable in size is the Central American giant cockroach Blaberus giganteus
Blaberus giganteus
Blaberus giganteus, the giant cockroach, is one of the world's largest cockroaches, potentially longer than the giant burrowing cockroach, though not as heavy. Their length can reach ....
, which grows to a similar length but is not as heavy.
Cockroaches have a broad, flattened body and a relatively small head. They are generalized insects, with few special adaptations, and may be among the most primitive living neoptera
Neoptera
Neoptera is a classification group that includes almost all the winged insects, specifically those that can flex their wings over their abdomens...
n insects. The mouthparts
Insect mouthparts
Insects exhibit a range of mouthparts, adapted to particular modes of feeding. The earliest insects had chewing mouthparts...
are on the underside of the head and include generalised chewing mandibles
Mandible (arthropod)
thumb|250px|The mandibles of a [[Bull ant]]The mandible of an arthropod is either of a pair of mouthparts used for biting, cutting and holding food. Mandibles are often simply referred to as jaws. Mandibles are present in the extant subphyla Myriapoda , Crustacea and Hexapoda...
. They have large compound eyes, two ocelli, and long, flexible, antennae
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
.
The first pair of wings (the tegmina) are tough and protective, lying as a shield on top of the membranous hind wings. All four wings have branching longitudinal veins, and multiple cross-veins. The legs are sturdy, with large coxae
Arthropod leg
The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: coxa , trochanter , femur, tibia, tarsus, ischium, metatarsus, carpus, dactylus ,...
and five claws each. The abdomen
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
has ten segments and several cerci
Cercus
Cerci are paired appendages on the rear-most segments of many arthropods, including insects and arachnids but not crustaceans. Cerci often serve as sensory organs, but they may also be used as weapons or copulation aids, or they may simply be vestigial structures.Typical cerci may appear to be...
.
Eggs and egg capsules
Ootheca
An ootheca is a type of egg mass made by any member of a variety of species .The word is a latinized combination of oo-, meaning "egg", from the Greek word ōon , and theca, meaning a "cover" or "container", from the Greek theke...
. The egg capsule may take more than five hours to lay and is initially bright white in color. The eggs are hatched from the combined pressure of the hatchlings gulping air. The hatchlings are initially bright white nymphs
Nymph (biology)
In biology, a nymph is the immature form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis before reaching its adult stage. Unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult. In addition, while a nymph moults it never enters a...
and continue inflating themselves with air, becoming harder and darker within about four hours. Their transient white stage while hatching and later while molting
Ecdysis
Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticula in many invertebrates. This process of moulting is the defining feature of the clade Ecdysozoa, comprising the arthropods, nematodes, velvet worms, horsehair worms, rotifers, tardigrades and Cephalorhyncha...
has led many to claim the existence of albino cockroaches.
A female German cockroach carries an egg capsule containing around 40 eggs. She drops the capsule prior to hatching, though live births do occur in rare instances. Development from eggs to adults takes 3 to 4 months. Cockroaches live up to a year. The female may produce up to eight egg cases in a lifetime; in favorable conditions, she can produce 300 to 400 offspring. Other species of cockroach, however, can produce an extremely high number of eggs in a lifetime; in some cases a female needs to be impregnated only once to be able to lay eggs for the rest of her life.
Sounds
Aside from the famous hissing noise, some cockroaches (including a species in Florida) will make a chirping noise.Digestive tract
Cockroaches are most common in tropical and subtropical climates. Some species are in close association with human dwellings and widely found around garbage or in the kitchen. Cockroaches are generally omnivorous with the exception of the woodWood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
-eating species such as Cryptocercus
Cryptocercus
Cryptocercus is a genus of Dictyoptera in the family Polyphagidae, of which this genus is the only member. Species are known as wood roaches or brown-hooded cockroaches....
; these roaches are incapable of digesting cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
themselves, but have symbiotic relationships with various protozoa
Protozoa
Protozoa are a diverse group of single-cells eukaryotic organisms, many of which are motile. Throughout history, protozoa have been defined as single-cell protists with animal-like behavior, e.g., movement...
ns and bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
that digest the cellulose, allowing them to extract the nutrients.
