All about cockroaches biology. Varieties of cockroaches, lifestyle, habitat and behavior. The appearance of insects

10 minutes to read Posted 07/07/2018

On the territory of Russia and the former USSR countries 55 species of cockroach live, in total there are more than 7.5 thousand of them. Some are grown as decorative pets, participants in cockroach races, an ingredient in some traditional Chinese dishes, while other species are even listed in the Red Book. To understand which class of cockroaches belong to is not difficult: they are insects.

On planet Earth there are a huge number of representatives of the cockroach squad

In this article:

The appearance of insects

A detachment of cockroach insects belongs to the animal kingdom, an arthropod type. Among them, 8 families of representatives of cockroach and 9 families of termites are distinguished.

Despite the huge number of species, the structure and general characteristics of cockroaches are largely similar:

This video shows how to determine the presence of cockroaches in the house:

The main types

To date more than 4.6 thousand species of cockroaches and almost 3 thousand types of termites are known. Most of them live in the tropics and subtropics. On the territory of Russia there are no more than 55 species, while the number of some of them is declining. Basically we are talking about Prussian cockroaches or red cockroaches: from the beginning of the XXI century there has been a decrease in their number in Russia, the CIS countries and other countries.

Scientists attribute this to the improvement of the sanitary condition of housing, the relocation of cockroaches to more suitable places (for garbage dumps, etc.) and the improvement of means for controlling insects.

Unscientific theories include chemical or radioactive contamination, the spread of GMO products that adversely affect cockroaches, the deterioration of the ozone layer, and the use of non-ecological building materials.

Red cockroach, or Prusak

Their homeland is South Asia, from where in the XVIII century they moved to the countries of Europe and North America, displacing the black cockroach. The name "Prusak" is due to the fact that cockroaches allegedly came from Prussia.

Red cockroaches reach a length of 1−1.6 cm, painted brown. On the upper half of their "back" - 2 dark stripes. The body of the male is narrower, with a wedge-shaped abdomen. Females are wider, their abdomen is rounder. They can fly (more precisely, plan) thanks to the developed wings, but not for long.

They can quickly form large colonies, as they actively and quickly multiply. The species is one of the most common in Russia.

Black beetle

Distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa. Its population declined sharply at the beginning of the last century due to competition with red relatives and the invention of new poisons.

The length of the black cockroach is 2-3 cm, the color is black or dark brown with a metallic sheen. Sometimes there is a red color. The elytra of the male is slightly shorter than the abdomen; in the female, they do not reach the base of the abdomen at all. Insects do not flybut run fast. One of their features is an unpleasant odor, which is easy to recognize their presence.

Black cockroaches breed faster than red ones. In addition, they are carriers of many dangerous diseases, for example, cholera and Escherichia coli, they bring with them many harmful microbes from garbage cans. The presence of these insects in the housing indicates unsanitary conditions. It is imperative to get rid of them.

American representatives

He first appeared in the African tropics, but in the 20s of the XVII century he came to North America, and after that - to Europe.

In appearance, the American cockroach looks like a red congener. The length of his body is 3.5-5 cm, the body itself is flat. Males outwardly look a little longer because of the wings: they protrude 0.4-0.8 mm behind the abdomen. An American cockroach can be red or brown in color, with a pale brown or yellow stripe along the edges of the chest shield.

American species easily adapt to environmental conditions, they are very nimble and fast, they can bite.

They feed on any products they find, and not only them: paper, soap, hair, dead insects, insides of animals, etc. can be included in their diet.

Carriers of microbes and bacteria dangerous to humans can cause allergies: the latter is observed in 50-60% of adult asthmatics and almost 80% of children with the same disease.

Other species

The following are less common species that may occur in Russia:

It should be noted separately albino cockroaches. They are not a separate species - they are cockroaches after molting, which have not yet managed to acquire the usual color. Color change may be due to exposure to chemicals.

Propagation Features

Representatives of cockroaches develop very quickly, this allows them to create solid colonies in just a few weeks. Below is an exemplary scheme of cockroach life:

Due to the short period of “pregnancy”, the fecundity of cockroaches is enormous. For example, a Prusak can produce up to 300 thousand descendants per year. The offspring of a black cockroach are half as much, while the “American” lays less than a thousand larvae.

Lifestyle

About representatives of the cockroach family it is worth knowing:

Insect use

Despite the fact that cockroaches are unpleasant and dangerous insects for humans, not all of them are destroyed. Cockroaches are used:

Cockroaches are representatives of the order, which has more than 7.5 thousand species, of which more than half are cockroaches themselves. They differ in habitat, appearance and behavior, but all representatives have much in common. For humans, these insects can be extremely dangerous, as they spread germs and dangerous diseases.

