| Uniramia |
| --Centipedes |
| --Hexapoda 1 (insects) |
| --Hexapoda 2 (insects) |
| --Insect orders |
| ----Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths) |
| ----Ephemeroptera (mayflies) |
| ----Hemiptera (bugs, cicadas) |
| ----Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps & saw flies) |
| ------Bumblebees |
| ----Coleoptera (beetles) |
| ----Dictyoptera (mantids, cockroaches) |
| ----Diptera (true flies) |
| ----Neuroptera (lacewings, ant lions) |
| ----Orthoptera (crickets, locusts) |
| ----Thysanura (bristletails, silver fish) |
| ----Strepsiptera (stylops) |
| ----Thysanoptera (thrips) |
| ----Odonata (dragonflies, damselflies) |
| ----Trichoptera (caddis flies) |
| ----Siphonaptera (fleas) |
| ----Isoptera (termites) |
| ----Phasmida (stick & leaf insects) |
| ----Dermaptera (earwigs) |
| ----Anoplura/siphunculata (sucking lice) |
| ----Mallophaga (biting lice, bird lice) |
| ----Psocoptera (book lice) |
| ----Mecoptera (scorpion flies) |
| ----Collembola (springtail) |
| ----Embioptera (web spinners) |
| ----Plecoptera (stone flies) |
| ----Diplura (bristletails) |
| ----Protura |
| ----Zoraptera |
|
Dictyoptera fast facts |
Large
or medium sized insects.
They can be separated into two sub orders, Blattodea (cockroaches), and Mantodea (mantids).
They have two
pairs of wings, but the front pair is leathery and held flat over the body when
at rest.
The antennae are long, and may be longer than the entire body length.
Cerci (two small appendages sticking
out of the rear of the insect) are visible, and the hairs on the cercus are
very sensitive to air movement in cockroaches, which explains why it is almost
impossible to catch them.
Biting mouthparts.
Cockroaches about 4000 species worldwide, 130 in Europe, 9 in British Isles, but only 3 are native. Mainly nocturnal and omnivorous. Mantids about 2000 species worldwide, mainly tropical about 12 species reach Southern Europe. |
|
Mantids
Are also called
praying mantis can be easily distinguished from the cockroaches by their
strongly-spined raptorial front legs, and their long, narrow prothorax which
forms a moveable neck. All mantids are carnivorous and use their front legs to
catch their food. They will eat whatever they can hold on to, and even the very
hardest parts of some beetles and wasps pose no problem to their very strong
jaws which just keep munching through hard and soft parts. Male mantids are
usually smaller than the female, and may end up as a post-coital meal for the
female, but this occurs more often in captivity than in the wild. The eggs are
laid in oothecae (egg cases). The egg case and eggs are pumped out of the
abdomen as a frothy substance. This hardens on contact with the air to a tough
material. On the left you can see a female next to the egg case she has just
attached to some twigs. During her lifetime a healthy, well-fed female can
produce a dozen or more oothecae. When the young hatch they resemble small
worms, but soon moult into small versions of the adult form. When kept in
captivity mantids should be separated as soon as they hatch or else each cage
will soon contain just one well-fed mantid! In captivity they can be fed on
flies or crickets or anything that moves. I have even had one attempt to dine
off my finger in preference to the small, juicy fly I was tempting it
with.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches have been in existence for over 350 million years (since the Devonian).There are over 4000 species world wide, 130 species in Europe. 3 species are native to the British Isles, other cockroaches were introduced to the UK from warmer countries, probably arriving in cargo carried in ships. They are omnivorous scavengers and will eat almost anything (sometimes even cannibalistic), and active mainly at night. They are considered pests of stored produce because, although they eat only a little, they contaminate large quantities which take on a characteristic smell and have to be thrown away. Also they can be carriers of diseases spread by viruses and bacteria.
They are often mistaken for beetles, and the common cockroach (Blatta orientalis below left and right), which was introduced to the UK in the 16th century, is also known as the
|

Above is a cockroach ootheca, or egg purse of Blatta orientalis showing how the eggs are arranged inside. There are usually around 16 eggs inside, and a female can lay up to 9 of these in her lifetime. When the eggs hatch they look like little worms, but very soon they moult to resemble a smaller version of the adult. The Nymphs moult 6 - 10 times before reaching adulthood. |
blackbeetle. The adults are a shiny dark brown. The male has wings which reach about 2/3 of the way down his body (see right) and can fly. The female (below left) has tiny wing buds or lobes and is unable to fly.
Survival specialists. They are hardy animals and the cockroaches that invade houses can survive for a month without food or water, two months on water alone, and 5 months on dry food. They can withstand a certain amount of freezing. 100 times the amount of radiation a human can endure. Humans lose consciousness at 12 gs (12 times the pull of gravity), but a cockroach can withstand 126 gs!
They have biting jaws and long, filamentous antennae. Those with fully formed wings can fly, but do so rarely. They have long legs and can run fast, and their cerci at the rear of the abdomen have hairs very sensitive to air movements making it very difficult to catch them from behind.
|
 |
|