The similarity of these symbionts in the genus Cryptocercus to those in termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s are such that it has been suggested that they are more closely related to termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s than to other cockroaches, and current research strongly supports this hypothesis of relationships. All species studied so far carry the obligate mutualistic endosymbiont bacterium Blattabacterium
Blattabacterium
Blattabacterium in an obligate mutualistic endosymbiont bacterium that is believed to inhabit all species of cockroach studied to date, with the exception of Nocticola species. B...
, with the exception of Nocticola australiensise, an Australian cave dwelling species without eyes, pigment or wings, and which recent genetic studies indicates are very primitive cockroaches.
Tracheae and breathing
Invertebrate trachea
The invertebrate trachea refers to the open respiratory system composed of spiracles, tracheae, and tracheoles that terrestrial arthropods have to transport metabolic gases to and from tissues....
. The tracheae of insects are attached to the spiracle
Spiracle
Spiracles are openings on the surface of some animals that usually lead to respiratory systems.-Vertebrates:The spiracle is a small hole behind each eye that opens to the mouth in some fishes. In the primitive jawless fish the first gill opening immediately behind the mouth is essentially similar...
s, excluding the head. Thus cockroaches, like all insects, are not dependent on the mouth and windpipe to breathe. The valves open when the CO2
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
level in the insect rises to a high level; then the CO2 diffuses
Diffusion
Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is the thermal motion of all particles at temperatures above absolute zero. The rate of this movement is a function of temperature, viscosity of the fluid and the size of the particles...
out of the tracheae to the outside and fresh O2 diffuses in. Unlike in vertebrates that depend on blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
for transporting O2 and CO2, the tracheal system brings the air directly to cells
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
, the tracheal tubes branching continually like a tree until their finest divisions, tracheoles, are associated with each cell, allowing gaseous oxygen to dissolve in the cytoplasm lying across the fine cuticle lining of the tracheole. CO2 diffuses out of the cell into the tracheole.
While cockroaches do not have lungs and thus do not actively breathe in the vertebrate lung manner, in some very large species the body musculature may contract rhythmically to forcibly move air out and in the spiracles; this may be considered a form of breathing.
Reproduction
Cockroaches use pheromonePheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
s to attract mates, and the males practice courtship rituals such as posturing and stridulation
Stridulation
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fishes, snakes and spiders...
. Like many insects, cockroaches mate facing away from each other with their genitalia in contact, and copulation can be prolonged. A few species are known to be parthenogenetic
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...
, reproducing without the need for males.
The female usually attaches the egg-case to a substrate, inserts it into a suitably protective crevice, or carries it about until just before the eggs hatch. Some species, however, are ovoviviparous, keeping the eggs inside their bodies, with or without an egg-case, until they hatch. At least one genus, Diploptera
Diploptera
Diploptera is a genus of cockroach, used particularly in molecular research into allatostatins. The species Diploptera punctata, the Pacific beetle cockroach, is the only known viviparous cockroach ....
is fully viviparous.
Cockroach nymphs
Nymph (biology)
In biology, a nymph is the immature form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis before reaching its adult stage. Unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult. In addition, while a nymph moults it never enters a...
are generally similar to the adults, except for undeveloped wings and genitalia. Development is generally slow, and may take anywhere from a few months to over a year. The adults are also long-lived, and have been recorded as surviving for four years in the laboratory.
Hardiness
Cockroaches are among the hardiest insects on the planet. Some species are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps. Some can go without air for 45 minutes. In one experiment, cockroaches were able to recover from being submerged underwater for half an hour.Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
that cockroaches will "inherit the earth" if humanity destroys itself in a nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
. Cockroaches do indeed have a much higher radiation resistance than vertebrates, with the lethal dose perhaps 6 to 15 times that for humans. However, they are not exceptionally radiation-resistant compared to other insects, such as the fruit fly
Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster is a species of Diptera, or the order of flies, in the family Drosophilidae. The species is known generally as the common fruit fly or vinegar fly. Starting from Charles W...
.
The cockroach's ability to withstand radiation better than human beings can be explained through the cell cycle. Cells are most vulnerable to the effects of radiation when they are dividing. A cockroach's cells divide only once each time it molts, which is weekly at most in a juvenile roach. Since not all cockroaches would be molting at the same time, many would be unaffected by an acute burst of radiation, but lingering radioactive fallout would still be harmful.