  (Blattidae s. Blattodea) - the oldest, fast-running insects, known from the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. They have a body flattened in the dorsoventral direction, reaching a size of 3-6 cm. The abdomen is elongated, 8-10-segmented, with soft integuments. The family is characterized by rather long legs of a running type with flattened hips and having five-segmented paws. At the posterior end of the abdomen in segments 9 and 10 there are small appendages - cerci, which are rudimentary abdominal limbs that form during embryonic development; cerci serve as if with the ears of an insect, through them sound vibrations of a certain frequency are perceived; males on the last segment from the bottom have 1 or 2 non-segmented appendages - a stylus.

The head of cockroaches is sheer, equipped with well-developed eyes, long multi-segmented bristle-like antennae and mouth parts facing downwards, and is almost or completely covered by a large shield-shaped pronotum.

The gnawing mouth apparatus consisting of the upper lip, strong upper jaws (mandibles or mandibles), armed at the apex with teeth, adapted for biting and coarse grinding of solid and juicy foods. The mandibles open to the sides. The lower jaw, or maxilla, tenaciously holds a particle of food, which the mandibles grind up until it becomes suitable for swallowing. The upper lip directs food to the stings, and the lower lip ensures that it does not pass by the mouth. The mandibles are not covered by the upper and lower lips, so for the insects the grin of the upper jaws with their teeth is always characteristic. On the maxilla and lower lip, there are jointed appendages - palps with taste organs that inform about the merits of food.

In the stomach of the cockroach, further grinding of solid food to the smallest particles occurs with the help of chitin teeth and its digestion under the influence of its own enzymes. Nutrients indigestible under the influence of the cockroach's own enzymes are absorbed by the specific fauna of intestinal symbionts.

In those species that have well-developed wings, both pairs carry a large number of longitudinal and many transverse veins; the front pair, a narrower compacted leathery or resembling parchment, is called the elytra and serves mainly as a protective cover for the wings of the rear pair when the insect does not fly; the back pair is thin, wider, carries the main load during flight and fan-shaped under the elytra in a state of rest. In females, the wings are often shortened or completely reduced. In many species, the wings have the appearance of primordia or are completely absent.

Typically, cockroaches have odorous glands that secrete sex and aggregation pheromones. In females, from the secretions of the accessory genital glands, a special bag forms in the posterior end of the body in which they carry eggs for 14-15 days; the shape of the egg sac is characteristic of various genera of cockroaches. Like all orthopterans, cockroaches undergo incomplete transformation and molt at least 5 times.

Most cockroaches are yellowish brown, less often dark or black.

At least 3,000 species living in tropical and subtropical forests have been described. In the territory of the former USSR, 53 species of cockroaches live, of which 49 species are among the natives of our fauna, the rest are immigrants able to live only in heated rooms. Among the last inhabitants of human dwellings (synanthropic species) are

• living in all parts of the world
  • red cockroach, or prusak (Blatta germanica)
  • black cockroach (sometimes called a kitchen or oriental one) - (Blatta orientalis)
• common in tropical countries
  • american cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

The homeland of the Prusak is considered to be South Asia, where the insect is found in the wild and has several close relatives. It is believed that the Prusak lived in the grottoes and huts of Stone Age people - mammoth hunters. He came to Greece in the VI century BC. A red cockroach was introduced into the countries of Eurasia around the middle of the 18th century. The Prusak came to our country both from the west and from the east. From the west, he entered us after the Seven Years War in 1762–1763, along with Russian soldiers returning from Germany (could this explain his name, the Prusak?), And from the east, he was brought from China to Siberia in about 1757–1760. Where it is warm, for example in the Crimea, in the south of Central Asia and in the Far East, the Prusak now lives in freedom.

The original homeland of the black cockroach is not exactly established. Its closest relatives - species of the same genus - are common in Africa and Australia. Reliably known in England since 1634, appeared in Holland in the 17th century.

An American cockroach was brought into Europe from America with goods and spread mainly in port cities, e.g. Kronstadt, Petersburg (where it is known in some bathhouses); partly managed to penetrate into the country, for example. in France, where it is found in greenhouses, in Moscow, etc.

In general, cockroaches are common in all parts of the world, in the tropics and subtropics, in temperate and even polar countries. A cockroach is distributed by a person in whose things and goods cockroaches move around the world.

Cockroaches are thermophilic and hygrophilous insects that avoid light. They live in dark and humid places. Some of them, living in the jungle along the banks of rivers and streams, swim excellently. The rounded forms live on trees, shrubs and low plants, and the wingless ones are kept in the grass, under the leaves, etc. The inhabitants of human dwellings, in particular the red cockroach, both male and female, have two pairs of wings, which are used to move very rarely, in exceptional cases, for example, when falling from the upper floors of tall buildings. They live in rooms: houses, bakeries, catering establishments.

