Roaches Are Reviled But They Can Be Interesting
March 1, 2021 at 9:47 p.m.
By Max [email protected]
History
Researchers have traced the key evolutionary time points for cockroaches – all the way back almost 300 million years ago when the Earth’s mass was organized into the Pangaea supercontinent. The current roach families evolved over periods of up to 180 million years and the continental breakup had an important impact on roach biogeography.
Since roaches cannot fly very far, and for the most part are terrestrially bound, it is interesting to compare their divergence time with the geological history of the Earth. The researchers speculate that like riding on a raft, roaches spread to every part of the globe through the seismic continental shifts.
Fertility
Cockroaches are one of the most rapidly breeding home parasites. If a pregnant female appears in the house, the arrival of an enormous population becomes unavoidable. If the insects feel comfortable in the new place, and they have something to eat and to drink, the cockroaches spread at an unimaginable speed. If you have seen several pests in your kitchen or wherever else, then you will have about 20 times more cockroaches in eight weeks. It depends on the type of bugs.
Roaches have been found to reproduce either sexually or asexually – the latter when they find no mating partners available. Asexual reproduction increases when female roaches are housed as a group, not alone, enabling them to maintain a colony for at least three years without a male’s contribution.
Work has been done to determine the identification of the sex pheromone of the most common cockroach, Blattella germanica, the German cockroach. It has been characterized as gentisyl quinine isovalerate. This cockroach is a major cause of allergic disease and serves as a mechanical vector of disease causing organisms and is the most important residential and food-associated pest worldwide. The pheromone has been synthesized and may provide a tool in cockroach population detection, monitoring and control.
Personality
There are a number of other ways to describe cockroaches, but “full of personality” usually isn’t one of them. Yet a team of scientists has not only found evidence that the scuttling insects have personalities, but also discovered that when cockroaches get together, they create a group personality. The group personalities of cockroaches vary, too.
“A lot of studies show personality in other invertebrates,” says Isaac Planas-Sitjà, a behavioral ecologist at the Free University of Brussels and the lead author of the study. “But no one had looked at the American cockroach.”
In a study published in 2015, a group of Belgian researchers glued radio tracking chips to cockroaches so they could follow each individual in a group of 16. In the lab, they put these cockroaches in an open, lighted space, which cockroaches find scary. The space had shelters where they could hide.
The researchers found that there were shy cockroaches who scurried to the shelter every time they were tested, and bold cockroaches that spent more time exploring than hiding. These personality differences are simple, but still surprising for an insect.
Speed
Roaches are also one of the fastest insects on Earth. Cheetahs are the fastest animals. One scientist set out to prove it.
In 1999, Thomas Merritt investigated as to which insect held that title. He established a few rules to do so. The insect has to have been timed five times and the results have to appear in a scientific journal. The bronze medalist is probably going to make you want to run away screaming. The American cockroach can run 5 feet in one second, which equals a speed of 3.4 mph. Those nasty cockroaches that hide under the cupboard in your kitchen are one of the fastest insects on the planet. You can never escape them. Coming in second and first place are two species of Australian tiger beetles, Cicindella eburneola and Cicindella hudsoni. They each clocked in at 4.2 mph and 5.6 mph respectively. The gold medalist runs so fast that at its top speed its visual system cannot keep up, so it's literally running blind. The cockroach came in third place.
Diet
Cockroaches have strange food habits and they differ dependent on whether they are male or female. ales prefer banana and potato significantly whereas females prefer banana. Additionally females also significantly preferred peanut, sugar and cat food more than males do. Feeding generally occurred during the hours between 7 and 10 p.m. and 4 to 5 a.m. The feeding behavior starts with swinging their antenna followed by touching the food.
Final Thoughts
According to Science Daily, roaches have occupied the Earth long before humans first appeared and will probably outlast us long after we have annihilated each other by nuclear war.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. It contains a number of previously published columns. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
History
Researchers have traced the key evolutionary time points for cockroaches – all the way back almost 300 million years ago when the Earth’s mass was organized into the Pangaea supercontinent. The current roach families evolved over periods of up to 180 million years and the continental breakup had an important impact on roach biogeography.
Since roaches cannot fly very far, and for the most part are terrestrially bound, it is interesting to compare their divergence time with the geological history of the Earth. The researchers speculate that like riding on a raft, roaches spread to every part of the globe through the seismic continental shifts.
Fertility
Cockroaches are one of the most rapidly breeding home parasites. If a pregnant female appears in the house, the arrival of an enormous population becomes unavoidable. If the insects feel comfortable in the new place, and they have something to eat and to drink, the cockroaches spread at an unimaginable speed. If you have seen several pests in your kitchen or wherever else, then you will have about 20 times more cockroaches in eight weeks. It depends on the type of bugs.
Roaches have been found to reproduce either sexually or asexually – the latter when they find no mating partners available. Asexual reproduction increases when female roaches are housed as a group, not alone, enabling them to maintain a colony for at least three years without a male’s contribution.
Work has been done to determine the identification of the sex pheromone of the most common cockroach, Blattella germanica, the German cockroach. It has been characterized as gentisyl quinine isovalerate. This cockroach is a major cause of allergic disease and serves as a mechanical vector of disease causing organisms and is the most important residential and food-associated pest worldwide. The pheromone has been synthesized and may provide a tool in cockroach population detection, monitoring and control.
Personality
There are a number of other ways to describe cockroaches, but “full of personality” usually isn’t one of them. Yet a team of scientists has not only found evidence that the scuttling insects have personalities, but also discovered that when cockroaches get together, they create a group personality. The group personalities of cockroaches vary, too.
“A lot of studies show personality in other invertebrates,” says Isaac Planas-Sitjà, a behavioral ecologist at the Free University of Brussels and the lead author of the study. “But no one had looked at the American cockroach.”
In a study published in 2015, a group of Belgian researchers glued radio tracking chips to cockroaches so they could follow each individual in a group of 16. In the lab, they put these cockroaches in an open, lighted space, which cockroaches find scary. The space had shelters where they could hide.
The researchers found that there were shy cockroaches who scurried to the shelter every time they were tested, and bold cockroaches that spent more time exploring than hiding. These personality differences are simple, but still surprising for an insect.
Speed
Roaches are also one of the fastest insects on Earth. Cheetahs are the fastest animals. One scientist set out to prove it.
In 1999, Thomas Merritt investigated as to which insect held that title. He established a few rules to do so. The insect has to have been timed five times and the results have to appear in a scientific journal. The bronze medalist is probably going to make you want to run away screaming. The American cockroach can run 5 feet in one second, which equals a speed of 3.4 mph. Those nasty cockroaches that hide under the cupboard in your kitchen are one of the fastest insects on the planet. You can never escape them. Coming in second and first place are two species of Australian tiger beetles, Cicindella eburneola and Cicindella hudsoni. They each clocked in at 4.2 mph and 5.6 mph respectively. The gold medalist runs so fast that at its top speed its visual system cannot keep up, so it's literally running blind. The cockroach came in third place.
Diet
Cockroaches have strange food habits and they differ dependent on whether they are male or female. ales prefer banana and potato significantly whereas females prefer banana. Additionally females also significantly preferred peanut, sugar and cat food more than males do. Feeding generally occurred during the hours between 7 and 10 p.m. and 4 to 5 a.m. The feeding behavior starts with swinging their antenna followed by touching the food.
Final Thoughts
According to Science Daily, roaches have occupied the Earth long before humans first appeared and will probably outlast us long after we have annihilated each other by nuclear war.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. It contains a number of previously published columns. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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