There are about 5 thousand species of cockroaches in the world. Among them, the Blaberidae family stands out, which united the largest insects. Up to 20 species of hissing cockroaches are endemic on the island of Madagascar. Their sizes are 50-90 mm, some giants grow up to 100 mm. The largest cockroaches in the world are devoid of wings. They live in the forest floor, feeding on fruits and fallen leaves. Lovers of exotic in all countries give birth to these unpretentious and interesting creatures at home.
Black cockroach, 2-3 cm
The average length of males is 2.5 centimeters, and females can reach 3 centimeters. In appearance, they resemble ordinary red cockroaches. But their feature and distinguishing feature is the size and glossy surface.
Most often they are black, but they can also be brown. In general, this species of cockroach does not fly, but sometimes they use undeveloped wings to attract a male or female. Take off turns out only a couple of centimeters.
It is very difficult to meet them on a wall or ceiling, because of their weight, they prefer to move on the floor. On the street black beetle can also survive, but prefers to do so in more greenhouse conditions.
Hercules beetle
A large beetle from the genus Dynastes, which has two huge horns. They function as a means to protect against natural enemies, help dig into the ground and fight rivals during the mating period. Hercules beetles live in the forests of Central, North America and the Caribbean Islands. The creature got its name due to the fact that it is able to carry objects that exceed its mass by 100 times. Also, the beetle is huge. The length of females reaches 8 cm, and males grow up to 17.
Marble cockroach, 2.5-3 cm
It is a versatile insect that can survive in any conditions, but prefer warmer temperatures. They are often bred and kept at home. By the way, they say they ate marble cockroach escaped from a container or can, then he will not stay in the house for a long time. They eat absolutely everything, but when well-fed they become more or less picky about food. They reach a length of 2.5-3 centimeters.
How do domestic Prussians breed?
The most popular and most common is the red-headed domestic cockroach - the Prusak. It can be found anywhere in the world. The Prusak cockroach is distinguished by its characteristic yellow-brown color, with a reddish tint.
There are black stripes on the back. The male has wings and the question often arises: do cockroaches fly and for how long. They don't fly! Only during the mating season can males rise low and briefly above the ground. Long flights are not available for them.
A sexually mature female has a wider body, a rounded edge of the abdomen, covered with wings. If the cockroach is pregnant, then behind the abdomen it carries an ooteca, with which it does not part until the offspring emerge.
The gnawing mouth apparatus easily grinds any food. The only thing they can't stand for a long time is the lack of water. Domestic cockroaches are flat, which allows them to hide in the smallest crevices.
Black kitchen cockroaches have a lot in common with Prusaks: both species have a flat body, an angular head and a gnawing mouth apparatus. Individuals of this species also run fast, but cannot fly. They are slightly longer than the Prussians - 3-4 cm.
The body of the insects is matte black. It is often believed that cockroaches and bugs do not get along together. It is not true! Peacefully and amicably, bugs and cockroaches live together, because they have absolutely nothing to share.
Large black cockroaches are located in apartments located no higher than the fifth floor. They have an unpleasant odor. They often live in basements, warehouses, garbage cans. Moving through dirty basements and sewers, black insects on their paws carry billions of pathogenic bacteria and infections into the house.
The American periplanet is an overseas alien. Today you can see him more and more often in our apartments. It also has wings, is mobile and aggressive. Often pets and even sleeping people suffer from it. It is easy to get rid of it, a temperature of 0 degrees is enough.
Egyptian and Turkestan cockroach, found in the southern regions and in Central Asia. Egyptian is nimble, and Turkmen is sluggish. Both species live in the dwellings of people, and the Turkestan species are even specially bred and fed to livestock.
Furniture small cockroaches appeared less than 50 years ago. They have a bright red color, brown stripes and transparent wings. They eat food rich in starch. They live in the spines of books, under wallpaper and in furniture.
Sometimes white cockroaches appear in the apartment and many residents have a panic: what are these mutants? Does this mean danger? To understand why a white cockroach appears at home, you need to know how domestic cockroaches breed.
Man's fight against cockroaches has been going on for many centuries. People who have had to deal with cockroaches in an apartment feel nervous at the mere mention of these insects. Cockroaches can significantly worsen a person's quality of life, as well as bring him out of mental balance.
And, although, if you find cockroaches in your apartment, you are unlikely to want to find out who is male and who is female. Nevertheless, we will still tell you this information.
Attention!
