Cockroach
(Periplaneta americana)
Dr. Amardeep Kumar Shah
MBBS, Patan Hospital (PAHS)
Medical Officer, 8th level
Systematic Position
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Class: Insecta
• Genus: Periplaneta
• Species: P. americana
• Common name: Cockroach
Cockroach
Habit and Habitat
• Found in dark and moist areas of houses where foods and leftovers are available like kitchen,
store-rooms
• Nocturnal in habit - active during night time
• During day-time, hides in the small crevices
• Harmful insects as they contaminate foodstuffs, defecate wherever and damage books, clothes,
etc.
Geographical Distribution
• World wide in distribution; exist all over the world
• Normally found in tropical areas and more prevalent in warm weather
Morphology of Adult Cockroach
• Red-brown in colour
• Bilaterally symmetrical and
dorsoventrally flattened body
• Measures upto 4 cm in length
• Body is protected with chitinous
exoskeleton
• Divisible into three parts:
• Head
• Thorax
• Abdomen
i. Head:
• Triangular in shape
• Attached to thorax with a narrow constriction known
as cervicum
• Head bears a pair of compound eyes and a pair of
antenna
• Antennae are long and slendrical structures - sensory
in function
• Mouth is located ventrally at tip of head and consists of
mouth parts like mandibles, maxillae, labrum, labium
and hypopharynx forming a 'biting and chewing type'
ii. Thorax:
• Head is followed by thorax, which is a broad, flat and segmented
part of the body
• Consists of three segments: prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax
• Each of them bears a pair of jointed appendages having nine
segments
• These are walking legs
• Two pairs of wings are developed from mesothorax and metathorax
• The forewings developed from mesothorax known as tegmina are
dark, leathery and opaque in nature
• They cover the body as protective layer and they are not normally
used in flying
• The hind-wings developed from metathorax are strong and
membranous - are used to fly
iii. Abdomen:
• Posteriormost part of the body
• Large, broad and flat made of 10 segments
• Posterior segments are closely folded one inside another
• Various anal and genital structures are located in this part
• This region showing a remarkable sexual dimorphism
• In males, 8th segment is overlapped by 7th segment; while
in females, both 8th and 9th segments are overlapped by
7th segment
• In males, the 9th segment of abdomen bears a pair of anal
style and 10th segment bears a pair of jointed anal cerci;
while in females, anal styles are absent and only anal cerci
are present
Male cockroach Female cockroach
• Smaller than female • Larger than male
• Has a slendrical abdomen and the last • Has a stout abdomen and the last abdominal
abdominal segment is pointed segment is blunt
• Wings of males are larger than females and • Wings of females are shorter than males and
extend beyond the abdomen hardly extend upto abdomen
• Antennae of males are smaller than females • Antennae of females are longer than males
• Among ten segments of abdomen, 8th segment • Among ten segments of abdomen, both 8th and
is overlapped by 7th segment 9th segments are overlapped by 7th segment
• The 9th segment of abdomen bears a pair of • Anal styles are absent in female, only anal cerci
anal style and 10th segment bears a pair of are present.
jointed anal cerci
Life Cycle of Cockroach
• Active during warm days
• Breeds from March to September
• During breeding season, sexually matured males locate females with the help of a peculiar
pheremones produced by fertile females
• React by vibrating the hind wings and raising the fore-wings at an angle of 45-90degrees
• During copulation, they turn opposite to each other so as to lay their anal regions in
contact
• Male inserts its genital papilla into gonopore of female and they are bonded for about an
hour
i. Eggs:
• After copulation, female lays eggs enclosed in a bag like structure known as ootheca
• Each ootheca consists of about 16 eggs arranged in two rows
ii. Nymphs:
• Fertilized eggs develop into nymphs within 30-90 days of fertilization and they hatch out
by rupturing ootheca.
• Look similar to adults except size and wings
iii. Adults:
• Nymphs gradually develop into sexually matured adults through 10 to 12 successive
moults within 10 to 16 months
Diseases Due to Cockroach
• Acts as a carrier for many pathogenic organisms responsible for
diseases like typhoid, polio, dysentery, cholera, laprosy, plague,
gastroenteritis etc.
Control Measures
• Maintainence of personal hygiene and sanitation
• Spraying of 1% liquid Malathion, 0.5% Diazinon and use of other
insecticides like Organochlorines, Organophosphorous, and Chloradane, etc
• Use of dust of Sodium fluoride
• Destruction of breeding and hiding places by filling crakes, crivices, holes,
and screening of drainage pipes
• Public awareness about diseases due to cockroaches
