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The American cockroach is the
largest roach in this area. It was introduced to America from
Africa about 1625. It is quite common outdoors, and in some
commercial situations, but seldom found in the house.
A
glass or plastic container is
useful in the close study of insects. Especially for taking
pictures of the shy ones.
The
glass also allows us to get a
good look at the underside of our live specimen.
The immature cockroach has
no wings. But even the
winged adults will not fly when disturbed, they will run
for cover. The American cockroach is one of the fastest
running insects.
When disturbed, winged or not, a
roach will run for the nearest dark spot (under your shoe?).
They can squeeze into surprisingly narrow cracks. In
this case the crack was not deep enough. Continued poking
its exposed end didn't persuade it to back out and run for
different cover.
[ Taxonomy : Classification ]
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