Tonight we will talk about cockroaches. But not about the usual bored with all the inhabitants of houses and apartments, who already have everyone. This article is devoted to the incredible tropical cockroaches, which are very different to us, because they have a truly amazing appearance and do not cause disgust, but are surprising and even fun.
So, open the cockroach parade of the Perisphaerus genus. These unusual insects are from Vietnam. Cockroaches live in jungle jungle. Characteristic appearance is an unusual body shape: very convex. The purpose of convexity becomes clear when cockroaches are in danger. In the case of fear, it just turns into an armored ball, which is not so easily bitten.
The biggest cockroach in the world is the Macropanesthian rhino cockroach from Australia. Its weight can reach nearly 100 grams. However, it does not look very neat - black cuticles do not make a special impression.
At the end of the weight category is the smallest cockroach in the world - Attaphila fungicola. Their size is almost 3 mm. The babies live in the nest of leaf-cutting ants from the genus Atta and eat the mushrooms that grow there. They settled very initially: they sit in young females ready for the summer, and sit on them all the time when they do a wedding dance, buddy and find a place for new nests. Tactics, right?
The next cockroach - Microdina forceps - in the bathroom is a bug beetle. Bait on dirt and detritus, offspring are displayed in burrows excavated by men. And for these holes, they also fought, fought with growth in the prothorax. Yes, natural beetles are straight.
Due to the similarity of appearance and anatomy, cockroaches generally quite often imitate the beetle. This is Schultesia lampyridiformis cockroach. He is very much like the firefly beetle that some entomologists, who do not understand it properly, really think so. And they are very upset when he, when planted in a cage, refuses to shine at night. If you really do not understand how it can be confused with fireflies, the cockroach appearance is too typical it ...
If in the previous case there were random similarities, then there was a fairly clear mimicry. The cockroach of the genus Prsoplecta is disguised as a ladybug. And disguised well, that at first sight is not possible to distinguish. The shape and color of the body are one to one, down to the smallest detail. Birds can not distinguish this from the original bitter and disgusting.
The theme of a cockroach firefighter ... recently described another cockroach, which does not look like a firefly, but it really shines. Meet - Lucihormetica luckae. Under the cuticle cuticle the bacteria shine, similar to those living in beetles, fireflies, so that night it shines like a Christmas tree. Why am I talking about him in the past? But because, perhaps, this species no longer exists. The only specimens found were discovered in 1939 on the slopes of the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador, and after the eruption and destruction of habitat in December 2010, the cockroach was never seen again. It would be very sad if we really miss it. Ironically, this species was officially described in 2012, after it disappeared.
However, it is quite about the sad ... This species is always dead and will always die, and life and evolution continue. How do you like green banana cockroaches from the genus Panchlora? Pretty, is not it? In appearance it looks like an immature banana. It's logical, because what you eat is what you come from.
But in general the interesting species is Homalopteryx laminata. Flat, like pancakes, very flat. So many can climb into the narrowest gaps. And you can not get him out of there.
Cockroach thinkers are all so evil? Neee, among them many amazing creatures. It's amazing that they want to stay at home ... And some of them contain. In the cage and terrarium.
