ATTUNED ANIMALS
The pair of antennae smells and tastes, while the eyes see well at night, as this is the time when the cockroach comes out of hiding in search of food. As they are omnivorous (they eat everything, even carrion), they have a toothy mouth and strong jaws.
WOW, WHAT THIGHS
The legs are divided into three pairs: the two largest propel the cockroach forward, while the smallest, close to the head, takes care of braking at high speeds. Cockroaches can reach 3 km/h, which is equivalent to traveling almost 1 m in a second!
HOLE BREATH
The cascudas pull in and eliminate air through small holes scattered throughout the body, the spiracles. Inside, the oxygen travels through the tubes until it reaches the tissues. Unlike humans, they don’t use blood to transport O2
WINGED AND DANGEROUS
The first pair of parchment-textured wings cover another, thin and flexible. In males, the wings usually go beyond the end of the abdomen and, in females, they are the same size as the body. Some species do not have wings – they are wingless
ALERT COCKROACH
Cockroaches have small hairs on their abdomen called cerci, which sense air movement, letting you know when an enemy is approaching. In milliseconds, they trigger the animal’s legs, which manages to flee quickly.
ROTTEN INSIDE
It may sound strange, but the exterior of cockroaches is extremely clean. The dirt is inside, more precisely in the digestive system. That’s where viruses and bacteria are, which are expelled in the poop and can cause infections, allergies, worms and mycoses.
phase cockroach
The rapid life cycle of the cascuda has three levels: inside the ootheca, as a nymph and transformed into an adult cockroach.
OOTHECA
In its two years of life, Periplaneta americana generates up to 20 litters. In each one, it produces a bag with up to 20 eggs.
NYMPH
Stored in crevices or behind furniture, each egg will give rise to a nymph. This young cockroach will shed its skin several times before becoming an adult.
ADULT
The sizes vary: the Periplaneta americana, for example, reaches 4 cm, while the Brazilian Megaloblatta regina is up to 10 cm.
cheap myths
severed head
Yes, they really can live without a head for up to a month and only clap their paws due to thirst! Because cockroaches don’t breathe through their mouths, they don’t die from lack of air, and because they have low blood pressure, they don’t die from hemorrhaging.
UPSIDE DOWN
Some insecticides attack the nervous system of the cascuda and generate spasms that make it turn on its back. Dizzy and with nowhere to grab, she languishes with no options for rescue.
ANTIATOMIC PEEL
The story that cockroaches would survive a nuclear explosion is true: they can withstand ten times more radiation than humans. But, close to the center of the explosion, they die disintegrated anyway.
• Quit being a pig, boy! Cockroaches can gnaw at the corner of your mouth or the cuticle of your fingers in search of food scraps.
• In this article, we analyze the body of the species Periplaneta americana, the most common in Brazil
• Watch out for the beer glass. Cockroaches are attracted by the smell of barley, especially when the drink is in the process of decomposition.
• There are 200 cockroaches for every inhabitant of Greater São Paulo, according to a survey by the National Institute of Biological Research
SOURCES Sérgio Bocalini, biologist specializing in urban entomology and executive vice-president of the Association of Urban Pest Controllers (Aprag); Elisabete Goeldner, biologist at the State Institute of the Environment of Rio de Janeiro (Inea-RJ); Joseph Kunkel, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
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