The Importance of Cockroaches

Authors: Cardoso da Silva LDO*

DOI: 10.23880/izab-16000183

Volume 2, Issue 5

Abstract

Cockroaches, including termites from epifamily Termitoidea (order Blattodea), have the second largest number of species compared to other Polyneoptera, approximately 7,570 described species, of which 4,641 are cockroaches [1]. Linnaeus, et al. [2] considered cockroaches within the order Coleoptera, in a single genus called Blatta, which in Latin means bookworm. The same author added that cockroaches in Russia and Finland consume bread as well as clothing, forcing residents to leave their homes and return only in the middle of winter, when cockroaches perish from the cold [3]. According to the authors, perhaps this is why cockroaches are popularly referred to as pests, but these insects are not as malignant as they are portrayed in movies, magazines, and the popular imagination. In fact cockroaches do better than we think.

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