Cockroaches are insects in the order Blattaria.

They are somewhat flat, oval shaped, leathery in texture, and are usually brown or black in color. Cockroaches range in body size from 0.1 to 2.3 in (2.5 to 60 mm), and are rampant pest insects in human inhabited areas, as well as common outdoor insects in most warm areas of the world. These insects were formerly classified in the order Orthoptera, which consists of the grasshoppers and katydids. Now they are often classified along with the mantises in an order referred to as Dictyoptera. The separate order Blattaria, however, is the more common classification for them, and this order is placed in the phylogeny, or evolutionary history, of the class Insecta between the orders Mantodea, the mantids, and Isoptera, the termites. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWzZjeGEqs4&NR=1&feature=endscreen The primitive wood-boring cockroaches in the family Cryptocercidae, a family in which there is only a single species in the United States, Cryptocercus punctulatus, are thought to have shared a common ancestor with termites. The evidence for this is a close phylogenetic relationship between the two groups' obligate intestinal symbionts, singlecelled organisms called protozoans which break down the wood that the insects eat into a form that is useful to the insect, and in turn receive nutrition from the matter which is not nutritive to the insect. There are also behavioral similarities between these woodboring cockroaches and termites, including the fact that they both live gregariously in family groups, a characteristic not shared by any of the other types of cockroaches. Finally, the relationship between the two orders is evidenced by the resemblance between Cryptocercus nymphs, and adult termites. Interesting morphological characteristics of these insects are their chewing mouthparts and large compound eye. The pronotum, or segment of the thorax that is closest to the head, conceals the head, and in most species, both male and female are winged, although they rarely fly. They exhibit many fascinating behaviors, such as the ability to stridulate, that is, produce sound by rubbing a comb-like structure with a scraper. Other species, however, communicate by producing sound by drumming the tip of their abdomen on a substrate. An important developmental feature of these insects is their paurometabolous life-history. Paurometabolism is a type of simple metamorphosis in which there are definite egg, immature or nymph, and adults stages, but no larval or pupal stages and in which the nymphs resemble the adults except in size, development of wings, and body proportions. Habitat requirements of nymphs and adults do not vary in paurometabolous insects, a fact which helps cockroaches to thrive under a rather generalized set of environmental conditions at all stages of their lives. Cockroaches are saprophagous insects, or scavengers, feeding on a great variety of dead and decaying plant and animal matter such as leaf litter, rotting wood, and carrion, as well as live material. They are, thus, very flexible in their diet, and this flexibility allows them to exist under a wide range of conditions. In fact, the habitat types of this order span such areas as wood rat nests, grain storage silos, forest leaf litter, and nests of leaf cutter ants. They thrive in areas with moisture and warmth

Cockroaches produce oothecae, sacs in which the eggs are held and protected by secretions produced by the female. These egg sacs may be carried by the female externally until the time of hatching, or internally until the female gives birth to live young, or they may simply be deposited on a suitable substrate and left to hatch without any care from the female. Besides being rather fast runners, many cockroaches have other adaptations that allow them to escape from predation. One such defensive adaptation is the ability to produce an offensive odor which they emit when disturbed. Other species, such as the Madagascaran cockroach, Gromphadorhina laevigata, force air out through their spiracles, thus producing an intimidating hissing sound. Cockroaches are worldwide in distribution, although most of this order's approximately 4,000 species occur in the tropics. In the United States and Canada, there are some 29 different genera, and about 50 species. Most of these species occur in the southern United States. Due to their preference for moist, warm places, flexible diet, and nocturnal activity, cockroaches are very successful at living uncontrolled in human areas. Although annoying and often feared by people, they are not known to be significant disease carriers, crop pests, or agents of other large-scale damage to human areas. There are four species in North America which are common as household insects. They are the German cockroach (Blattella germanica), the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), the brown-banded cockroach (Supella longipalpa), and the oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis). The oothecae of these indoor species are often deposited on common household items such as cardboard boxes, and in this way may be transported from place to place before they actually hatch, thereby spreading to new areas. In contrast to its image as a fearsome, although relatively harmless pest, the cockroach has for many years actually benefitted humansa benefit that has resulted from its abundance and often large size. The cockroach has contributed greatly to our general understanding of physiology due to its use as a model study organism in biological research investigating nutrition, neurophysiology, and endocrinology. Medical knowledge has expanded as a result of the data gained from such studies of the cockroach