Black cockroaches populate the basement, basement and lower floors of houses, usually they do not rise above the fifth floor. Prefer cellars, toilets and bathrooms, places near radiators, electric stoves and pipes with hot water. Large quantities can be seen around water sources. In warm areas, black cockroaches can be found on the streets. They live in hollow trees, in landfills, in garbage. Black cockroaches are less mobile than other synanthropic species, jump poorly, do not fly at all, and run well.

Cockroaches - the inhabitants of human dwellings hide in the gap during the day, go out in search of food at night. They are almost omnivorous and eat a wide variety of plant and animal products. They feed on human food (food waste), as well as its secretions (feces, sputum). When eating human products, they pollute them with their bowel movements. At the same time, bacteria and protozoan cysts are scattered.

By their structure, nymphs are generally similar to adult individuals and, as a rule, they meet and feed with them. In conditions of malnutrition, adult cockroaches can eat their weak, wounded, crippled counterparts. In addition, red cockroaches eat packages of eggs of black cockroaches, the females of which drop their ooces after their formation, which, together with a smaller number of eggs in the black cockroach, leads to the crowding out of black cockroaches with red ones.

Without food and water, female cockroaches can live for 5 to 30 days, males for 5-15 days, larvae can starve for 40–70 days in a row.

The laying of eggs in cockroaches is quite peculiar. Individual eggs, one after the other, come from the oviduct and are collected in the egg chamber, where they are glued together using a special secret, forming a capsule, or a swelling. In an odek of a red cockroach, there are usually from 28 to 56 pieces of eggs laid in symmetrical double rows. A female black cockroach lays up to 16 eggs in an ooteca. Ooteka is formed within a few days. In the future, the female black cockroach discards the edema and does not care about her offspring. Female red cockroaches carry egg capsules at the end of the abdomen for 15–40 days, that is, until the nymphs are ready for birth. Eggs in this case receive all the necessary substances from the mother's body.

Cockroaches develop from two months to five years and at the same time 5–9 molts pass. From adults, the larvae differ only in size, the absence of wings and the number of segments on the antennae. During development, without undergoing major transformations, the larvae molt several times and with each molt become more and more like adult cockroaches. After the final molt, the larva becomes an adult and ends the growth.

Adults live up to seven years. The life expectancy of cockroaches is largely determined by the ambient temperature. The optimum temperature for the life of cockroaches 22–27 degrees heat.

A cockroach is an arthropod insect from the cockroach superorder, a cockroach order (Blattoptera, Blattodea).

None of the versions of the origin of the Russian word "cockroach" has found exact confirmation. According to some etymologists, cockroaches got their name thanks to the Chuvash word "tar-aqan", which means "runaway", or Turkic "taz" ("run away").

Cockroach: description, characteristics, structure

Cockroaches are distinguished by a flattened body of an oval shape, with a length of 1 to 10 cm or more. The elongated abdomen of the cockroach consists of 8-10 tergites (dorsal sclerotized segments) and 7-9 sternites (abdominal sclerotized segments), 7 in females, 8-9 in males. At the end of the abdomen are long, usually articulated cerci. In males, the last one has 1-2 lead. Typically, cockroaches have a light body color with elytra of yellowish-brown hues, dark or black color is less common.

The elytra of the cockroach is dense, horny or leathery, with pronounced venation. The hind wings are equipped with membranes and, when folded, hide under the elytra.

In some species, the front and hind wings are shortened; there are also wingless species of cockroaches. Some species of cockroaches can fly, although their flight does not last long.

In total, the cockroach has 6 legs. The hips and legs are spiked. The legs of these insects with five-segmented paws are well developed and adapted for running.

The speed of the cockroach is quite high: for example, an American cockroach covers a distance of 75 cm per second. In addition, it is almost impossible to catch a cockroach with your bare hands, because a nimble insect changes its direction of movement about 25 times per second.

The flat head of a cockroach can be triangular or heart-shaped.

Pronotum almost flat, shield-shaped, rather large, in many species with transparent edges.

The jaws of insects are very strong, gnawing type, with many chitinous teeth.

The mouth is turned down.

The eyes of the cockroach are large, there are 2 simple eyes, in wingless cockroaches they are often atrophied, in cave species they are completely absent.

The sensitive whiskers of insects are quite long, sometimes exceeding the length of the body, bristle-shaped, multi-segmented, covered with many microscopic bristles.

The external reproductive organs of the male cockroach are represented by the genital plate formed by the ninth sternite.

Females are endowed with a hidden ovipositor and ooteca - a special protein capsule designed for carrying offspring.

A cockroach lives from 4 months to 4 years, the life of a cockroach depends on the species.

A cockroach is one of the most hardy insects, capable of starving for a month without damage to health. But under favorable conditions and due to the characteristics of the oral apparatus, cockroaches eat everything that is poorly hidden. A female cockroach eats from 30 to 50 g of various food per day, males are not so voracious and eat 2 times less.

A cockroach is a nocturnal insect, and goes out in search of food with the onset of darkness, and the “feast” continues until dawn, to a greater extent because cockroaches do not eat as much as they bite various foods, finding the most delicious for themselves using the test method.

