Structure;

An adult cockroach is about 4cm long, brown in colour and have a segmented flat body divided into 3 main parts.

The first part is the head which is flattened just like the rest of the body. It has an oval shape and bears 2 large compound eyes as well as 2 very long antennae which are used as sense organs for touch, smell and feeling of vibrations. There are 3 pairs of mouth parts also attached to the head. The jaws called mandibles are powerful and used in tearing and chewing.

The second part is the thorax on which 3 pairs of jointed legs and 2 pairs of wings are attached. The outer wings are hard for protection. The inner wings are soft, membranous and   are used for flying.

The third part is the abdomen which is made up of 10 segments but only 8 segments are seen. Both the male and female have a pair of sensory cerci on the last segment but their abdomens differ in that, the male also has a pair of anal style near the cerci but female does not have. The end of the female abdomen is modified into a pouch called Ootheca which is used to carry the egg case.

DIAGRAM OF FEMALE COCKROACH

Habitat;

Cockroaches live in dark warm moist places such as cupboards, drawers, cartons, pit latrines, etc… They are nocturnal (active at night) and do not like light

Feeding;

Cockroaches feed on all kind of matter, example: food scraps, garbage, clothes, even on their own shed and other dead cockroaches. They have a pair of strong jaws called mandibles used for tearing and chewing food. The mandibles are assisted by 2 similar pairs of jaws which helps to hold the food in place and break it into smaller pieces.

Breathing or Respiration;

Cockroaches breath using spiracles which are located on the abdominal segments. The spiracles have openings which lead to a system of tubules called trachea which carries oxygen from the environment to the cells of the body and removes carbondioxide from the body out to the environment.

Life cycle;

The life cycle of cockroaches shows in complete metamorphosis.

During mating, the male sperms are deposited into a special pouch in the female where eggs are found. The sperms fertilize the eggs. The eggs are limited up to the ootheca, which is found at the end of the abdomen of the female. The female them deposits and cements these eggs in a dark warm place such as in a cupboard.

After about a month, the eggs hatch into nymphs which resemble their parents but are very tiny, colourless, wingless and sexually immature. These nymphs feed on a kind of matter just like the parents. The nymphs develop exoskeleton, grows and moult about 6 to 7 times before becoming adults. Their colours later become brown. Tiny wings appear and develop completely before final moult.

The whole process can take about 10 months. The adult is capable of living for up to 2 years.

Diagram of life cycle

par Claude Foumtum