A recent survey indicated that the cockroach was the most despised creature, beating out snakes, rats, bats, and spiders. The German cockroach or Blatella germanica is consider it to be a pest because it invades where we live, eat and sleep. There are between 4,000 to 7,500 different species of roaches. Of this amount, only one percent are considered to be a pest. Some of the other more common species are: 1) Oriental Cockroach-Blatta orientalis 2) American Cockroach-Periplaneta americana 3) Brownbanded Cockroach-Supella longipalpa They have pathogens or bacteria on their bodies, but none have been known to be transmitted to humans. Their mouths are used for chewing, not biting. Most roaches are nocturnal, that is, they prefer the night and are sensitive to all forms of light except for the red spectrum. They are most active right after dusk and right before dawn. They seem to appear according to a biological clock. This activity may be a response to a genetic defense because light may indicate the presence of humans, their most dangerous predator. They prefer to live in warm, moist places and are more abundant in tropical areas. However, they can live in almost any environment and they have been found in the North and South Poles. Cockroaches are thought to be about 350 million years old, making them one of the oldest surviving creatures. They have been able to survive because of their rapid reproductive cycles and adaptability to poisons, environments, and even nuclear bombs. One of the largest is the Madagascar hissing cockroach, which has become a popular pet. Another large roach is Megaloblatta blaberoides, a resident of Central and South America. It has been measured at about 100mm long. Some roaches can fly and one has been measured to have a wing span of about one foot. Although they live in proximity to each other in crevices or harbingers, they are not social insects such as the bee, termite, or the ant. This need to keep in touch with their surroundings is called thigmotaxis. Their immunity extends to poisons, and they are known to survive decapitation. This is possible because they have two nerve centersone in the head, the other in the tail. The only way it would eventually die would be from dehydration. They can do without food for over one month, but they need water at least once a week. They will feed on all foods, grease, paint, wallpaper paste, and even bookbinding. The female will have up to forty babies at one time. Some species will mate only once and they will remain pregnant for the rest of their lives. Adults will live for an average of eight to fifteen months. Cockroaches reproduce on an average of four times per year. Females have a broader abdomen and are more rounded than the male. This constant

reproduction adds to their ability to become immune to environment changes or pesticides. The basic structure of the cockroach has, however, remained the same since the middle of the Silurian period almost 365 million years ago. The life cycle of the cockroach is from egg-nymph-adult. This cycle is called simple metamorphosis. It means that the younger nymphs look very similar to the adult and will only differ in size.
The cockroach has been around for about 350 million years! It is known to be a highly adaptable insect, able to withstand radiation in excess of what man can tolerate, and requires very little food to survive. In fact, several roaches may subsist on a thin layer of grease for months! Cockroaches prefer starchy food, but will eat anything organic, including wood, shoes, paper, glue, soap, even eyelashes. This, of course, intensifies the need for proper sanitation, especially in food establishments.

GERMAN COCKROACH

(Blattella germanica)

The German cockroach is 5/8 inches in length and is brown in color. There are two prominent black stripes running down the broad shield behind the head. Food: This nasty little guy will eat almost anything - even hair and fingernails. This insect is common in areas with access to food and water. Life cycle: The life cycle from egg to adult takes about a month, and populations can become huge if not kept under control.