The favorite food for cockroaches is any bakery products, sugar and all kinds of sweets, meat products and cereals are in third place, and various vegetables and fruits, and any freshness, complete the list of preferences. In the absence of food products, cockroaches are content with paper, carpentry and shoe glue, book bindings, fabrics, various rubbish and any organic matter.

Where do cockroaches live?

Cockroaches are distributed almost everywhere and inhabit almost all parts of the world, with the exception of icy Antarctica and other polar regions. The most numerous populations live in the tropics and subtropical latitudes, although these insects feel no less comfortable in the temperate zone. Cockroaches live in the Americas, in Europe, in Russia, in Africa and Asia, in Australia. In countries with a rather cool climate and frosty winters, mainly synanthropic species live in human heated dwellings.

In nature, cockroaches prefer to settle in shady places with constantly high humidity: they hide in the thickness of fallen foliage, under semi-decomposed wood, “feast” where there is an accumulation of rotting fruits or vegetables, and often live in pretty vegetation along shallow water bodies. Sinanthropus cockroaches often equip their nests in ventilation shafts and sewer highways of multi-storey buildings, in basements, in cracked walls and behind baseboards; they like city dumps and garbage chutes.

How to distinguish a female cockroach from a male?

Below are photos that will help determine the sex of the cockroach.

Argentine cockroach (Blaptika dubia) - male on the left and female on the right

Marble cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea - male from below, female from above

Is there a white cockroach?

Sometimes in an ordinary apartment among typical cockroaches you can see rather non-standard albino cockroaches. Many people ask themselves: is a white cockroach a separate species? Not at all. An insect can have such a color during molting, when the old shell has already been discarded, and the new chitinous shell has not yet acquired pigmentation. Another reason for the “whitening” of a cockroach may be disinsection using toxic chlorine, which destroys the coloring pigment.

What animals eat cockroaches?

Although the cockroach is an insect almost indestructible due to its amazing fecundity and adaptability to the most uncomfortable living conditions, they also have enemies. Some types of scorpions enjoy cockroaches with pleasure (for example, Centruroides gracilis, Euscorpius germanus  and Hadrurus arizonensis), cats, hedgehogs, will not refuse to taste a millipede cockroach Scutigera coleoptrata, house spiders and tarantulas. Cockroaches are hunted by a lizard, an anis, a cowherd, a northern leopard frog, and a coastal toad. A cockroach is a favorite treat for domestic chicken, and ants eat dead cockroaches. Insect eulophids lay their eggs in the cockroaches of cockroaches, and the hatched larvae of eulophids eat everything that is inside the cockroach capsule.

Types of cockroaches, names and photos

The current classification has 500 genera, including more than 4640 species of cockroaches. The following is a description of some varieties:

• (Prusak) ( Blattella germanica)

It got its name thanks to the erroneous assumption that the insect was brought to Russia from Prussia. The cockroach Prusak is one of the most common synanthropic species, whose life passes in close cooperation with humans. The body length of an adult cockroach is from 1 to 1.6 cm. Individuals of both sexes have developed wings, so they can plan, but cockroaches cannot fly for long. Males are distinguished by a narrower body, females have a rather wide body with a rounded abdomen covered with wings. The color of the red cockroach involves different shades of brown. On the dorsal part of the prothorax there are 2 characteristic dark stripes.

The red cockroach is omnivorous, and in addition to its traditional food - the remnants of human food, the cockroach can eat paper, shoe leather, textiles, and in extreme cases even use ordinary soap.

In fact, the Prusak came to Europe and North America from South Asia, so the heat-loving insect in a harsh climate survives only in rooms heated all year round.

• (Blatta orientalis)

In the past, a fairly common species, significantly crowded out of its usual biotopes by a red cockroach. The length of the adult individual is from 2 to 8 cm. The color of the cockroach is black-brown or resinous-brown with a metallic tint. Males are distinguished by longer elytra than females, but neither one nor the other can fly, but they run very quickly.

Black cockroaches live throughout Europe, in Asia and Africa. They prefer to settle in heated rooms, sewers, adits, greenhouses, as well as in the wild, near the main source of food - food waste.

• (Periplaneta americana)

It looks like a red cockroach, but has a large body size: from 3.5 to 5 cm. Like the Prussians, American cockroaches can fly. The wings of males extend beyond the abdomen by 4-8 mm, due to which males appear longer than females. The shiny body of an American cockroach can be red or chocolate brown. A light brown or yellow stripe runs along the edge of the pronotum. In the wild, American cockroaches live in wooden stilts, rotten wood, in the bark of palm trees, in sewers and ventilation tunnels. Thanks to the flattened shape of the body, they easily penetrate people's homes through the smallest gaps and gaps, where in the daytime they hide in attics and basements.

