Giant Cockroach
Blabrida blaberus
CLASS: Insecta
PHYLUM: Arthropoda
ORDER: Dictyoptera
FAMILY: Blattidae
SIZE: Up to 5.25 inches long
RANGE: Brazil and Madagascar
HABITAT: Tropical areas; avoids inhabited areas and lives secretively amid the mass of dried vegetation and worm-eaten trunks of dead trees
DIET:
Wild - An infinite variety of edible matter
Zoo - Moist cat food
DESCRIPTION:
Brazilian cockroaches have wings to escape predators.
Madagascar cockroaches have a hard-shelled exoskeleton (no wings) with a striped appearance.
By forcing air out of small holes in their exoskeleton, they make a loud hissing sound imitating a snake and thereby giving pause to any small predator.
FACTS:
Cockroaches have a bad reputation, but they are an important part of the rainforest’s food chain, breaking down plant and animal matter so that nutrients can be passed down to the soil.
They are food for many retiles, birds, and mammals.
Contrary to popular belief, they are not known to be disease carriers.
It is a nocturnal insect, and remains in inaccessible holes during the day.
Seeks food at night
Although it generally avoids inhabited areas, it has intruded on the leaf and palm thatched roofs of native houses
YOUNG:
Oviparous
Lays 24-45 eggs in an ootheca (egg capsule).
Slow larval development
The wingless larvae mold 8-10 times
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