zoology of cockroach?

Answer 1

Cockroaches are insects of the Order Blattodea. The name of the order is derived from Greek for "cockroach," blatta. There are roughly 3,500 species in 6 families. Cockroaches exist worldwide, with the exception of the polar regions. Cockroaches are also simply known as "roaches".

The English word cockroach is derived from the Spanish cucaracha, meaning "chafer, beetle".

Among the most well-known species are the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, which is about 3 cm long, the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, about 1½ cm long, and the Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, also about 1½ cm in length. Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were several times as large as these. When infesting buildings, cockroaches are considered pests; out of the thousands of species, however, only a handful fall into this designation.

[edit] Evolutionary history and relationships
The earliest cockroach-like fossils are from the Carboniferous period between 354–295 million years ago. However, these fossils differ from modern cockroaches in having long ovipositors and are apparently the ancestors of mantids as well as modern cockroaches. Current evidence strongly suggests that termites have evolved, in turn, directly from true cockroaches. The first fossils of "modern" cockroaches with short ovipositors appear in the early Cretaceous. Mantodea, Isoptera, and Blattodea are usually combined by entomologists into a higher group called Dictyoptera.


Biology
Cockroaches are generally either scavengers or omnivores. The exception to this is the wood-eating Cryptocercus species found in China and the United States. Although they are incapable of digesting the cellulose themselves, they have a symbiotic relationship with a protozoan that digests the cellulose, allowing them to extract the nutrients. In this, they are similar to termites and current research suggests that the genus Cryptocercus is more closely related to termites than it is to other cockroaches. 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.
Female cockroaches are sometimes seen carrying egg cases on the end of their abdomen; the egg case of the German cockroach holds about 30–40 long, thin eggs, packed like frankfurters in the case called an ootheca. The eggs hatch from the combined pressure of the hatchlings gulping air and are initially bright white nymphs that continue inflating themselves with air and harden and darken within about four hours. Their transient white stage while hatching and later while molting has led to many individuals claiming to have seen albino cockroaches.

A female German cockroach carries an egg capsule containing around 40 eggs. She drops the capsule prior to hatching. Development from eggs to adults takes 3-4 months. Cockroaches live up to a year. The female may produce up to eight egg cases in a lifetime; in favorable conditions, it can produce 300-400 offspring. Other species of cockroach, however, can produce an extremely high number of eggs in a lifetime. Laying up to 100 eggs in each egg sac, it only needs to be impregnated once to be able to lay eggs for the rest of its life, allowing one single cockroach to lay over a million eggs during its lifespan.

The world's largest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach, which can grow to 9 cm in length and weigh more than 30 grams. Comparable in size is the giant cockroach Blaberus giganteus, which grows to a similar length but is not as heavy.

Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. A peculiar exception is the Oriental cockroach, which is attracted to light, thus making it a far more annoying pest.

The cockroach is also one of the hardiest insects on the planet, capable of living for a month without food. It can also hold its breath for 45 minutes and has the ability to slow down its heart rate.

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 [1].

The cockroach's ability to withstand radiation better than human beings can be explained in terms of the cell cycle. Cells are more vulnerable to effects of radiation when they are dividing. A cockroach's cells only divide once when in its molting cycle, which at most happens weekly. The cells of the cockroach take roughly 48 hours to complete a molting cycle, which would give time enough for radiation to affect it but not all cockroaches would be molting at the same time. This would mean some would be unaffected by the radiation and thus survive

Answer 2

Cockroaches are insects of the Order Blattodea. The name of the order is derived from Greek for "cockroach," blatta. There are roughly 3,500 species in 6 families. Cockroaches exist worldwide, with the exception of the polar regions. Cockroaches are also simply known as "roaches".

The English word cockroach is derived from the Spanish cucaracha, meaning "chafer, beetle".

Among the most well-known species are the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, which is about 3 cm long, the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, about 1½ cm long, and the Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, also about 1½ cm in length. Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were several times as large as these. When infesting buildings, cockroaches are considered pests; out of the thousands of species, however, only a handful fall into this designation.




http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel/cockroach.html

Answer 3

Why do males have shorter wings?
How do you sex cockroaches?
Desperately seeking Blaberus giganteus?
Do cockroaches sleep?
Are cockroaches resistant to radiation?
Why do cockroaches die on their backs?
Do cockroaches bite?
Is there a non-toxic way to kill cockroaches?
American cockroach lifespan?
Blaberus discoidalis lifespan?
Lobsters called "roaches of the sea"?
Are cockroaches really clean?
Can cockroaches live without their head?
Do cockroaches make sounds?
Green cockroach?
20 lb cockroach?
Live cockroach in beer bottle?
Do cockroaches fly?
Do cockroaches respond to light?
Could cockroach eggs hatch from an infected tongue?
How do cockroaches breathe?
Is the cockroach's brain spread around its body?
What are cockroaches good for?
Albino cockroaches?
Do cockroaches hibernate?
Why GERMAN cockroach?
Cockroach survival in cold climates?
What do cockroaches eat?
Do cockroach eggs survive being stepped on?
Are cockroaches members of the Carp (fish) Family?
Color of cockroach blood?
Do cockroaches like air conditioning?
Are single cockroach sightings scouts?
How big is a cockroach baby?
Trouble maintaining cockroaches sent to Albany?
Do cockroaches have a support system?
Is the cockroach exoskeleton an improvement over the worm hydrostatic skeleton?
Could cockroaches develop albino mutants in the wild? Are they rare?
How do Cockroaches Digest and what organs do they use to do so?
Do cockroaches glow under black light? Are they flourescent?
Can cockroaches predict earthquakes?
What would cockroach vision be like?
How can I tell if a cockroach is breathing?
What is the reason for cockroach swarming?
Do male and female cockroaches of the same size have the same blood volume?
Where did the cockroach get its name?
What is the cockroach reproductive cycle?
Roach control safe and non-toxic for an invalid and companion dog.
Do cockroaches have emotions?
Cockroach ranches producing methane?
Can the headless cockroach mate and give birth?
Is a headless cockroach still alive if it does not move?
Do cockroaches have any symbiotic relationships?
Australian cockroaches in the USA?
Are cockroaches social?
How fast are cockroaches?
Why do cockroaches cause childhood asthma?
How many offspring can a cockroach have?
Any info on Blaberus colloseus?
How much weight can a cockroach carry?
Little brown sac?
Anal protrusions pointed during fighting?
Cockroach surviving microwave?
Can roaches move with you!?
How do you sex larval cockroaches?
Do cockroach injuries heal?
Cockroach as big as a cat or dog?