American Cockroach

(Periplaneta americana,)

Identification: The American cockroach is the largest of the common periodomestic cockroaches. It is also known as the Palmetto bug or water bug. As an adult, they are dark red/mahogany in color, with a yellowish border on the pronotum. This yellowish border may make the pronotum appear to have two spots in the middle. The body is typically one and one quarter inches in length. Inspection: This cockroach is attracted to high humidity and high temperatures. They are often found in places that are consistently 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 100 percent humidity. Such areas exist in sewers, steam heating lines, pool houses, and inside food processing plants. Water leaking into ceiling voids or wall voids that are warm can also harbor large numbers. One should also look for forgotten floor drains or gaps that could lead to a main harborage. Careful monitor placement would be beneficial in finding any hidden areas.

Control: The initial step in control is to seal off or screen openings from the outside. Harborages and breeding sites can be treated with dust insecticides in many cases, depending on label restrictions. Many types of bait on the market could also be used if dust is not appropriate, or both could be used. Most bait on the market is very effective at killing these cockroaches. The problem is that they are voracious eaters and will eat much more than a lethal dose of the bait, and not leave any for other cockroaches to eat. Therefore, a large amount of bait is necessary. On occasion, particularly in warmer climates, these cockroaches will invade wall voids and ceiling voids to live and breed. Such locations are best treated by injecting the void with an appropriate insecticide after consulting the label. These voids may also need to be opened to completely eliminate the infestation. Lastly, exterior baits can have a significant impact on populations and perimeter sprays with pyrethroids can also be used to drive/repel American cockroaches from doorways or sensitive areas.
The receptor potential in the cockroach tactile spine was measured during mechanotransduction by recording from the afferent axon about 0.5 mm from the sensory ending. The receptor potential was a linear function of spine position, but its amplitude and phase varied with the mean position of the spine. This can be related to the mechanical linkage from the socket of the spine to the sensory ending. The frequency response for mechanotransduction was flat over a frequency range of 0.1 to 100 Hz, after accounting for the cable properties of the axon, and there was no evidence of adaptation. The length constant and membrane time constant of the axon were estimated to be 130 microns and 1 msec, respectively. The threshold amplitude of movement required to produce action potentials was also measured as a function of frequency. It gave a power law relationship which was exactly the inverse of the frequency response of the receptor during strong stimulation and rapid firing. This suggests that adaptation of the sensory discharge in this receptor is produced by the action potential encoding mechanism.

Adaptation controls the gain of the input-function of the cockroach's cold cell during slowly oscillating changes in temperature. When the oscillation period is long, the cold cell improves its gain for the rate of temperature change at the expense of its ability to code instantaneous temperature. When the oscillation period is brief, however, the cold cell reduces this gain and improves its sensitivity for instantaneous temperature. This type of gain control has an important function. When the cockroach ventures from under cover and into moving air, the cold cell is confronted constantly with brief changes in temperature. To be of any use, a limit in the gain for the rate of change seems to be essential. Without such a limit, the cold cell will always indicate temperature change. The decrease in gain for the rate of change involves an increase in gain for instantaneous temperature. Therefore the animal receives precise information about the temperature at which the change occurs and can seek an area of different temperature. If the cockroach ventures back under cover, the rate of change will become slow. In this situation, a high gain improves the ability to signal slow temperature changes. The cockroach receives the early warning of slow fluctuations or even creeping changes in temperature. A comparison of the cold cell's responses with

the temperature measured inside of small, cylindrical model objects indicates that coding characteristic rather than passive thermal effects of the structures enclosing the cold cell are responsible for the observed behavior.

Cockroach Behavior
Communicate by chemical trails and airborne pheromones to find resources and shelter. Emergent processes or more complex capablities are demonstrated when in groups. Swarmming for team efforts. Daily rhythms regulated by a complex set of hormonal controls referred to as Pigment Dispersing Factor. Group based decision making for resource allocation. Group dynamics have a balance between cooperation and competition.

Cockroach Adaptability

Cockroaches have a great ability to understand and adapt to their environment and have been around for about 250 million years. Breathing shallow in dry climates to save water. Run, Climb, Hide, dig, forage, communicate, working alone or in groups.

One cockroach fact that you may not like is that if you see one cockroach in your home, there are likely many more. Cockroaches tend to travel in groups, and they actually leave tracks or pheromones so that other cockroaches can find them. Allowing other cockroaches to find them helps the cockroach lifecycle continue, as there are always plenty of breeding opportunities.

