American (African) cockroaches

If in the kitchen on the sink suddenly hefty red cockroach, do not panic and recall conspiracy theories about radiation, chemicals and mutations. Someone who loves exotic reptiles just ran off live food for his pets. The American cockroach is the third most popular among feed insects and flies well.

Periplaneta American

Although the Americans “brazenly appropriated” the insect to themselves, this cockroach hails from Central Africa. The inhabitant of tropical forests, although he feels rather well in arid areas with a water source. Today it is a synanthropic species that, with the help of humans, has spread to the Middle East, southern Europe and reaching North America.

Interesting!

An African cockroach infiltrated America on the ships of slave traders catching their goods in Africa.

Periplaneta Americana is one of the representatives of the genus Periplanet, numbering 7 species. In the United States, an American cockroach has a few more names;

• ship - the memory of the slave trade;
• Bombay canary - it is not clear where it came from;
• kakerlak - borrowing from Norwegian.

Often there are also the names "water bug" and "palm beetle." Both are wrong. A real water bug is a swimmer. Sometimes also called water bug. The name "Palm Beetle" actually belongs to a California cockroach. But the American nymph at the last stage of development is often confused with the adult California cockroach. Outwardly, they are really very similar. But the periplanet is not averse to settling in human habitation, while the Florida palm cockroach prefers wildlife.

Morphology

The American cockroach is a large insect, reaching a length of 5 cm. Outwardly, it is a copy of the usual Prusak, but enlarged by a factor of 5. Coloring varies from yellow-brown to red-brown. The light version of the periplanet has also brought to life rumors about mutant cockroaches.

Sexual dimorphism is mild. From the back of the male, the female can be distinguished only by the wings: in the latter, they are longer than the abdomen. Because of this, the male seems larger than the female.

Both sexes have cerci at the end of the abdomen. But males between the churches have a couple more appendages that are absent in females. Females do not always have this trait, but sometimes they can be distinguished from the male by the presence of the ooteka — capsules for eggs of brown color and 9 mm long.

Body structure the periplanets are the same as other representatives of the cockroach squad. The body of the insect has three sections: head, chest and abdomen.

Head

On the head are located complex eyes with 4000 segments. Thanks to this structure, the cockroach can track the situation at 360 °.

Oral apparatus gnawing type. Like some of the oldest insects, cockroaches have the most primitive structure of the oral apparatus.

Interesting!

The mustache is equal in length to the body of an American cockroach. This is the organ of touch, smell and analogue of a seismograph. But insects use their “seismograph” to sense the slightest tremors of the subject.Sitting on the table, they can feel the steps of a person entering the kitchen through the countertop. Insects also use a mustache to identify relatives.

Chest

4 pairs of limbs are attached to the thoracic section of the American cockroach: 3 pairs of paws and wings. Due to the large size of this species, the protective spines on the back pair of paws are clearly visible on the periplanet.

Abdomen

If you carefully study the photo of the American cockroach, the differences between the male and the female become more noticeable. The male on the first tergite of the abdomen lacks a bundle of bristles. Both sexes have an anal plate long and with a deep triangular notch. But in the male, this plate is transparent and protrudes outward to half the length. The female plate is opaque, dense, along the length reaches the middle of the church. The lateral edges of the plate in the male are rounded, in the female straight.

Lifestyle

American cockroach is a modest insect. He leads a nocturnal lifestyle, hiding in the dark in a damp place during the day. In a warm climate, he prefers to live in nature, but in the “cold” states he lives in apartments and houses of a person. On a par with black cockroach American creeps into apartments through sewage and foundation slits. His body is adapted to penetrate very small gaps. The American diversion is even better suited to such "sabotage" activities of a periplane than a black oriental cockroach.

If you have a warehouse with food, you can be sure that the American cockroach will settle there.

Feed base

American cockroach - one of the most omnivorous species of cockroaches. Originally fed by decaying organic matter, today they eat almost everythingthat can be found in a person’s house:

• book binding starch;
• dead skin flakes;
• hair;
• glue;
• any human food;
• corpses of animals;
• glossy paper;
• dirty clothes.

Strong large jaws can grind almost everything. This is one of the reasons why an American cockroach was declared a pest in the United States.

Interesting!

The same size, but preferring the natural habitat, the Florida cockroach is not a pest.

Life cycle

The life expectancy of an American cockroach is up to 700 days. Of these, 400 the insect spends in the adult stage. But the growth rate of young animals is affected by air temperature and humidity. In total, there are 3 stages living in America: egg, nymph and imago.

In stage nymphs this species sheds 13 times. Having reached adulthood, the female mates. Ooteka begins to form a week after copulation. For their lives, females of the American cockroach lay 15 - 90 ootecs. Each capsule contains 7 to 8 pairs of eggs.

Interesting!

At the peak of the reproductive season, females form 2 ooteks per week. The maturation of the capsule requires only 2 days, after which the female lays the oteka in a safe place.

Young growth appears from eggs after 1,5 - 2 months. Young cockroaches reach the mature stage in 6-12 months after hatching from an egg.

Important!

American cockroach is capable of breeding by optional parthenogenesis. This concept means that in the absence of a male, a female can begin to produce eggs without fertilization. New cockroaches will hatch from the eggs. And with a high degree of probability it will again be females.

American cockroach in Russia

Previously, the American cockroach did not live in Russia. Until lovers of exotic appeared. For the "wild" existence of an insect in Russia, the climate is too cold. But now you can meet this view in the apartment.

A cockroach that escaped from the insectarium can take refuge in a bathtub or a sink. If it is a female, she is able to give birth to offspring. On the street, these insects can appear only in the summer, but the apartment always has a comfortable temperature for them.

Destruction methods

Getting rid of an American cockroach is not harder or easier than fight the Prussians. All the same act on him insecticidesas with other insects. The only caveat is the continued agony of America. This large cockroach manages to escape before the agony sets in. Therefore, it may seem that the insecticide does not act on it. For destruction use:

• sprays;
• aerosols;
• dusts;
• traps;
• gels.

Folk methods here are the same as for the Prusak and the black cockroach: freezing. Aromatic substances on periplanet americana does not act. This species lives among coronary chrysanthemums containing feverfew, and feels great. Boric acid the pest must still be able to feed.

On a note!

Freezing an African thermophilic species works flawlessly.

Danger to humans

Americana does not bite, but still remains a dangerous pest. The American experience with this species shows that the odorous secretion secreted by insects can ruin the taste of food. With a high concentration of individuals in the population, the smell of secretion becomes too strong.

Americana - mechanical pathogen carrier. Running through food, a cockroach leaves bacteria on food and can cause poisoning or an infectious disease.

Household dust containing body particles and the excrement of American cockroaches causes allergies and asthma attacks in people suffering from these diseases.

Insect breeding

American cockroaches are of little interest as pets. Very much like the usual Prussians. Therefore, the percentage of lovers containing this species in insectarium is very small.

But periplanets are often bred for other pets: reptiles and small insectivorous mammals. Since, unlike other feed insects, American cockroach flies great, it’s easy for him to escape from the container and fly even to a neighboring house.

Plus American cockroaches - trouble-free reproduction in captivity. It is enough to place the egg trays from the cardboard in the container and put the feeder. But you need to make sure that no individual escapes to scare the neighbors.