Page 102 - Atlas Of The World's Strangest Animals

102 ATLAS OF THE WORLD’S STRANGEST ANIMALS

In Marvel Comics’ Spiderman stories, Peter Parker is
American cockroach habitats
bitten by a radioactive spider and gains spider-like powers.
It’s unlikely that a comic book character called ’Roachman
would have been as popular as Spidey, but, in the insect
world, it’s cockroaches that are the true superheroes.
Cockroaches belong to the scientific order Blattaria.
Although they’re regarded as pests, only around 30 species
out of 4000 are found around human settlements, and only
four are widespread. Of these four (the American,
German,Australian and Oriental cockroaches), the
American are the largest.
Like all ’roaches,American cockroaches have a flattened
body, long legs and a small head, which is protected by a
tough pronotum. Naturally these reddish-brown insects
prefer warm, tropical habitats.They’re happy, though, to
inhabit any heated building, regardless of its location. In
the Americas, they can be found as far north as Montreal,
in Canada.
Most cockroaches are nocturnal and will actively run They also have remarkable physical strength and
away from light – and they do so at super speeds. endurance.They can climb vertical surfaces with ease,
American ’roaches have been timed travelling at up to survive being submerged in water for up to 30 minutes,
5.4km/h (3.4mph), which is equivalent to a human and live on the most meagre rations.They’re able to eat
running 330km/h (205mph)! almost anything organic and, if times are especially tough,
they can survive without food for three weeks and
without water for one week.They’re even tolerant to
radiation. It takes between six and fifteen times more
radiation to kill a ’roach than it does to kill a human. Oh,
and a cockroach that has been decapitated can survive for
several weeks.

Incredible insects
’Roaches are fast, strong and resilient, but did you know
that they are also intelligent?
In 2007, researchers at Tohoku University’s Graduate
School of Life Sciences in Japan were amazed to find that
cockroaches could be trained to exhibit Pavlovian

Comparisons

Despite their name,American, German (Blatta germanica) and
American Oriental
Australian cockroaches (Periplaneta australasiae) all originated in cockroach cockroach
Africa. Only the flightless Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) lives up
to its name and comes from Asia.There are an estimated 4000 species
of cockroach, but these four are skilled stowaways.Wherever people
have gone, they’ve travelled with them, and this now accounts for most
of the world’s cockroach infestations.
Australian German
cockroach cockroach

(c) 2011 Marshall Cavendish. All Rights Reserved.