Males, in comparison with females, are smaller in size. Also, males have slightly more developed wings than females. During mating, the female can flap her wings, thus encouraging the males to mate.
Males, on the other hand, are capable of even small flights in order to attract the attention of females. Some species of cockroaches make loud threatening sounds during mating or even arrange real battles, which are also aimed at attracting females and further breeding.
Cockroaches reproduce sexually. After one fertilization, the female is able to bear fruit several times, and during the next fertilization she does not need the help of the male, since she is able to retain the male gametes in her body for quite a long time.
She lays eggs, which are enclosed in a special protective shell. Cockroaches are born in the form of larvae, which in their entire life go through a certain number of molts, eventually turning into an adult in this way.
Well, everything is simple here: cockroaches come to a person in search of water and food, as well as in order to hide from adverse natural phenomena.
If you have to encounter cockroaches in your apartment, we recommend that you do not wait for them to leave your apartment on their own. You need to purchase professional cockroach remedies or order pest control services.
In many ways, the effectiveness of pest control depends on whether the method and means are taken into account how cockroaches breed. The high fertility of these insects makes most attempts to eliminate them in vain. Very quickly, they appear again, forcing the owners to look for other methods of struggle.
The more comfortable a person's dwelling became, the more it attracted cockroaches.With the advent of steam heating, there was no need to look for a warm place in winter. Condensation on water pipes completely provides insects with water, and the presence of a garbage chute in an apartment building is a guarantee that cockroaches will not die of hunger.
They equip their nests near heat sources, that is, behind radiators, in places where debris accumulates and water flows, they love warm and humid rooms. These include the kitchen and bathroom.
Everyone has heard the expression - reproduce like cockroaches, it most accurately characterizes how they reproduce. This process ensures an exponential increase in the size of the colony. The breeding method of cockroaches allows them to produce numerous offspring.
Males differ from females in size. They are smaller and have more developed wings, which are used for gliding when falling from a height. Cockroaches reproduce sexually. The suborder to which they belong is represented by a large species diversity.
If we are talking about those insects that unauthorizedly settle in our houses, then they have some features that allow us to accurately determine whether the female is in front of you or the male.
Important!
The male has stylus or cerci in the lower part of the body - small outgrowths that he inherited from their ancestors. They do not play any role in the pairing process, since they have lost their functionality.
The wings of females are also not adapted for flights, even over short distances. They use them only to attract males. Inviting an individual of the opposite sex to mate, the female invitingly flaps her wings.
After fertilization occurs, the female lays eggs in a special compartment - ooteca, from which the larvae hatch later. But the process itself is preceded by a long courtship.
For the female's favor, cockroaches enter into battles. Males are literally winning back their right to reproduce. This is where wings come in handy, they flap them in a frightening way and at the same time make sounds that should frighten the opponent.
In the wild, this process slows down; in the absence of food and water, the colony of domestic insects does not grow so rapidly. But if the apartment is warm, there is access to water, and food is always available, then residents can tell a lot about how cockroaches breed, because they are in a state of permanent struggle with them.
- Egg;
- Larva;
- An adult.
Before the larva becomes an adult (adult), it changes its cover several times. During her life, a female cockroach makes several clutches, on average four to five. It is clear that their number depends on how often the apartment is processed, and how resistant the individual is to poisons.
Often people are interested in how many cockroaches hatch from one egg. The question is not posed very correctly, since quite viable larvae are already coming into the world, and what many call an egg is actually an ooteca - a kind of storage for eggs.
Advice!
In domestic red cockroaches, she is constantly with the female, some exotic species do not bother carrying a capsule, they bury it in the forest floor.
It turns out that cockroach eggs can be seen only if you specifically open or crush an ooteca, in which there are several dozen of them, and only one cockroach appears from one egg.
But these subtleties do not remove the main question - about the number of individuals that one female produces at a time. In rare cases, there can be up to fifty of them, but usually there are 20 - 30 eggs in the ooteca and, accordingly, the same number of cockroach larvae hatch.
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It would seem not so much, but if you add up the entire offspring from all pregnant females, you get a terrifying figure.Simple arithmetic - at least from 5 females at least 100 cockroaches will appear in one run.
Even if you by some miracle exterminate all the males, the surviving females will be able to bear offspring. This is possible due to the fact that the gametes (cellular elements) of the male remain in their body for a long time.
For repeated fertilization, the female does not need a male; she is able to ruin your life even without a pair. Soon, several dozen larvae will run around the kitchen, and everything will start all over again.
