The largest cockroaches in the world: top 10 giants with photographs

As a rule, many people dislike cockroaches, and as soon as someone notices them in their kitchen, they immediately begin to spray all kinds of chemicals. And we are talking about simple red cockroaches, which everyone has seen at least once in their life.

But there are a huge number of insects of this species. And their sizes reach incredible numbers. Thus, the largest cockroach is comparable in size to a mouse and, surprisingly, they are voluntarily brought into the house and raised.

In our article you will find information about the largest cockroaches in the world and see their impressive photos.

Black cockroach, 2-3 cm

The average length of males is 2.5 centimeters, and females can reach 3 centimeters. In appearance they resemble ordinary red cockroaches. But their peculiarity and distinctive feature is their size and glossy surface.

Most often they are black, but they can also be brown. In general, this species of cockroaches does not fly, but sometimes they use undeveloped wings to attract a male or female. You can only take off a couple of centimeters.

It is very difficult to meet them on a wall or ceiling; due to their weight, they prefer to move on the floor. The black cockroach outdoors , but prefers to do this in more greenhouse conditions.

How do they reproduce?

Just like any domestic cockroaches, the inhabitants of Australia reproduce sexually. A special role here is played by the ootheca, where the female lays her eggs after fertilization. Reproduction does not occur too often, and in one year from 20 to 40 nymphs are born. Based on the fact that the lifespan of an adult can reach up to 10 years, their full development ends only after 3-4 years. During this time, insects acquire reproductive organs, noticeably increase in size and molt several times, shedding the old chitinous cover.

In general, this species is characterized by an incomplete type of transformation. Those. The larvae are born not similar to their parents, and only after each molt do they acquire more and more similar external characteristics. Female rhinoceros cockroaches spend quite a long time with their offspring. Up to 9 months they teach them basic skills, and in the evenings they bring fallen leaves for dinner.

Marbled cockroach, 2.5-3 cm

This is a versatile insect that can survive in any conditions, but prefers warmer temperatures. They are often bred and kept at home. By the way, they say that if a marbled cockroach escapes from a container or jar, then it will not stay in the house for a long time. They eat absolutely everything, but when they are full they become more or less picky about what they eat. They reach a length of 2.5-3 centimeters.

Description of the animal

If you look at the Indian rhinoceros from a distance, you get the impression that the animal is very clumsy. But in fact, the mammal is quite mobile and has excellent reactions.

If danger arises, the rhinoceros can reach speeds of up to 40 km/h. He also has excellent hearing and sense of smell. The only thing that let me down was my vision.

What does it look like

The Indian rhinoceros is a huge animal, weighing up to two and a half tons. The height of an adult male is 2 m, the female is slightly lower.

Representatives of the species have one horn on their heads. This is the main distinguishing feature. Its length ranges from 25 to 60 cm. In females, most often it is a small formation that takes the form of a small bump.

The body is covered with bare skin, gray-pink in color. Most often it is impossible to see the color because the animal is constantly bathing in mud. The skin has large folds, and the appearance vaguely resembles a shell. The eyes are small. There are small tassels on the ears and tail.

There are three toes on each foot. They leave peculiar three-fingered tracks that resemble one of the card suits. Legs are straight. This anatomical design prevents the limbs from bending under enormous weight.

Character and lifestyle

The voice is expressionless. Rhinoceroses make snoring or grunting noises. If danger arises, you can hear a real roar. Despite the fact that the animals look peaceful, rhinoceroses are actually very aggressive. In case of danger, they can even attack a large elephant.

When the male begins to pursue the enemy, it is not possible to escape from him. Characteristics of witnesses suggest that violent outbursts are often not justified. For this reason, approaching the animal is strictly not recommended.

When an animal begins to attack a victim, it does not use its horn. For an attack, the incisors of the lower jaw are enough for him. In a short period of time, he is capable of inflicting a large number of deep wounds and cutting the flesh of the victim.

What do they eat?

The animals are vegetarians and feed on young shoots of elephant grass, reeds and other plants that grow near water. The animal tears off the growth with its keratinized upper lip.

Rhinos prefer to feed in the morning, before the heat sets in, or late in the evening. During the day, when the ambient temperature is too high, they prefer to spend time in puddles or other bodies of water that contain a lot of silt and dirt. It is in such swampy areas that rhinoceroses live, since there is a lot of vegetation that is suitable for eating.

Where do they live?

Animals prefer to lead a solitary lifestyle. One individual occupies about 4 km2. They prefer places with natural bodies of water, such as small ponds or puddles with a muddy bottom. It also often lives on the banks of large bodies of water.