Role as pests
Cockroaches are one of the most commonly noted household pest insects. They feed on human and pet food, and can leave an offensive odor. They can also passively transport microbes on their body surfaces including those that are potentially dangerous to humans, particularly in environments such as hospitals. Cockroaches have been shown to be linked with allergic reactions in humans. One of the proteins that triggers allergic reactions has been identified as tropomyosinTropomyosin
Tropomyosin is an actin-binding protein that regulates actin mechanics. It is important, among other things, for muscle contraction. Tropomyosin, along with the troponin complex, associate with actin in muscle fibers and regulate muscle contraction by regulating the binding of myosin...
. These allergens have also been found to be linked with asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
.
General preventive measures against household pests include keeping all food stored away in sealed containers, using garbage cans with a tight lid, frequent cleaning in the kitchen, and regular vacuuming. Any water leaks, such as dripping taps, should also be repaired. It is also helpful to seal off any entry points, such as holes around baseboards, in between kitchen cabinets, pipes, doors, and windows with some steel wool or copper mesh and some cement, putty or silicone caulk.
Diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth also known as diatomite or kieselgur/kieselguhr, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 1 micrometre to more than 1 millimetre, but typically 10 to...
applied as a fine powder works very well to eliminate cockroaches as long as it remains in place and dry. Diatomaceous earth is harmless to humans and feels like talcum powder. Most insects, including bed bugs, are vulnerable to it.
Some cockroaches have been known to live up to three months without food and a month without water. Frequently living outdoors, although preferring warm climates and considered "cold intolerant," they are resilient enough to survive occasional freezing temperatures. This makes them difficult to eradicate once they have infested an area.
There are numerous parasites and predators of cockroaches, but few of them have proven to be highly effective for biological control of pest species. Wasps in the family Evaniidae
Evaniidae
Evaniidae, also known as the ensign wasps or hatchet wasps, is a family of parasitic wasps. It numbers around 20 extant genera containing over 400 described species, and is found all over the world except in the polar regions...
are perhaps the most effective insect predators, as they attack the egg cases, and wasps in the family Ampulicidae
Ampulicidae
The Ampulicidae, or Cockroach wasps, is a small , primarily tropical group of sphecoid wasps, all of which use various cockroaches as prey items for their larvae. They tend to have elongated jaws, a pronounced neck-like constriction behind the head, a strongly petiolate abdomen, and deep grooves on...
are predators on adult and nymphal cockroaches (e.g., Ampulex compressa). The house centipede is probably the most effective control agent of cockroaches, though many homeowners find the centipedes themselves objectionable.
Ampulex
Ampulex
Ampulex is a genus of wasps belonging to the family Ampulicidae.- Species :*Ampulex compressa Fabricius, 1781 – jewel wasp or emerald cockroach wasp)*Ampulex fasciata Jurine, 1807*Ampulex canaliculata Say, 1823...
wasps sting the roach more than once and in a specific way. The first sting is directed at nerve ganglia in the cockroach's thorax
Thorax
The thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.-In tetrapods:...
; temporarily paralyzing the victim for 2–5 minutes, which is more than enough time for the wasp to deliver a second sting. The second sting is directed into a region of the cockroach's brain that controls the escape reflex, among other things. When the cockroach has recovered from the first sting, it makes no attempt to flee. The wasp clips the antennae with its mandibles and drinks some of the hemolymph
Hemolymph
Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid in the circulatory system of some arthropods and is analogous to the fluids and cells making up both blood and interstitial fluid in vertebrates such as birds and mammals...
before walking backwards and dragging the roach by its clipped antennae to a burrow, where an egg will be laid upon it. The wasp larva feeds on the subdued, living cockroach.
Bait stations, gels containing hydramethylnon
Hydramethylnon
Hydramethylnon is an organic chemical compound. It is also known as AC 217,300. It is in a chemical class called trifluoromethyl aminohydrazone, which is a metabolic inhibitor. It is used primarily as an insecticide in the form of baits for cockroaches and ants...
or fipronil
Fipronil
Fipronil is a broad spectrum insecticide that disrupts the insect central nervous system by blocking the passage of chloride ions through the GABA receptor and glutamate-gated chloride channels, components of the central nervous system. This causes hyperexcitation of contaminated insects' nerves...