Turtle cockroach, 2.5 -4 cm
This family of cockroaches reaches a length of 4 centimeters. As a rule, everyone is used to considering the presence of cockroaches as a sign of unsanitary conditions. But these rounded insects are very much appreciated, because they have a beneficial effect on health.
They are found in eastern countries and do not cause any hostility among the inhabitants. Most often they are born wingless, but there are exceptions.
If a cockroach turtle settled in your apartment, you can be sure that he is far from alone there. They always gather in large flocks and quickly scatter to dark corners if spotted. This scene is like a horror movie. Getting rid of these insects at home can be very difficult.
Chinese mantis
The Chinese praying mantis prefers to be nocturnal and is considered the best pest fighter. In China, there is a law according to which these insects cannot be destroyed, since they feed on bugs and larvae that spoil agricultural plants. In some cases, the praying mantis can eat a frog, small lizard, or hummingbird. The length of the creature reaches 15 centimeters, and its life expectancy does not exceed six months. The insect's natural predators are large birds, snakes, and bats.
Interesting!
Female praying mantises are much larger than males. In 50-60% of cases, when mating, they bite off the partner's head, but this does not prevent him from completing fertilization. The reason for this aggressive behavior is that the female needs a lot of protein during the first period of pregnancy, and the males are a rich source of the substance.
American cockroach, 5 cm
This is one of the most popular cockroaches. The most memorable thing about him is the wings that grow on the back to the envy of the elves. A flying cockroach measuring 5 centimeters is far from the dream of residents of small apartments or houses.
American cockroach much older than the dinosaurs and has hardly changed over the years. This species owes such a long life to its unpretentiousness. It's about food. Many sighted creatures need certain substances to maintain good vision, but this fact has bypassed American cockroaches.
They may not receive important components for several years and see well in the dark. For many scientists, these cockroaches are a real mystery, so they are still being studied very carefully.
Peacock Eye Atlas
A huge butterfly, which is distinguished by its bright color, unusual body structure and a large wingspan (up to 28.9 cm). Atlas lives in forests and city parks of South China, Thailand, Indonesia. Sometimes this species is found near the Himalayas. Despite the fact that the peacock eye is one of the largest butterflies on the planet, it lives very little. The duration of the adult stage is no more than 2 weeks. Atlas spends all his life in search of food and is engaged in pollination of flowers. The giant insect feeds on the fruits of cinnamon, hornbeam, apple, rambutan and citrus fruits.
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Tiger Madagascar cockroach, 6-7 cm
This insect is most often grown at home. Body length Madagascar cockroach 6-7 centimeters, males are slightly wider than females. They live in Madagascar in arid tropical forests. Rotting fruits and other decaying vegetation are preferred as food.
At home, they should be kept in large terrariums with a lid. Moreover, the size of the terrarium fully affects the rate of reproduction.Do not put more than one male for several females in one container. It is better to feed juicy fruits and do not forget about the nutrients that the body needs.
Reproduction
Large Madagascar cockroaches are viviparous species. The female carries the oedema in the genital bursa of the abdomen. To get the attention of their partner, males arrange battles. In the heat of battle, opponents bite off their paws or antennae. Males push the opponent with cone-shaped outgrowths. The defeated challenger falls back, he concedes the female to the winner.
After fertilization, the embryos mature in the body of the insect. A special capsule is formed in the abdomen - the ooteca, in which the eggs are located. Periodically, the female pushes it out for airing. Pregnancy lasts up to two months, its duration depends on the temperature - with a cold snap, the appearance of offspring is delayed. 20-50 small larvae appear from the abdomen of the cockroach. They are white, the body is soft, without shell. During the day, the larvae darken and become covered with a chitinous layer. The first days the female is next to the offspring. Protecting children, she hisses especially sharply and loudly.
Attention. Under unfavorable conditions (low temperature or humidity, lack of food), females drop the oodema ahead of time and the offspring dies.
5. Megaloblatta longipennis, 7.5 cm
This cockroach is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for its wings. Of all the cockroaches, only he has a wingspan of 20 centimeters, while his body length is 6-7.5 centimeters. It lives mainly in Ecuador and Panama. The most famous female Megaloblatta longipennis has grown to 10 centimeters long and nearly 5 centimeters wide.
Life activity
The life span of giants is 1.5–2 years. Some subspecies live for 4–5 years.
Under natural conditions, large insects consume organic food. Therefore, experts recommend periodically introducing it into the diet. Additionally, they are fed with berries, leaves and fruits.