Males mark their territory with huge piles of dung. The great Indian rhinoceros can swim, and often swims across the river if it wants to get to the other side.

The habitat is always marked with trails. Among them there are public ones, with the help of which you can get into the mud bath. There are also individual paths, each of which is jealously protected by the owner.

Reproduction

The female is capable of conceiving a cub at the age of three or four years. It takes seven to nine years for a male to reach sexual maturity. Rutting in females occurs once every 45 days. At this time, the female begins to pursue the male.

The embryo develops over 16-17 months. The weight of a newborn cub reaches 65 kg. The baby's skin is very soft, pink and has many folds and outgrowths.

The horn grows a little later. The life expectancy of representatives of the species in the zoo is 70 years. But under natural conditions, Indian rhinoceroses live less. The species is on the verge of extinction.

Natural enemies

There are no animals in the wild that can kill an adult Indian rhinoceros. Even a tiger cannot survive a fight with an adult. Even an elephant prefers to get out of the way of an angry male.

Representatives of the species suffer from parasites. Most often these are worms, lice and ticks. Skin parasites become food for birds, which often peck insects while “riding” on huge animals.

Turtle cockroach, 2.5 -4 cm

This is a family of cockroaches whose length reaches 4 centimeters. As a rule, everyone is accustomed to considering the presence of cockroaches a sign of unsanitary conditions. But these round insects are highly valued because they have a beneficial effect on health.

They are found in eastern countries and do not cause any hostility among the inhabitants. Most often they are born wingless, but there are exceptions.

If a turtle cockroach has settled in your apartment, then you can be sure that he is far from alone there. They always gather in large flocks and quickly scatter into dark corners if they are noticed. This scene is like a horror movie. Getting rid of these insects at home can be very difficult.

What does rhea eat?

Photo: Rhea ostrich

Rheas eat anything they can grab and swallow. But the basis of their diet (more than 99%) is still plant foods.

They are eating:

leaves of dicotyledonous (usually) plants, both native and introduced from the families Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Bignonaceae, Brassicas, Leguminosae, Lamiaceae, Myrtleaceae and Solanaceae, can be eaten by thorns, which are avoided by sheep;
dry and juicy fruits, seasonal seeds;
tubers;
grains in the fields or eucalyptus leaves on plantations are eaten only occasionally, which partly saves them from the wrath of farmers;
invertebrates, making up 0.1% of the diet, and young animals like such food more than adults;
vertebrates, which make up less than 0.1% of the diet.

To grind and better digest plant food, the bird needs pebbles, preferably pebbles, but at the same time the rhea, like the African ostrich, swallows various shiny objects made of metal and other materials.

American cockroach, 5 cm

This is one of the most popular cockroaches. The most memorable thing about him is the wings that grow on his back to the envy of the elves. A flying cockroach measuring 5 centimeters in size is far from the dream of residents of small apartments or houses.

The American cockroach is much older than the dinosaurs and has not changed much over the years. This species owes such a long life to its unpretentiousness. It's about food. Many sighted creatures need certain substances to maintain good vision, but this fact has escaped the American cockroaches.

They may not receive important components for several years and can see well in the dark. For many scientists, these cockroaches are a real mystery, so they are still being studied very carefully.

Why is a bite dangerous?

Outwardly, an insect bite does not look dangerous, but in fact it is. The body of an insect crawling in a variety of places is covered with dust and harmful bacteria, which may even include tuberculosis and dysentery bacteria. Having bitten a person, the insect transfers these bacteria to the body of an adult or child, causing an infectious disease.

Due to the tropomyosin protein contained in various insect secretions, many people, after being bitten by a red cockroach, experience an allergic reaction, skin irritation and itching. Such a bite can cause the development of hives, which has the following symptoms: a large number of pale pink blisters appear, the skin at the site of the bite itches and itches. Moreover, ulcers that appear at the site of the bite do not always heal quickly and without problems.

People who have been bitten during illness have a weakened body and wound healing is more difficult. In this case, a scar may appear on the skin, and the wounds themselves sometimes take on the character of a chronic disease. There are also known cases of an asthma attack that began after a cockroach bite.

After an American cockroach bite, multiple ulcers appear on the skin, which can then turn into ulcers that are chronic and difficult to cure.

Tiger Madagascar cockroach, 6-7 cm

This insect is most often grown at home. The body length of the Madagascar cockroach is 6-7 centimeters, males are slightly wider than females. They live in Madagascar in arid tropical forests. They prefer rotting fruits and other decaying vegetation as food.

At home, they should be kept in large terrariums with a lid. Moreover, the size of the terrarium completely affects the reproduction rate. You should not place more than one male for several females in one container. It is better to feed with juicy fruits and do not forget about the beneficial substances that the body needs.