, as well as boric acid
Boric acid
Boric acid, also called hydrogen borate or boracic acid or orthoboric acid or acidum boricum, is a weak acid of boron often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, as a neutron absorber, and as a precursor of other chemical compounds. It exists in the form of colorless crystals or a...
powder, are toxic to cockroaches. Baits with egg killers are also quite effective at reducing the cockroach population. Additionally, pest control products containing deltamethrin
Deltamethrin
Deltamethrin is a pyrethroid ester insecticide.-Usage:Deltamethrin products are among the most popular and widely used insecticides in the world and have become very popular with pest control operators and individuals in the United States in the past five years. This material is a member of one of...
or pyrethrin
Pyrethrin
The pyrethrins are a pair of natural organic compounds that have potent insecticidal activity. Pyrethrins are neurotoxins that attack the nervous systems of all insects. When present in amounts not fatal to insects, they still appear to have an insect repellent effect. Pyrethrins are gradually...
are very effective.
In Singapore and Malaysia, taxi drivers use Pandan
Pandanus amaryllifolius
Pandanus amaryllifolius is a tropical plant in the screwpine genus which is known commonly as pandan and is used widely in Southeast Asian cooking as a flavoring. The plant is rare in the wild but is widely cultivated. It is an upright green plant with fan-shaped sprays of long, narrow, bladelike...
leaves as a cockroach repellent in their vehicles.
An inexpensive roach trap can easily be made from a deep smooth-walled jar with some roach food inside, placed with the top of the jar touching a wall or with sticks leading up to the top, so that the roaches can reach the opening. Once inside, they cannot climb back out. An inch or so of water or stale beer (by itself a roach attractant) will ensure they drown. The method works well with the American cockroach but less so with the German cockroach. A bit of Vaseline can be smeared on the inside of the jar to enhance slipperiness. The method is sometimes called the "Vegas roach trap" after it was popularized by a Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
-based TV station. This version of the trap uses coffee grounds and water.
Uses
Some of the earliest writings about cockroaches encouraged their use as medicine. Pedanius DioscoridesPedanius Dioscorides
Pedanius Dioscorides was a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist, the author of a 5-volume encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances , that was widely read for more than 1,500 years.-Life:...
(1st century), Abu Hanifa ad-Dainuri (9th century), and Kamal al-Din al-Damiri (14th century ) all offered medicines that either suggest grinding them up with oil or boiling them, and Lafcadio Hearn
Lafcadio Hearn
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn , known also by the Japanese name , was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things...
claimed that in the 1870s many New Orleanians had great faith in a remedy of boiled cockroach tea.
Cultural references
Because of their long, persistent association with humans, cockroaches are frequently referred to in art, literature, folk tales and theater and film. In Western culture, cockroaches are often depicted as vile and dirty pests. Their size, long antennae, shiny appearance and spiny legs make them disgusting to many humans, sometimes even to the point of phobic responses. This is borne out in many depictions of cockroaches, from political versions of the song La CucarachaLa Cucaracha
"La Cucaracha" is a traditional Spanish folk corrido that became popular in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. It has additionally become a verse played on car horns.-Origins:...
where political opponents are compared to cockroaches, through the 1982 movie Creepshow
Creepshow
Creepshow is a 1982 American horror anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. The film's ensemble cast included Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, E.G...
and TV shows such as the X-Files
War of the Coprophages
"War of the Coprophages" is a 1996 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the twelfth episode broadcast in the show's third season. "War of the Coprophages" surrounds a small town being plagued by deaths related to cockroaches.- Plot :...
, to the Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
extremists' reference to the Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
minority as cockroaches during the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
in 1994 and the controversial cartoons
Iran newspaper cockroach cartoon controversy
The cockroach cartoon controversy of "Iran weekly magazine" arose over a cartoon, published in the Iranian holiday-magazine of Iran-e-jomee, drawn by the cartoonist Mana Neyestani, an ethnic Iranian Azeri...
published in the "Iran weekly magazine" in 2006 which implied a comparison between Iranian Azeris and cockroaches. In the movie Men in Black
Men in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
a giant alien cockroach is shown as a predator who eats a farmer and then uses his skin to disguise itself as a human being. In Oliver Twist, the children, Mr. Bumble, and Widow Corney sing about feeding Oliver cockroaches in a canister. Award-winning computer and video game series Fallout takes place in a post-nuclear war universe, in which enlarged, irradiated cockroaches are present as early enemies. This is a nod to the notion of their nuclear fortitude. Also, in Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
's The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the western world...