Dirty Cockroach Fact

The fact is that cockroaches are dirty, it's not like they are bugs that are just ugly. Cockroaches tend to feed on old, rotting substances. These substances usually contain bacteria and even viruses and are then carried into your home. One interesting cockroach fact pertaining to the way that cockroaches spread disease is that they taste the foods and substances that they eat with their feet. Because the roach literally has to walk over the rotting substances to eat or even taste the foods, it's easy to see how bacteria may be transferred into your home.

Getting to know the cockroach

It's important to note that cockroaches are insects, and they are from the order blattodea. There are more than 3,500 species of cockroaches that belong to six different families. Cockroaches can be found in almost all parts of the world, except for those that are in Polar Regions or in elevations above 6,500 feet. While the cockroach is often considered a pest, there are only a handful that are technically pests. There are some cockroaches that are better known than others, such as the American cockroach and the German cockroach.

Cockroaches have been around for a long, long time. Many of the fossils that have been found date back to around 350 million years ago. Of course, the cockroach has evolved since then, but there is evidence that cockroaches aren't all that much different than they were then. One interesting cockroach fact is that the termite is an evolved form of the cockroach. Perhaps this is why termites are also considered unwelcome guests in any home. Many people are afraid of cockroaches because they don't want them to bite them, well one cockroach fact might give you a bit of comfort. Cockroaches are scavengers or omnivores and they typically will not dine on a live human. Cockroaches are often associated with garbage, food that has been left out, and can often be found in the kitchen. Moist, damp, dark areas tend to attract cockroaches, and they can eat just about anything. Another interesting cockroach fact is that they can survive on literally anything including the glue on stamps and envelopes, the residue on your toothbrush, and medicine!

Behavior

Cockroaches are scavenging insects that feed on almost anything that they can chew and digest. They are mostly nocturnal. Since most of them live in close proximity to human beings, they prefer to come out at night when everyone has gone to sleep and when they are less likely to be interrupted or detected while scavenging for food. Cockroaches have antennae which serve as a sort of guide in the dark and also as smell and hearing receptors.

Cockroaches facts:

Cockroaches are considered one of the most successful groups of animals, Because they are so adaptable, cockroaches have adjusted to living with humans much more readily than humans have adjusted to living with them. Cockroaches thrive in nearly every corner of the globe, despite our best attempts to eliminate them. Cockroaches can hold their breath for 40 minutes. Cockroaches have 6 legs and at least 18 knees. If a cockroach breaks a leg it can grow another one. Cockroaches spend just resting 75% of time. A headless cockroach can survive for a couple of weeks. Its life would finally end due to starvation! German cockroaches can survive for up to one month without food and two weeks without water. If a vacuum cleaner approaches from behind a cockroach, the wind goes from its head to the nozzle. It thinks the attack is from the front and it turns round and runs straight into the nozzle. If food is scarce, adolescent cockroaches can live on a very reliable resource their parents feces.

Young cockroaches need only a crack as thin as a dime (about 0.5 mm wide) to crawl into. Adult males can squeeze into a space of 1.6 mm or the thickness of a quarter. A cockroach breaks wind every 15 minutes. Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) can can run at speeds of nearly 3 km/hr (0.8 m/s). They can make up to 25 body turns in a second - the highest known rate in the animal kingdom. There are nearly 4,000 species of Cockroaches (Dictyoptera, Blattodea) in the world, of which only 25 to 30 (or less than 1%) have any pest status (i.e., American, German, Oriental, brown-banded, smoky brown, and Asian), the rest are innocent members of the Earth's fauna, some of which are clean living, nonaggressive and slow moving, and as such make great pets.