Cockroaches eat absolutely everything: any organic matter, garbage, hair and dead insects, fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, nuts, sweets, cereals, paper, pieces of shoes and clothes. In the 17th century, they were imported from Africa to North America, and later to Europe, where they successfully took root and spread everywhere.

• Madagascar hissing cockroach(Gromphadorrhina portentosa)

A very large tropical cockroach, growing in length up to 55 mm (males) - 60 mm (females). Some individuals can reach a length of 10 cm. The weight of the cockroach is about 60 g. The back of the body is colored brown, the pronotum is brown-black. Madagascar cockroaches do not have wings. At the time of danger and during courtship games they are capable of making loud noises resembling the hiss of a snake. What is interesting: the female cockroach hisses only to scare away enemies, and the louder the male cockroach hisses, the more likely it is for the female to be favored. Some individuals, in addition to hissing, can whistle.

Madagascar cockroach is an endemic species whose range is limited to the island of Madagascar. Hissing cockroaches live in the branches of trees and shrubs, eating fruits and other vegetation. Actively used for breeding at home, as live food and in cockroach races.

• Marble cockroach (ashen cockroach, nufuet, neofeta)(Nauphoeta cinerea)

It has an African origin, but due to its unpretentiousness and fecundity, it is widely distributed throughout the globe. The insect also has the name nufuet. Females are larger than males and grow up to 3 cm in length, males - up to 2.5 cm.

Marble cockroaches eat raw vegetables and fruits, oatmeal and germinated cereals, bread, protein feed, grass, paper, can easily gnaw thin plastic. In the absence of protein feed, there are cases of cannibalism. Ash cockroach is the universal and most popular feed insect for domestic hedgehogs, lizards, amphibians (toads and frogs) and tarantulas.

• Turtle cockroaches(Corydiidae)

This is a family of cockroaches with pronounced sexual dimorphism: females are wingless, large, massive, grow up to 3-4 cm in length. Males have wings and grow up to 2.5 -3 cm in length. Due to the peculiarities of the structure, they are somewhat reminiscent of woodlice.

Cockroaches live in the arid regions of North America, Central Asia and Africa.

Chess cockroach (lat.Therea petiveriana). Photo by: noexcuse4you

• Sarawak cockroach ( Rhicnoda natatrix)

It lives on the island of Kalimantan.

An amazing feature of this species is the ability of the cockroach larvae to swim well. Under normal conditions, the larvae prefer to hide in the litter of fallen leaves, located near small streams, puddles or shallow tropical forest lakes. However, at the first hint of danger, the larvae courageously rush into the pond, rushing to the bottom and waiting for a calm situation on land.

The heaviest cockroach in the world is the Australian rhino cockroach  or giant digging cockroach ( Macropanesthia rhinoceros) whose length is about 9 cm and weight reaches more than 30 g.

Reaches the same size cockroach Blaberus giganteus . These 2 species are very popular among lovers of home cockroaches.

The longest cockroach in the world is living in Latin America cockroach Megaloblatta longipennis , whose length reaches 9.7 cm with a width of 4.5 cm.

And the largest wingspan of 18.5 cm has a cockroach Megaloblattablaberoides .

Flying cockroaches, names and photos

Despite the presence of wings, not all cockroaches can fly. And even representatives of flying species do not know how to plan in the air, but only make small and short-term flights. Flying cockroaches:

• (Prusak) ( Blattella germanica)

It has a brown-red color and a body length of 1-1.6 cm.

• Lapland cockroach ( Ectobius lapponicus)

A species that inhabits Europe and the United States. Males are 1.3-1.4 cm long, females are 9-10 mm. Individuals are painted in gray-yellow and brown-yellow colors.

• Asian cockroach ( Blattella asahinai)

It lives in the tropics and subtropics of hot Asia, as well as in the southern states of the USA.

• (Periplaneta americana)

It is similar to a Prusak, but differs in bigger length - from 35 to 50 mm.

• Megaloblatta longipennis  and   Megaloblattablaberoides

They live in the countries of Central and South America. The length of insects reaches 9 cm, width - 4.5 cm.The wingspan is 18-20 cm.

• Blaberus giganteus

A species found in South and Central America. Males grow up to 6.5-7 cm, females - up to 7-8.5 cm.

How do cockroaches breed?

Cockroaches are characterized by an incomplete development cycle, consisting of 3 periods:

• egg;
• larva (nymph);
• adult (adult).

Tarakanov is distinguished by sexual and parthenogenetic reproduction, but, in any case, for the reproduction of offspring, the female still needs to mate at least once. Male gametes are able to persist for a long time in the body of the female, and subsequent clutches occur without prior copulation.

A certain breeding season is not observed in cockroaches, but mating games in some species are somewhat different. Female cockroaches invite males to mate, slightly flapping their wings, and secrete an odorous substance - a special secret produced by the glands located in the back of the body. In some species, mating is preceded by a long courtship process.

