Huge cockroaches

After small prusak firmly took its place in human habitation, even familiar before black beetle began to seem very big and scary. But out of more than 7 thousand cockroach specieslarge cockroaches stand out, which are much larger than black ones.

Madagascar hissing

He is often represented as the largest cockroach in the world. But this is not so. There are "animals" and larger. But the “Madagascar” takes root well at home, does not fly and makes funny sounds if disturbed.

Interesting!

The reputation of the largest "Madagascar" has earned due to the fact that individual specimens can grow up to 10 cm. But this is extreme, record, size. The usual size of a hissing cockroach is 6 cm female and 5.5 cm male.

Habitat

Gromphadorhina portentosa, aka Madagascar hissing - endemic to the island of Madagascar. It is a forest species living on trees and bushes. It feeds on soft parts of plants and fruits. The lifespan in nature is 1 to 2 years. In captivity, lives an average of 2-3 years. Sometimes they live up to 5 years.

Description

Adult insects are brown in color, but the pronotum and hind segments are darker than the main background. The male can be distinguished from the female by the presence of "horns" on the prothorax. Wings are absent in both sexes.

Interesting features

Madagascar cockroaches not so simple. There are points that can make it difficult to keep these insects as pets:

• about 20 species of cockroaches of similar size and appearance inhabit Madagascar, and they all hiss;
• merchants in stores often themselves confuse whom they sell and often sell re-graders or hybrids;
• even though the “Madagascans” cannot fly, but they crawl well even on vertical glass;
• during the struggle for the female, the rivals try to bite off each other's mustache, since without the mustache the male cannot attract the female.

On a note!

If you just need an exotic hissing insect, then its appearance is not fundamental, but you should carefully approach the selection of a pair for breeding.

Hiss

Helps the wearer determine the sex of the cockroach. The female hisses only in a dangerous situation. Males hiss almost always:

• in the fight for the female;
• during courtship;
• during mating;
• in case of danger.

The louder the male hisses, the more chances he will like the female.

In addition to the "Madagascar" there are other types of huge cockroaches.

Other species

Large cockroaches are the inhabitants of very warm regions of the planet. To the north of the tropical zone they can only appear as "pets." This circumstance saved a lot of people from fainting, since finding on your wall a 10-cm cockroach is a pleasure below average.

Australian rhino cockroach

Or a giant digging cockroach. Latin name Macropanesthia rhinoceros. These are really giant cockroaches, reaching a weight of 35 g and a body length of 8 cm. It is this species that can rightfully carry the title of the largest cockroach. Life expectancy is also a record: 10 years. Type ovoviviparous.

Homeland Insects Australia, tropical Queensland. They live in forests where they feed on dead foliage. They play an important role in the ecosystem.

Large wingless insect of dark red-brown color.The male is distinguished from the female by the size of the shield covering his head: he is better developed in the male.

Interesting!

These cockroaches are able to bury themselves in the ground to a depth of 1 m, fully justifying their name.

Giant forest cockroach

Latin name Blaberus giganteus. At home, this species is not called forest, but cave. These are very large cockroaches, considering only the length and not the weight. In length, individual representatives of the species can reach 10 cm, but because of their light body, palm they are inferior to the Australian counterpart.

Endemic to the rainforests of Central and South America. Prefers high humidity shelters:

• caves;
• hollow;
• cracks in the rocks.

A flattened body allows the insect to climb into very narrow crevices.

The length of males is up to 7.5 cm, females - up to 10 cm. The body is flat, brown in color with black marks. The wings are much longer than the hull. In flight, the wingspan is 15 cm. Cockroach flies very well. In the photo, the insect does not look brown, but greenish. This color is convenient on the greenish wall of the cave. Light color is only on the elytra of the insect.

Life expectancy depends on external conditions and can last up to 20 months. At low temperatures and humidity, development slows down.

Megaloblatta blaberoides

Also an inhabitant of the tropics of South and Central America. One of four representatives of the genus Megaloblatta. Large insect with elytra of brown color. The wings of this species are much larger than the body both in width and in length. Because of this, the insect seems much larger than it actually is.

Megaloblatta longipennis

The body length of this insect is all from the same tropics of America up to 7.5 cm. The wingspan can be 20 cm.

Interesting!

This species is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest cockroach in the world with wings.

We must add "and capable of flying." The largest recorded individual of this species is a female 9.7 cm long and 4.5 cm wide.

American cockroach

Latin name Periplaneta americana. This is not the largest representative of the cockroach squad. Outwardly, it is very similar to a huge greasy Prusak. In the photo without specifying the scale, it is almost impossible for a non-specialist to distinguish a periplane from an ordinary red cockroach. In real life, you just need to know that to the size of 3.5 - 5 cm periplanets grow, and not the Prussians.

"American" flies very well. The wings of the female are equal in length to her body. In the male, the tips of the wings extend beyond the posterior border of the abdomen.

Homeland american cockroach located in Central Africa. But this species has already managed to settle in the warm regions of the entire planet.

Conclusion

All types of very large cockroaches can only do harm in their warm homeland. But today you can meet such creatures in your own apartment, if someone runs a domestic animal. You do not need to be afraid of them. It’s easier to interview neighbors and offer the owner to pick up their property.