, a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous insect with cockroach-like features. He views himself as repulsive in his new identity.
Not all depictions of cockroaches are purely negative, however. Twilight of the Cockroaches
Twilight of the Cockroaches
is a 1987 anime/live-action film written and directed by Hiroaki Yoshida that combines live-action footage with animation. The plot concerns a society of cockroaches who live peacefully in the apartment of a bachelor named Seito until a woman moves in and the humans begin to exterminate the...
depicts the extermination of cockroaches as a holocaust, and presents a happy ending as the pregnant lead cockroach, Naomi, escapes to mother many generations. In the Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
film Wall-E
WALL-E
WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
, a cockroach that has survived all humanity is the best friend of the lead character (a robot), and waits patiently on him to return. The same cockroach survives getting squished twice. In the film Joe's Apartment
Joe's Apartment
Joe's Apartment is a 1996 musical-serio-comedy film starring Jerry O'Connell and Megan Ward and the first film produced by MTV Films. It was based on a 1992 short film first made for MTV , but was also inspired by both the 1987 Japanese film Gokiburi-tachi No Tasogare and...
, the cockroaches help the titular hero, and the narrator of the book archy and mehitabel
Archy and mehitabel
Archy and Mehitabel is the title of a series of newspaper columns written by Don Marquis beginning in 1916. Written as fictional social commentary and intended as a space-filler to allow Marquis to meet the challenge of writing a daily newspaper column six days a week, archy and mehitabel is...
is a sympathetic cockroach. In the book Revolt of the Cockroach People, an autobiographical novel by Oscar Zeta Acosta
Oscar Zeta Acosta
Oscar Zeta Acosta was an American attorney, politician, minor novelist and Chicano Movement activist, perhaps best known for his friendship with the American author Hunter S. Thompson, who characterized him as his Samoan Attorney, Dr...
, cockroaches are used as a metaphor for oppressed and downtrodden minorities in US society in the 1960s and 70s. The image of cockroaches as resilient also leads people to compare themselves to cockroaches. Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
has famously quoted, "I am a survivor. I am like a cockroach, you just can't get rid of me." "Cockroach", or some variant of it is also used as a nickname, for example Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
coach Freddie Roach, who was nicknamed La Cucaracha (The Cockroach) when he was still competing as a fighter. The album The Lonesome Crowded West by rock group Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
features a song with the title and lyric "Doin' The Cockroach". In the Netherlands 'Zaza the cockroach' becomes a buddy of the boy called Pluk in a popular Dutch book for children: 'Pluk van de Petteflet', written by Annie M.G. Schmidt. In Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and novelist.-Early life:Suzanne Collins is the daughter of an Air Force officer. She graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts and earned her M.F.A. from New York University in Dramatic Writing....
's Underland Chronicles
The Underland Chronicles
The Underland Chronicles is a five-part series of fantasy novels by Suzanne Collins, first published between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in a land called the "Underland", hidden under New York City...
series, giant cockroaches are allies of humans in the Underland, and they and a toddler named Margaret (a.k.a. Boots, or "the princess," as the cockroaches call her) love each other.
External links
- Jumping cockroaches (Blattaria, Skokidae fam. n.) from the Late Jurassic of Karatau in Kazakhstan
- Fact sheets on several species of cockroaches: American, Brownbanded and Oriental
- Blattodea Culture Group Information on cockroaches with an emphasis on rearing.
- Orthopteroid Internet Resources links to online cockroach resources
- Blattodea Species File Online world catalogue of cockroaches.
- Online book about cockroaches
- Allpet Roaches Photos and information about pet relevant species.
- Order Blattodea (Cockroaches), Exploring California Insects photos of a few California species
- Cockroach health threats
- UC Davis on cockroaches
- The cockroach FAQ
- Cockroach Pest Control Information - National Pesticide Information Center
- Cosmic cockroaches faster developers, Russian scientists say
- Cockroaches: Household Pests
- Cockroaches chapter in United States Environmental Protection Agency and UF/IFAS National Public Health Pesticide Applicator Training Manual
- A phylogenetic analysis of Dictyoptera (Insecta) based on morphological characters
Entries at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
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