Order:Blattodea Prachi D. more M.Sc.II

Introduction The name Blattodea is derived from “blatta”, the Greek word for cockroach. Currently there are over 4000 species of Blattodea world wild with over 450 species native to Austrulia. House cockroaches can transmit diseases that are harmful to humans With but one or two exceptions, the native Australian species do not and cannot live alongside humans, since they are closely tied to particular kinds of habitats from which they cannot survive. Most cockroaches are active at night, hiding during the day and coming out at night time to feeds. The mouth parts of all species are adapted for chewing and they have strong, toothed mandibles.

Classification & Distribution Hemimetabola : Incomplete development ( Egg, nymph, adult) Orthopteroid : Closely related to orthroptera and mantodea Distribution : common throughout most of the world , most abundant in tropical and sub tropical climat.

Scientific classification Kingdom - Animalia Phylum - Arthropoda Class - Insecta Subclass - Pterygota Superorder - Dictyoptera Order - Blatodea  Suborder - Cockroaches

General Characteristics The body is oval and flattened . The head is concealed from above by the pronotum. Colour is brownish. Tympana and stridulating organs are absent. Wings are generally present, through in some species they are much reduced. The female of many species have short wing than the male. The cerci are one-to many segmented and usually fairly long. The antennae are long and filiform. Length 3mm or less.

Physical features Adult : Nymph: Antennae slender, filiform Pronotum oval, shieid-like ,covering much of head and thorax Legs adapted for running ; tarsi 5- segmented Front wings thickened; hind wings membranous, pleated Cerci short, multi- segmented Nymph: structurally similar to adult Developing wingpads often visible on thorax

Feeding The cockroach is an omnivorous and opportunistic feeder. It consumes decaying organic matter but is a scavenger and will eat almost anything. It prefers sweets,but has also been observed eating paper, boots, hair, bread, fruit, book bindings, fish, peanuts, old rice, putrid sake,the soft part on the inside of animal hides, cloth and dead insects.

Life cycle Egg: Nymph : Adult : The female cockroach lay their eggs in a hardened , purse-shape egg case called an ootheca The deposited ootheca contains water sufficient for the egg to develop without receiving additional water from the substrate The egg is 8mm long & 5mm high Nymph : The nymphal stage begins when the egg hatches & end with the emergence of the adult Adult : The adult cockroach is reddish brown with a pale brown or yellow band around the edge of the pronotum.

Economic & medical important Cockroach can be a public health problem due to their associated with human. Cockroach are among the most cosmopolitan of insect pests. They are associated with human dwelling throughout the world , hinding in crock & crevice during the day & emerging at the night to forage for food & water. Cockroach also have proven to be very useful as research tools particularly for the study of the study of insect physiology & toxicology.

Phylogeny Evolution relationships between of the Blattodea that is cockroach & termits 107 species were sampled including the all families and subfamilies of termites. All six cockroach includes 22 and subfamily 29. 15 families are include in mantis.

Reference   1) Appel AG. 1997. Nonchemical approaches to cockroach control. Journal of Economic Encomology 14: 271-280.  2) Baldwin, RW, Fasulo TR. (2005). Cockroaches. UF/IFAS CD-ROM. SW 184. (22 January 2010).   3) Bell, WJ and KG Adiyodi. 1981. The American cockroach.Chapman and Hall, London.   Ebeling, W. 1975. Urban Entomology. University of California,Richmond, CA.   Shaheen, L. 2000. Environmental protection comes naturally. 4) Pest Control. 68: 53-56.Suiter, D.R.. 1997. Biological suppression of synanthropic cockroaches. Journal of Agricultural Entomology 14:259-270.

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