Answer 4

cockroach or roach, name applied to approximately 3,500 species of flat-bodied, oval insects forming the order Blattodea. Cockroaches have long antennae, long legs adapted to running, and a flat extension of the upper body wall that conceals the head. They range from 1/4 in. to 3 in. (.6–7.6 cm) in length. Some cockroaches have two pairs of well-developed wings, the front pair covering the hind pair when at rest; others have reduced wings or none at all. In some species only the wings of the female are reduced or absent. Many species are able to fly well, although the familiar household species do not fly. Most cockroaches are shiny brown or black, but bright yellows, reds, and greens occur in some tropical species.

Cockroaches are night-active insects and most live in damp places; most are omnivorous scavengers. They are worldwide in distribution but are most numerous in the tropics. Most species live in the wild in their native regions, e.g., the wood cockroaches, species of the genus Parcoblatta, found under forest litter in the NE United States.

A few tropical and subtropical species that have been introduced into the temperate zone have become residents in human homes, where they multiply rapidly and are serious pests. They invade food supplies and emit foul-smelling glandular secretions. Their shape enables them to use tiny cracks as hiding places. They are popularly believed to be carriers of human diseases, although this has not been proved.

Cockroaches reproduce sexually. Their eggs are encased in capsules called oothecae, which in some species remain attached to the abdomen of the female until the eggs hatch. In a few species the ootheca is retained within the body of the female and the young are born live. Young resemble the adults except in size.

The large, dark Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, is a cosmopolitan household species. The smaller German cockroach, or Croton bug, Blattella germanica, native to Europe, is the common urban cockroach of the NE United States. The American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, is a large light-reddish species that invades houses in the S United States.

The group as a whole is extremely old; fossil evidence indicates its extreme abundance during the Carboniferous period, about 350 million years ago. These ancient cockroaches were able to fly and were probably the first flying animals. Cockroaches are classified in five families of the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Blattodea.

Answer 5

Cockroach Biology
Cockroaches and World Peace
There is one thing that nearly everone in the world agrees upon. All throughout the world, on every continent where they can be found, in every nation, state, city, town, and village, people detest cockroaches.

This universal loathing of cockroaches is no accident, either. Consider the following:

Cockroaches threaten human health because they transmit or aggravate many serious diseases, including Salmonella, E. Coli, food poisoning, asthma, and Hepatitis E, diarrhea, and dysentery.

Roaches, their shed skins, and their droppings contaminate hundreds of thousands of pounds of stored food every year.

Roaches are one of the most difficult pests to eradicate, due to their adaptability, their ability to quickly become resistant to insecticides, and their prolific reproductive habits.


Cockroach Biology

There are thousands of species of cockraches, although only four species are common household pests in the United States.

Cockroaches tend to live in close proximity to each other, but they are not social insects. They have no social structure or division of labor, and they do nothing to care for their young other than to deposit their eggs in areas close to food, water, and harborage.

All cockroaches develop through incomplete metamorphosis. Adult females deposit their oothecae, or egg sacks, in an area favorable to the development of the young. Immature cockroaches emerge from their eggs as nymphs, who look very much like adults except for their smaller size and lack of wings. The nymphs develop through a series of molts, with the stages between molts known as "instars." There is no pupal stage. The time span between hatching and reaching reproductive age can be as little as two to three months. As adults, they can live as long as a year under ideal circumstances (although three to six months is probably more typical).



Reproductive Potential of Cockroaches
A German cockroach in an average environment, with sufficient food, warmth, moisture, and harborage, lives for about three or four months, on average. During this time, a female will produce 4 to 6 oothecae, with each ootheca containing between 30 and 40 eggs. This makes for an average reproductive potential of between 120 - 240 live offspring during her lifetime.

German cockroach nymphs reach sexual maturity in about 8 to 12 weeks under favorable conditions. So factoring in the reproductive potential of her offspring, a single female German cockroach (or even a single ootheca) brought into a home can swell to an infestation of hundreds or thousands of roaches in the course of a year.

Yecch.

Answer 6

Sounds interesting

Answer 7

no no no no no cockroaches....no no no....!!!!! I hate them............(sorry i couldn't give you a proper answer) no no no no!!!!