Range, habitats

Black rhinoceroses are typical inhabitants of dry landscapes, tied to a specific habitat area that does not leave throughout their lives. The most numerous subspecies, D. bicornis minor, inhabits the southeastern part of its range, including Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and the northeastern part of South Africa. The type subspecies D. bicornis bicornis is an adherent of the drier regions of the southwest and northeast of its range in Namibia, South Africa and Angola, and the eastern subspecies D. bicornis michaeli is found mainly in Tanzania.

The distribution range of the white rhinoceros is represented by two areas remote from each other. The first (southern subspecies) lives in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The habitat of the northern subspecies is represented by the northern and northeastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

The Indian rhinoceros spends most of its time alone, in an individual area. Currently found exclusively in southern Pakistan, Nepal and eastern India, a small number of animals remain in the northern territories of Bangladesh.

Everywhere, with rare exceptions, representatives of the species live in strictly protected and sufficient areas. The Indian rhinoceros is a very good swimmer, so there are cases when such a large animal swam across the wide Brahmaputra.

Previously, representatives of the Sumatran rhinoceros species inhabited tropical rainforests and swampy areas in Assam, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and were also found in China and Indonesia. Today, Sumatran rhinos are on the verge of extinction, with only six viable populations remaining in Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula.

The typical habitats of the Javan rhinoceros are tropical lowland forests, as well as wet grasslands and river floodplains. Some time ago, the distribution area of this species included the entire mainland of Southeast Asia, the territory of the Greater Sunda Islands, the southeastern part of India and the extreme zones of southern China. Today, the animal can be seen exclusively in the Ujung-Kulon National Park.

5. Megaloblatta longipennis, 7.5 cm

This cockroach is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for its wings. Of all the cockroaches, only it has a wingspan of 20 centimeters, while its body length is 6-7.5 centimeters. Lives mainly in Ecuador and Panama. The most famous female , Megaloblatta longipennis, grew to 10 centimeters in length and almost 5 centimeters in width.

Reproduction

Female with cubs.

To attract a female, the male tries to hiss loudly. Its long whiskers serve as pheromone receptors. Therefore, when two males fight for a female, they first of all try to leave the opponent without a mustache.

Fertilized females carry a pregnancy for 50-70 days, newborn larvae are white in color and 2-3 millimeters in length. At one time, a female can produce up to 25 larvae. The babies stay with their mother for several days, and then begin an independent life.

Giant forest cockroach, 7-8 cm

We are approaching the top three largest cockroaches in the world. The top opens with the Giant Forest Cockroach , also known as the Archimandry. Its length reaches 7-8 centimeters. It has an unusual cream color with a dark interwing stripe.

It flies well thanks to its huge long wings. During courtship, the male raises his wings and shakes his whole body, it looks very impressive.

If you are going to keep them at home, then it is worth remembering that they are very accustomed to space, so they need to create a voluminous space both in width and height. They should be handled with extreme caution. A sharply caught insect can sting painfully or even bite.

Population and species status

Photo: Rhea ostrich

According to the IUCN Red List, the great rhea in its homeland has the status of a “near vulnerable” species, that is, so far nothing threatens it, but in Argentina in 1981 a decision was made to protect it. Taking into account all subspecies, it occupies a vast range of 6,540,000 km2. This area is gradually shrinking due to development by farmers, especially in Argentina and Uruguay, but the process does not yet look threatening.

The birds themselves are sometimes destroyed for eating vegetables (cabbage, chard, soybeans and bok choy). This is not their main food and is used only for lack of anything better, but this does not make it any easier for the affected farmers and they shoot the “harmful” birds. Egg collection, stubble burning and pesticide spraying reduce numbers. But the uncontrollably growing German population poses a potential danger to the local fauna and causes concern among environmentalists.

The small rhea, according to the IUCN, in the south of the continent does not need the supervision of conservationists. Only its isolated population (the so-called “Tarapac rhea”) has the status “close to vulnerable”, which is initially insignificant and numbers 1000–2500 adult individuals. The population is located in the territories of three national parks, which is a good measure of protection from egg collection and hunting. However, in Chile, the small rhea is fully classified as a “vulnerable species” and is protected everywhere.

Rhea has good prospects. Not just to preserve, but to thrive. These birds are easily domesticated, and there are many rhea farms around the world. Perhaps they will appear or already exist in our country along with ostriches. After all, keeping a rhea is no more difficult than keeping African ostriches or emus. Cultivated animal breeding not only preserves wild populations, but is often used to replenish and restore them.