At walking speed intact cockroaches simply tapped their antennae on the arena wall, but the faster an insect moved the more time the two stayed in contact. When the researches experimented with simple antenna amputations, they found that the shorter an insect's antenna, the closer it walked to the wall at all running speeds, apparently using sensory input from other body parts, such as its legs, to glean information about its position relative to possible obstacles. And experiments with the pleat-sided arena showed that cockroaches can respond remarkably quickly - after around 29 milliseconds - to the sensory cues that their antennae deliver. Camhi and Johnson set cockroaches (whose antenna and other sensory organs they disabled in various ways) the task of negotiating their way around a circular arena with either straight or pleated sides. As the duo report in The Journal of Experimental Biology, their slightly macabre manipulations revealed that the insects navigated the space by staying close to the wall at a strikingly fixed distance and dragging their antenna along it as they went. Cockroach allergy and exposure have been reported in asthmatic children, allergic conjunctivitis and slum people in Bangkok with perennial nasal symptom and wheezing which the prevalence is increasing. This study was aimed to investigate the infestation of indoor cockroach species in some urban and rural dwellings of Thailand. Cockroaches were caught by placing commercial sticky traps for three days. They were from 33 living rooms and 38

bedrooms of 36 houses and 33 office units in Bangkok. The dominant species of urban indoor cockroaches were Periplaneta americana and Supella longipalpa which the nymphal stage was the highest. In Bangkok, houses were infested with P. americana 81.7% and S. longipalpa 18.3% where P. americana were significantly higher in living rooms than bedrooms. In contrast, offices were infested with P. americana 52.3% and S. longipalpa 47% where S. longipalpa were significantly higher than those on houses. The average cockroaches per trap from office (14.5) were higher than home (3) the monthly variation was studied in single cockroach species of the infested areas. By this trapping, the density S. longipalpa was peaked on the second month and markly declined later to reach the zero within ten months but no variation for American cockroaches. From rural dwellings of 12 provinces, five species of cockroaches were found which were P. americana, Periplaneta australasiae, Blattella germanica, Neostylopyga rhombifolia, and S. longipalpa. The most common is P. americana and the highest density was found in kitchen. Female cockroaches prefer males at the bottom of the social pecking order, and dominant males try and stop them from having their way. But when females do get the low-ranking man of their dreams, they produce fewer sons, apparently in an effort to avoid passing on his wimpishness. In the darkness, Periplaneta americana do not crash into things. This is due to the presence of their antennae. In the natural world, dodging disaster is vital if you are not going to be pounced on by predators. Now, the world champion dodger has been crowned - the cockroach Insect legs, by contrast, are designed for scurrying over rocky or uneven surfaces. To that end, University of Michigan researchers studied cockroaches, which any urban dweller knows can move with astonishing speed. The result is RHex, a six-leg robot that runs over rubble with ease, not to mention leaping obstacles and climbing stairs. RHex could be used in search-and-rescue operations, either to scout for survivors amid the rubble of disaster zones like the World Trade Center site or to bring back information from places where humans fear to tread. It is almost impossible to squish a cockroach before it shoots out of sight behind the refrigerator while it is often quite easy to zap it with the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner. It is due to the fact that the jet-propelled bug thinks with its behind. Male cockroaches transfer sperm to females in a "gift-wrapped" package called a spermatophore. Some males cover the package in a protein-rich wrapping that the female can eat to obtain nutrients to raise her young. Other scientists in Europe and America have also connected neurons to microchip circuitry and a team in Japan has been able to stimulate the muscles in a cockroach leg with electrical signals so that its movements can be controlled. Scientists claim some female cockroaches prefer weaker partners because they like gentle sex. A University of Manchester team has concluded stronger male cockroaches are too aggressive and often injure their partners. However, the

