Cockroaches
Cockroaches are an ancient group of animals, dating back about 320 million years (290 million years before man evolved). They have disobeyed evaluation and remained largely unchanged for more than 300 million years.
The name "cockroach" comes from the Spanish word for cockroach, cucaracha, transformed by English etymology into "cock" and "roach".
The world's heaviest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach which can reach 3.5 inches in length and weigh more than 1.1 oz.
There are more than 4,500 species of cockroaches. Among them about 30 are associated with human habitats and about 5 species are well known as pests.
Cockroaches have a flattened and broadly oval body structure and a large shield like pronotum. Features
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Chewing mouthparts.
Gradual metamorphosis. Eggs → Nymphs → Adults. Young cockroaches are similar to adults but are pale in color and do not have wings. Adults have two pairs of wings and may or may not fly, depending on the species.
Eggs are laid encased in purse like leathery egg cases called Ootheca. Females carry the Ootheca for a time frame that varies among different species.
German Cockroaches
Most common, indoor cockroach. Found mainly in houses, apartments, hotels, restaurants and eateries.
It is very closely related to the Asian cockroach, however, the Asian cockroach is attracted to light and can fly rather like a moth, while the German cockroach cannot.
Omnivorous scavengers. Attracted to meats, starches, sugars, and fatty foods. May also eat household items such as soap, glue, and toothpaste. Identification:
About 1/2 to 5/8 inches long.
Two dark longitudinal stripes on its pronotum.
Have wings but can barely fly although it may glide when disturbed.
Lifecycle
German cockroach reproduces faster than any other residential cockroach and is the most difficult cockroach to control.
Prefers moist environment with a relatively high degree of
Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) were the ectotherms used to compare standard metabolic rates and mass specific metabolic rates between organisms. To calculate metabolic rates for these individuals a system comprised of many parts was needed. A gas pump was needed to deliver airflow into the system. This gas pump was connected to a flow meter that could detect the flow rate of the gas passing through. The air would then flow into a Ascarite Column that would scrub out the CO2 from the system before the animal chamber was reached so that no CO2 that was not emitted by the animal would be collected. Then the Madagascar hissing cockroach would be in the animal chamber connected to the Ascarite Column and it would
Outline the physical similarities between the (Blaptica dubia) cockroach and the cricket. Explain previous studies on physical stress in the cricket and in different species of cockroaches. Briefly discuss how the metabolic rate between the two species has been found to be very similar.
Joe Hill’s four part short tale, “You Will Hear the Locust Sing,” is a grotesque story of a victimized boy’s metamorphosis into otherworldly-humanoid insect. Francis Ray is a tormented teen from a broken home, and one day is dream finally became real. Francis is now an insect; just as the creatures from the Vincent Price horror movies he loves. The first reference for the inspiration of this tale is one of Price’s most famous movies The Fly (1958). “They had seen the Vincent Price picture The Fly together” (73). The movie is a story of a scientist, Andre Delambre, whose experiment goes horribly wrong causing him to turn into the Fly. This movie could have been inspiration for Francis’s name, because the scientist/fly brother’s name is Francois.
The appearance of a roach is fearful in itself. One of the frightening things about a roach is its shape. It is scary to think how aerodynamic its body is. The roach can flatten its body like a pancake, making it appear to move through walls. The "V" shaped antennae appear to be picking up human emotions, especially fear. The size of a roach can send my heart into my throat. I have seen roaches on my countertop two and one half inches long. Johnny Carson had an African variety on his show that was three inches long. It's frightening to think roaches are so big that Raid had to create a motel for them. Seeing a roach crawling in filthy places reminds us of the germs it carries. My skin shudders when I see a roach in the toilet. Roaches love to crawl in the grime under the kitchen sink. I once saw a roach bouncing in the dirt of one of my potted plants as if it were a puppy who had just received a bath.
The resurgence of bedbugs in major U.S cities is a testament of the increase in international travel and increase sale of second-hand furniture which highlights the progress we have made in moving from one place to another and expanding our horizons for commercial benefits. Perhaps with or without realization we have become the vehicles in which bedbugs travel and the vessel of their
Odonata, typically called Odonates, are usually found close to bodies of water, looking for small insects to eat. Adult Odonates catch their prey while in flight, while younger Odonates, called nymphs, hunt for their prey at the bottom of the body of water they live in. Nymphs eat almost any insect small enough for them to digest (book on iCloud).
Forensic entomology is the study of insects and arthropods and their relation to a criminal investigation. Forensic entomology can determine the postmortem interval (PMI) or how long since the descendants’ death, whether the body has been moved since expiring, and what injuries may have been sustained (Ryan, 2011). When decomposition begins, insects establish a colony to lay eggs on the remains; these eggs will hatch into larvae that will eat the human organs and tissues. Forensic entomologists can determine the specific insects present in the body and estimate how long a body has been left exposed by examining the stage of development of the fly larvae; however, these findings are not always plausible. The fly larvae look and act different at each stage of development. The time required for stage development is not only affected by environmental influences such as geographical location, climate, and weather conditions, but also by type of insect. The forensic entomologist must consider these conditions when estimating the postmortem interval. Knowledge of insects, their life cycles, and their habits make entomological evidence a priceless tool for an investigation. Forensic entomology has proved its significance in a number of cases; though circumstances such as weather, temperature, and time of year clearly affect the development of insect infestation, and the expert must keep these in the forefront of his/her mind (Innes, 2000).
The scientific name for the Tailless Whip Scorpion is Amblypygids. Their domain is Eukarya, kingdom is Animalia, phylum is Athropoda, class is Arachnida, order is Amblypygi, family is Paracharontidae, and their genus
Arthropods are animals belonging to the phylum Arthropoda, which is the largest of all phyla in the Animal Kingdom, with more than one million species, making them almost 80% of the whole kingdom. These include insects, arachnids, crustaceans and many more, most of which are quite small, the biggest being the Japanese Spider Crab with a leg span of 3.5 meters and the smallest being the microscopic Plankton.
Most everyone knows how the fireflies got their name; the firefly produces light through a bioluminescence chemical reaction that allows them to glow however, fireflies in the western Untied States lack the ability to produce light. Fireflies in most cases are brown and have a soft body with two sets of wings. Male’s use the other set of wings that aide them in flying but the females have short wings in most species do not fly.
With it’s little legs it can lift twenty-five times its own body weight. They have two stomachs. One stomach holds its food, and the second holds food to be shared with other ants. The outside of their body is covered with hard armor. This is called the exoskeleton.
Insect, small, air-breathing animal characterized by a segmented body with three main parts—head, thorax, and abdomen. In their adult forms, insects typically have three pairs of legs, one pair of antennae, and in most instances, two pairs of wings. Insects rank among the most successful animals on Earth. About one million species of insects have been identified so far, which is about half of all the animals known to science. That is why for every pound of human on the earth there are 10 pounds of insects. So that is why there are many reasons why insects are so successful, their exoskeleton, their size, their body function, the way they reproduce, and their development of metamorphosis.