What is a Cockroach?
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea and are usually referred to as "disgusting," "dirty," and "pest", just some of the words we associate with this very objectionable and unpopular insect. Cockroaches can be potential vectors of diseases such as dysentery, gastroenteritis, typhoid and poliomyelitis. They are also one of the most ancient animals on earth with the cockroach having been around for 350 million years, since the Carboniferous period, 100 times longer than humans have lived on Earth. Cockroaches come in over 4,000 different colors and sizes of species, including 60 different species known to inhabit the United States.

Cockroaches are the fastest insects on earth! They can run up to 12 feet in just one second. They live in groups and emit a pheromone that signals their body for quick growth. Cockroaches are very social and will eat anything including soap, paper, clothes, cigarette butts, coffee grinds, hair, glue, feces, human food, and sometimes even each other. Some will even eat their own cast-off skins and egg-capsules. These resilient bugs can even live for two weeks without a head because they have "brains" on their legs.

Most cockroaches are tropical, but humans have distributed them worldwide (except for the polar regions). Cockroaches are the most common insect pests infesting homes, food service establishments, and other structures. The American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus) also known as the Palmetto Bug, or Water bug, and is originally from Africa. This is the largest of the house-infesting roaches. They are most often found in restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, breweries, pet shops and other establishments where food is prepared or stored. American cockroaches usually prefer dark, damp areas such as basements, floor drains, crawl spaces, and utility closets. The German cockroach, Blattella germanica (Linnaeus) originally from Asia, is by far the most common roach found in homes and restaurants. It is very successful at establishing a niche in buildings, and is very hardy and resilient towards attempts to exterminate them.

The Giant Cave Cockroach (Blaberus giganteus) This cockroach is the largest species in it's genus and is one of the largest species of cockroaches known to man! The Giant Cave Cockroach is closely related to the cockroaches living in the Carboniferous coal forests 200 million years ago. The giant roach has been a common experimental animal in entomology labs since the early 1950's.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) are large, wingless, live-bearing cockroaches. They also produce a loud hissing sound to scare away predators that has been used as a creepy movie sound effect for many years.

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