The male cockroach fertilizes the female with the help of the genital plate, and then the partners part. After some time, the female lays 30-40 eggs and carries them in the ooteca, which is located at the end of the abdomen.

Female and cubs

Most species of cockroaches are ovoviviparous, some are distinguished by live births.

The incubation period lasts from 2 to 5 weeks, upon its completion, the female throws a swelling in a secluded corner, after which fully developed nymphs hatch from the eggs, which differ from mature individuals in smaller sizes, the absence of wings and a darker color.

Nymph (larva) of an Australian cockroach

The development of nymphs can last from several months, like a Prusak, to 4 years, like a black cockroach.

Cockroach larvae molt 5–9 times during growth, increasing in size after each molt.

After the last molt, the cockroach takes on a hard shell. Depending on the species, the female cockroach is capable of producing from 20 to 90 ootec during the course of its life.

The content of cockroaches at home

Insectarium

In the home of cockroaches, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of at least +25 degrees, and humidity is provided by regular spraying. The bottom should be covered with a layer of substrate: sawdust, peat or a special filler. As a shelter, which is so loved by cockroaches, use snags or shards of clay pots. The upper edges of the aquarium must be lubricated with petroleum jelly from the inside, this will protect pets from a rash escape.

How to feed cockroaches?

There should always be fresh food in the cockroaches' access area, and you can make a diet yourself or buy ready-made feed, dried daphnia and gammarus. The basis of the diet should be fruits, vegetables and cereals, as additional components give young foliage of trees, nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy products.

Cleaning the cockroach dwellings is carried out once every 2 months. The conditions as close as possible to the microclimate of the rainforest will provide pets a long and happy life.

Prevention

Despite the increased popularity of some exotic species of cockroaches, these animals are among the most dangerous pests that have been unsuccessfully combated throughout the history of mankind. Many people ask themselves questions on how to poison cockroaches, and also how to permanently and quickly get rid of cockroaches in an apartment or house using folk or professional means. To date, it has been invented more than one effective remedy for cockroaches and methods of struggle that allow you to remove cockroaches.

Keep your house clean!

Cockroaches are one of the symbols of unsanitary conditions and primarily populate cluttered houses and apartments, where spring cleaning is rarely carried out, and accumulations of dirt and debris create the most favorable conditions for the happy life of baleen pests. In such rooms, even regular use of insecticides will have a short-term effect, so the main means of combating cockroaches is still to create the most unbearable conditions for their life - maintaining cleanliness. Minor redecoration, during which you can get rid of possible cockroach shelters: voids under peeled off wallpaper, removed skirtings, cracked wooden floors, will not hurt.

Do not feed your cockroaches!

To get rid of cockroaches in the apartment, it does not hurt to look into all the nightstands and rarely visited mezzanines for rubbish or products with expired shelf life left in them. You do not need to leave open food in the room: seeds, packages with chips, even sugar bowls on the table are enough for the cockroaches to return. It is very important to thoroughly wipe the tables overnight, removing crumbs and any food debris.

Wipe the water off the table and floor!

Leaving cockroaches on a starvation diet is half the battle, the main thing is to deprive them of the source of water. Any drops on the surfaces of tables, floors, sinks and bathtubs should be wiped dry: cockroaches can starve for a long time, but without water they can not last long.

Folk remedies

The popular methods of combating domestic cockroaches include the so-called "freezing" - airing the premises at a significant freezing temperature. At -5 degrees, cockroaches die. The disadvantage of this method is that central heating pipes can freeze, moreover, the method can be applied only in winter, and it does not work in regions with a mild climate.

Cockroach traps

If the cockroaches continue with manic persistence to climb into a clean, renovated apartment, more serious means will have to be used. Traps and Velcro are an easy and safe way to get cockroaches out of the apartment, but, unfortunately, it only works with a small number of mustachioed residents. Cockroach traps are very different:

• Cockroach glue trap (or house trap)

It looks like a small cardboard house with slots on the sides, it attracts insects with a special smell. The bottom of the trap is covered with an adhesive compound that does not dry for a long time. Once in it, the cockroach will not be able to get out. When the trap begins to look ugly from an aesthetic point of view, it is thrown away. You can buy this remedy for cockroaches in a special store, in addition, an adhesive trap can be made with your own hands. A sticky trap is absolutely non-toxic and safe for humans, but, unfortunately, it will not be able to save you from pest eggs laid in secluded places in your apartment.

It kills electric pests that have run up to the bait, which will need to be periodically changed. The device is environmentally friendly, practically safe and very durable. From time to time, cockroach remains will have to be swept out of the trap with a special brush. The device should be placed in dry places inaccessible to children. The minus of the device again is that it will not save you from the eggs of cockroaches.