females produce fewer babies with weaker partners. The scientists studied the sex life of the Tanzanian cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea and have published their results in the science journal Nature. Scientists have actually performed brain surgery on cockroaches. Some female cockroaches mate once and are pregnant for the rest of their lives. The cockroach is able to sense minute changes in the air flowing round its body using tiny hairs on two posterior appendages called cerciand that includes your foot coming down. Signals from those hairs feed into a group of 14 vital nerve cells which process the information. The resultnow you see it, now you dont. The earliest fossil cockroach is about 280 million years old 80 million years older than the first dinosaurs! The largest known Cockroaches in the world are (largest wingspan up to 18 cm) Megaloblatta longipennis, largest body, Macropanesthia rhinocerus from Australia weighing in at up to 50 grams. While many insects use sound, the Madagascar hissing cockroach has a unique way of producing its hisses. In this insect, sound is produced by forcibly expelling air through a pair of modified abdominal spiracles. Spiracles are breathing pores which are part of the respiratory system of insects. Because the spiracles are involved in respiration, this method of sound production is more typical of the respiratory sound made by the vertebrates. In contrast, most other insects produce sound by rubbing body parts (e.g. crickets) or vibrating a membrane (e.g. cicadas). The New Zealand Y2K Readiness Commission has given new meaning to the phrase 'millennium bug'. The commission employed Ken, a computer-generated cockroach, to urge New Zealanders to hoard essential supplies in case the world ended on New Year's Eve, 1999. In the event that you found yourself starving, however, the commission helpfully included the following 'succulent' cockroach recipe in its press kit. The oldest insects on Earth are the cockroaches they date back as far as 300 million years. The researchers have found that blinded and deafened cockroaches are able to navigate completely normally, even if their average speeds were lower than their sighted and air-current-sensitive counterparts. The smallest known cockroach is Attaphilla fungicola which lives in the nests of Leaf Cutter ants of the genus Atta in North America and feeds on the fungus they farm, it is about 4 mm long. Can a cockroach survive a nuclear war? Humans can safely withstand a onetime exposure of 5 rems (A "rem" is the dosage of radiation that will cause a specific, measured amount of injury to human tissue). A lethal dose is 800 rems or more (people are exposed to about 16 rems during their lifetime). The lethal dose for the American cockroach is 67,500 rems and for the German cockroach it is between 90,000 and 105,000 rems!! In truth the amount of radiation that cockroaches can withstand is equivalent to that of a thermonuclear explosion.

Cockroaches cannot only walk fast over relatively uneven terrain, but they can also, with great skill, negotiate obstacles that exceed their body height. They have complex bodies with wings and three thoracic segments, each one with a pair of legs. There is one thoracic ganglion at each segment (i.e., prothoracic, mesothoracic, and metathoracic, see Fig. 3.2.3.2.1) controlling each pair of legs. Although both the brain and the thoracic ganglion have a large number of neurons, only around 250 neurons - a very small number - descend from the brain to the body ( Staudacher 1998). Each leg has more than seven degrees of freedom (legs and feet are deformable to various extents), some joints in the legs are very complicated and there is also an intricate set of joints in the feet.

Fig. 3.2.3.2.1. Schematic representation of cockroach anatomy. As the cockroach is climbing over an obstacle, the configuration of the middle (mesothoracic) shoulder joint is reconfigured. The region where the change is taking place is roughly marked with a red rectangle (picture courtesy Roy Ritzmann, Case Western Reserve University).

Now, how is it possible to control all these degrees of freedom with such a small number of descending neurons? In what follows, we discuss one potential solution that, although entirely hypothetical, does have a certain plausibility and it further illustrates the idea of morphological computation. Suppose that the animal is walking on the ground using its local neural circuits which account for stable forward locomotion. If it now encounters an obstacle - whose presence and approximate height it can sense by means of its antennae. The brain, rather than changing the movement pattern by evoking a different neural circuit, "re-configures" the shoulder joint (i.e., thoracic-coxa, see Fig. 3.2.3.2.2) by altering local control circuits in the thoracic ganglion. As a result, the middle legs are rotated downward so that extension now generates a rearing motion that allows it to easily place its front legs on top of the block with typical walking movements (Fig. 3.2.3.2.2 and Video 3.2.3.2.1). The local neural circuits continue doing essentially the same thing - perhaps with increased torques on the joints - but because now the configuration of the shoulder joint is different, the effect of the neural circuits on the behavior, the way in which the joints are actuated, changes (See Watson & Ritzmann 1998; Watson et al. 2002).