American cockroach
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| American cockroach |
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| Scientific Classification |
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| Binomial Name |
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Periplaneta americana |
| Image Description |
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Contents |
Introduction
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Anatomy
Periplaneta americana, or the American Cockroach, is the largest and most widespread of all North American cockroaches, the biggest reaching 44mm in length. It is usually dark reddish brown with a pale peripheral band around the pronotum. Most adults of this species have large wings, but do not often choose to fly. The nymphs of this species are wingless. The body is divided into the head, thorax, and abdomen. The head is inconspicuous when looked at from above, but the thorax a much larger. Most of the thorax and the entire abdomen are hidden by their wings. They have six pairs of similar, strong, spiny legs.
You can see very little of the head from the dorsal view, but when you flip the species onto its ventral surface, you get a clear view of the head. The head is flattened and more or less pear shaped with mouth parts extending from the narrow end of the head. This species has unspecialized mouth parts, used for only biting and chewing. The head can be retracted beneath the prothorax.
The thorax is specialized for locomotion and bears three pairs of legs and, in adults, two pairs of wings and contains the muscles to operate them. It is the middle part of the body and consists of the anterior prothorax, middle mesothorax, and posterior metathorax. The prothorax is the only part that is able to be seen from the dorsal view. In ventral view they can all be easily seen and recognized by the pair of walking legs attached to each.
The abdomen is the largest of the three parts. Its segmentation is conspicuous dorsally and ventrally once the wings have been removed. The abdomen has11 segments of which the 11th is reduced and fused with the 10th so that a maximum of ten segments are distinct and visible. Some of the segments, especially in females, are modified or in unexpected locations and are not immediately visible and countable.
Reproduction
Ecology
Other
Gallery
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References
- Species Periplaneta americana - American Cockroach by Bugguide. Iowa State University Entomology.
- Invertabrate Anatomy online - Periplaneta americana Richard Fox, Lander University, June 30, 2006.
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- reference title author, publisher, date.
References
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