Giant horned cockroaches are classified as viviparous insects. The duration of pregnancy is 2 months. After that, the larvae appear, which are white. About 50 larvae are born at a time.
Giant horned cockroaches do not throw offspring. They teach everything, show, prepare for adulthood. It is not necessary to remove the parents as they protect their offspring. Small individuals are moved to a shelter in order to protect them.
Giant forest cockroach, 7-8 cm
We are now close to the top three largest cockroaches in the world. Top opens Giant forest cockroach, he is also known as - archimandri. Its length reaches 7-8 centimeters. He has an unusual cream color with a dark interwing stripe.
It flies well thanks to its huge long wings. During courtship, the male raises his wings and shakes his whole body, it looks very impressive.
If you are going to keep them at home, then you should remember that they get used to the spaciousness very much, so they need to create a voluminous place both in width and in height. They should be handled with extreme caution. A sharply caught insect can hurt with a leg or even bite.
Grasshopper Veta
In 2011, news broke in scientific journals that British entomologist Mark Moffett had discovered a giant insect believed to be extinct. It was the grasshopper Veta, whose body length is almost 18 centimeters. Found the rarest creature in the world in the depths of one of the islands of the Small Barrier (New Zealand). According to the entomologist, it sat on a tree branch and was given to the scientist without any problems. Even though Mark Moffett had the chance to study the grasshopper in detail, he did not take it. The man fed Veta with raw carrots, photographed, recorded a video for the collection and released her.
Australian rhino cockroach, 8-10 cm
A well-known Australian rhino cockroach has another name - giant burrowing cockroach... It is not the largest in the world, yielding in size to only one cockroach, but it is the heaviest.
With a length of 8 centimeters, its weight is 35 grams. He has no wings. The head is very large with small eyes. The paws are massive with sharp needles. It was first discovered in Australia and today it can be found there. Also found in North Queensland.
This insect breaks deep and long tunnels for itself in the leaf litter. So they build themselves a house and food at once. They live for about 10 years and they are long-livers among insects.
Often he is turned on at home, because he loves cleanliness very much and does not have a nasty smell. In the aquarium, he behaves calmly and does not try to run away, but it is important to create comfortable living conditions for him. For example, they are very fond of digging everything, that's why they got this name.
A female cockroach can lay up to thirty larvae, and each of which will subsequently spend at least nine months with its mother, until the insects can independently break through their shelters.
Behavior
Rhino cockroaches are social insects. They live in colonies in which there can be several hundred individuals. Mothers tenderly take care of their offspring up to 3-4 years. In the event of their death, mature females who are next to them take care of the younger generation.
Insects live in underground shelters, which they dig themselves at a depth of 15-30 cm, maximum 1 m. The shelters are usually located under a layer of leaves or dead wood. They also serve as their main food. Fallen eucalyptus leaves are preferred.
The shelters are connected with each other by numerous passages, allowing different families to migrate without problems throughout the colony.
Madagascar hissing, 6-10 cm
Someone considers this insect to be a real monster, while someone happily grows it at home in an aquarium. The nature of this cockroach is very quarrelsome, and in conjunction with hard wings, it becomes a completely unkind pet.
From madagascar hissing cockroach you should not expect affection and sympathy, but still they are bought quite often. In length, they reach 10 centimeters in adulthood. It's roughly like a small mouse. Therefore, this cockroach tops our list of the largest in the world.
His homeland is Madagascar. It was there that he freely moves through the leaves of trees in the dark. It is not expensive to keep such a giant, they are omnivorous, therefore, they gladly eat various vegetables, fruits and herbs. But if you have purchased more than 30 pieces, then you will need a large terrarium with a lid.
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Keeping in captivity
For comfortable well-being, 2-4 burrowing cockroaches need a horizontal terrarium with a volume of at least 50x50x40 cm.A layer of a mixture of sand and earth in a 1: 1 ratio is placed on the bottom, peat or coconut substrate with a layer of at least 15 cm so that the pets can dig holes.
The terrarium is tightly covered with a lid with holes for ventilation. It is placed in a shaded area away from direct sunlight. Low power fluorescent lamps are used for lighting.
The temperature is maintained in the range of 18 ° -25 ° C, and the humidity is in the range of 60-80%. The substrate should be moist, but not wet. It needs to be sprayed with warm water every other day so that it does not dry out.
You can feed finely chopped vegetables in small quantities. Do not give needles, leaves of common ivy (Hedera helix) and poplar (Populus). They can kill rhino cockroaches.