Australian rhinoceros cockroach, 8-10 cm

The well-known Australian rhinoceros cockroach has another name - giant burrowing cockroach . It is not the largest in the world, second in size only to one cockroach, but it is the heaviest.

With a length of 8 centimeters, its weight is 35 grams. He has no wings. The head is very large with small eyes. The paws are massive with sharp needles. It was first discovered in Australia and today it can be found there. Also found in North Queensland.

This insect digs itself deep and long tunnels in the leaf litter. So they immediately build themselves a home and food. They live for about 10 years and are the longest-living insects.

It is often kept at home, because it loves cleanliness very much and does not have a nasty smell. In the aquarium he behaves calmly and does not try to escape, but it is important to create comfortable living conditions for him. For example, they love to dig everything, which is why they got that name.

A female cockroach can lay up to thirty larvae, each of which will subsequently spend at least nine months with the mother, until the insects are able to dig their own shelters.

External signs of insects

Australian cockroaches are considered one of the largest insects. The body length of an adult female reaches about 8 cm, and the weight is at least 35 grams. An ordinary sparrow weighs approximately the same, whose body length is twice as long - 16 cm. A distinctive characteristic of this species is the absence of wings at all stages of development. On the powerful paws you can see a scattering of special spikes. With their help, the insect is fixed on the surface and easily overcomes any inclination.

Visually, these exotic creatures have nothing in common with the familiar Prussians or their other brothers. For example, black domestic cockroaches have a standard body structure and unremarkable appearance. Australians, on the contrary, are significantly different from them. To some extent, looking at them, the thought does not even creep in that these are representatives of the same genus. The latter have a very powerful and wide body. The color cannot be described in one word: depending on the lighting, it can vary from chocolate to burgundy brown. Females differ from males by the presence of an additional segment on the abdomen. The mustache plays the role of the most important organ of the whole body, performing a tactile function. The head is small, covered on top with a massive shield.

Madagascar hissing, 6-10 cm

Some people consider this insect to be a real monster, while others happily grow it at home in an aquarium. The temperament of this cockroach is very unfriendly, and combined with hard wings, it becomes a completely unkind pet.

from the Madagascar hissing cockroach , but they are still bought quite often. They reach a length of 10 centimeters in adulthood. It's about the size of a small mouse. Therefore, this cockroach tops our list of the largest in the world.

His homeland is Madagascar. It is there that he moves freely along the leaves of trees in the dark. It is not expensive to keep such a giant; they are omnivores, so they happily eat various vegetables, fruits and herbs. But if you purchased more than 30 pieces, then you will need a large terrarium with a lid.

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[edit] Literature

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Semenov-Tyan-Shansky A.P. and S.I. Medvedev. 1932. Rhinoceros beetles of the Russian and (Oryctes Ill.) Central Asian faunas (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). (With 5 tables). Every year. Zool. Museum of the USSR Academy of Sciences: 481-502, fig. 1-27.
Edmund Reitter: Fauna Germanica. Die Käfer des deutschen Reiches. Stuttgart: KG Lutz, 1909. Band II. S. 469.
Big Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2000.
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Links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Periplaneta australasiae
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Wikispecies has information related to Periplaneta australasiae
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"Synonyms of the Australian cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae)". Encyclopedia of Life
. Retrieved January 2, 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
^ ab Fuhrman, Dean Philip; Catts, E. Paul (1982). A Guide to Medical Entomology. CUP Archive. paragraph 37. ISBN 978-0-521-29920-6.
^ ab Hill, Dennis S. (September 30, 2002). Pests of stored food products and their control. Springer. paragraph 145. ISBN 978-1-4020-0736-1.
Hebard, Morgan (1917). "Blattidae of North America north of the Mexican border". Memoirs of the American Entomological Society
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"Periplaneta australasiae (Fabricius)". Organization of the Commonwealth of Scientific and Industrial Research. November 11, 2004. Retrieved July 24, 2010. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
Rentz, David (2014). A Guide to the Cockroaches of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 9780643103207.

Life activity

The lifespan of giants is 1.5–2 years. Some subspecies live 4–5 years.

Under natural conditions, large insects consume organic food. Therefore, experts recommend periodically introducing it into the diet. Additionally, they are fed with berries, leaves and fruits.

Giant horned cockroaches are classified as viviparous insects. The duration of pregnancy is 2 months. After this, larvae appear, which are white in color. About 50 larvae are born at a time.

Giant horned cockroaches do not abandon offspring. They teach, show, prepare for adult life. It is not necessary to remove parents, as they protect their offspring. Small individuals are moved to a shelter in order to protect them.