The good thing is that you can stain cockroaches in any room, and even in places of high humidity. There is no sticky substrate in these traps, cockroaches freely penetrate into the boxes, attracted by the smell, and carry on their feet a lethal dose of poison for themselves, their relatives and eggs. Such traps can be fixed on vertical surfaces due to the sticky layer on the back of the device. Popular cockroach traps: Raid, Combat, Raptor, Taiga, Clean House, Dohloks, Brownie.

This is a fairly popular and effective means of combating cockroaches. In addition to high-frequency waves, devices emit special light signals that destroy the nervous system of insects. All pet owners need to keep in mind that such devices can have a negative effect on any animals.

If traps and baits from industrial cockroaches for some reason do not fit or do not work, there is an old, reliable, proven method - poison for cockroaches boric acid. Contact with this substance is fatal for pests, but completely safe for animals and humans.

The recipe for boric acid pellets is very simple. To make a bait for cockroaches yourself, you will need boric acid, a small amount of flour and sunflower oil, you can still take a boiled egg and potatoes. All the ingredients are mixed and molded into balls, which are then dried in the sun or battery.

To poison cockroaches, at night the balls are laid out in places of usual cockroach paths, during the day they can be removed so as not to interfere. What is the meaning of this method of combating cockroaches? The smell of boric acid does not smell a cockroach; it will be interrupted by the smell of food. Having barely touched the mustache to the bait, the cockroach is doomed, and in the morning you can collect dead insects in a scoop.

Cockroach spray

It is important to understand that some of the above methods of combating cockroaches can have an effective, but temporary effect, since they do not destroy cockroach eggs. Therefore, if you can’t get rid of cockroaches on your own, then you should use insecticide sprays: with air, the poison enters the most hidden cockroach shelters and destroys insects and their eggs. The treatment of an apartment or house with an insecticidal spray is carried out in the absence of people and animals in the room, in special protective clothing, with closed windows and doors. The most popular tools are Combat, Global, Raptor, Get, Raid. After several hours, dead insects are collected, the room is aired, and wet cleaning is carried out.

Cockroach crayon

The well-known “Masha” was and remains the best insecticidal crayon, with this pencil you can also easily process vertical surfaces. In addition, crayons significantly benefit in safety for people and animals in front of extremely unpopular powders.

If you can’t get rid of cockroaches at home using all of the above methods, then you should try the gels that give an excellent result with a particularly large colony. The gel consists of a bait based on sweet flavors and a poison that is tasteless for insects. Gels are applied in single drops or a line at the sites of the greatest accumulation of pests. The insect that has eaten the bait dies within 24 hours, and relatives are happy to eat its chitinous shell, saturated with the smell of a gel, which includes a kind of chain reaction that destroys the entire colony as a result. The best gels from cockroaches are Raptor, Global, Absolute, Dohloks, Sturm.

Pest control

If there is no time and energy to draw traps with a pencil and lay traps around the apartment, there remains “heavy artillery” - calling the pest control service, which will definitely ensure the destruction of cockroaches in the apartment. The main advantage of this method is the high processing efficiency of particularly strong compared with the drugs on the market and the coordinated work of professionals. It is very effective to resort to the help of pest control services with a coordinated fight against cockroaches among residents of an apartment building.

• In ancient times, cockroaches were one of the main ingredients of traditional medicine: fried cockroaches with garlic were used for indigestion, and tea from dried cockroaches was given to dropsy patients.
• In countries of South America and Southeast Asia (China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Madagascar) cockroaches are eaten, and this insect is one of the important components of national cuisine. For example, Madagascar hissing cockroaches are edible.
• In ancient Russia, it was believed that cockroaches attract wealth to the house, therefore, moving to a new home, they took a couple of cockroaches with them “for good luck”.
• A cockroach with a severed head dies only after a few days, and not from a loss of head, but from dehydration.
• Cockroaches and scorpions are the only ones on the planet who are not afraid of nuclear war. Due to the very slow cycle of cell division, these animals have increased resistance to radiation.

Red cockroach, or prusak  (lat. Blattella germanica) - a type of cockroach from the family Ectobiidae. A widespread synanthropic organism. It leads mainly a nocturnal lifestyle.

Developmental stages

Like all cockroaches, the Prusak is characterized by an incomplete development cycle. Adults reach a length of 10-16 mm and are painted in various shades of brown with two dark stripes on the dorsal side of the prothorax. It has developed wings and is capable of short flight (planning), but cannot fly for long. Males have a narrower body, the edge of the abdomen is wedge-shaped, its last segments are not covered by wings. In females, the body is wide, the edge of the abdomen is rounded and covered with wings on top.

Females lay 30-40 eggs in the ooteca - a brown capsule up to 8x3x2 mm in size. Cockroaches often carry an odeku on themselves until after 14-35 days nymphs hatch from the eggs, which differ from adults only in the absence of wings and, usually, a darker color. The number of links through which the nymph will turn into an adult varies, however, usually equals six. The time it takes for this is about 60 days.

The life expectancy of adults is 20-30 weeks. One female in her life can produce from four to nine ooteca.

Spread

The homeland of the cockroach is South Asia, in the XVIII century it was brought to Europe and North America, where it multiplied widely in human dwellings and significantly replaced the black cockroach. When the temperature drops below −5 C °, the cockroach dies, so in a cold northern climate it can only live in year-round heated rooms.

Nutrition

The red cockroach is omnivorous, feeds on the remnants of human food, and in the absence of it, paper, fabrics, leather shoes or book bindings and even soap.

Human interaction

Cockroaches, having contact both with the garbage accumulated in the cracks with dirt, garbage, and with fresh human food, can cause the spread of various diseases, especially gastroenteritis, diarrhea, dysentery, etc. A large number of collapsing chitinous covers left by cockroaches when molting, in some cases leads to allergic reactions in people.

Measures to control the Prussians include the removal of their possible food and, in particular, the sources of water available to them. Various insecticides have been developed and are widely used. In the old days, in the absence of insecticides in the winter, huts were periodically "cockroach", without overheating the stove for one day and leaving doors and windows wide open, thus freezing rooms, against heat-loving insects is an effective method of struggle, in some places they still use this method of disposal.

Name: "Prusak"

Colloquially named " prusak"Comes from the opinion that this species of insects came to Russia from Prussia. At the same time, in Germany and the Czech Republic, these insects were mistakenly called " russians"(German Russen, Czech Rus), believing that they were imported from Russia. In contrast to the red cockroach, black cockroaches ( Blatella orientalis) Germans and Czechs are called " swabs"(German Schwaben, Schabe  , Czech Švábi).

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Notes

Literature

• Roth L. M., Willis E. R.  The medical and veterinary importance of cockroaches // Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. - 1957.- T. 134. - S. 1-137.

References

•   // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
•   on Pennsylvania State University
•   Harvard University website (inaccessible link)  Retrieved January 12, 2016.
•   University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Studies (unavailable link from 12-01-2016 (1529 days))

Excerpt from the Red Cockroach

Cockroaches I Cockroaches

blattoptera insects. There are over 3 thousand species, in our country about 55 species of cockroaches are known. 5 types of cockroaches have serious sanitary and epidemiological significance. Black and red T. settled with everywhere; Turkestan T., turtles - American T. and Egyptian T. are common in Central Asia (the latter in the Caucasus). Synanthropic species settle directly in human dwellings, Turkestan T. and turtles live in courtyards, penetrating houses (usually with a clay floor) in search of food or in adverse weather conditions.

Preventive measures include, first of all, observance of sanitary-hygienic industrial and residential premises, cleaning of food residues, as well as timely repair of premises; water taps should be closed, especially at night. For destruction of T. apply contact and intestinal action. The most effective riapan, neopin, cymbush, rovikurt, kilzar, feverfew, borax.

Contact insecticides are applied to walls and furnishings selectively in stripes up to 20 wide cm, in the habitats of T., on the paths of their penetration into the premises, to food and water. They also process thresholds, walls along baseboards, cracks in tiles, water pipes, heating pipes (during the unheated period) and sewer systems (especially at the points of their entry and exit) and the space behind them, ventilation openings. Heated sections of walls, floors, attachment points for sinks, bathtubs, batteries, etc. are especially carefully processed. Processing is carried out simultaneously, in the absence of people.

Good results are obtained with the use of intestinal insecticides used in the form of poisoned baits. Such a bait can be, in particular, white bread, the crusts of which are moistened in a 1% chlorophos solution by the reduction of a 20% aqueous solution. It is very effective (especially to combat black T.) the use of a mixture of mashed potatoes (1 potato, cooked “in a jacket”, 1 hard-boiled) with 1 tablespoon of borax. From the prepared mass they make small ones. The bait is placed in a clean dish with low walls (liquid bait is poured into bottles, on the bottom of which they will give cotton wool). Bait consumption per tank leaves 30-50 ml (g) A container with a bait is placed in places most frequently visited by cockroaches, every 4-5 days (within a month) they are replaced. Insecticidal baits can be used indoors in the presence of people (except for rooms in allergological, psychiatric and children's wards of hospitals, as well as games rooms in child care facilities).

Preventive pest control of food production is carried out at least 1 time per month during the stop of automatic lines. Do not use insecticidal preparations on the internal surfaces of technological equipment and equipment in contact with raw materials or finished products. They are subjected to regular mechanical cleaning and, if necessary, washed with hot water. In children's institutions, disinfestation is carried out in the absence of children, on the eve of a weekend. Cleaning after disinfestation is carried out at the end of the day off.

1. Small medical encyclopedia. - M.: Medical Encyclopedia. 1991-96 2. First aid. - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia. 1994. 3. Encyclopedic dictionary of medical terms. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia. - 1982-1984.

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