Giant burrowing cockroach facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Giant burrowing cockroach |
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The giant burrowing cockroach is also called the rhinoceros cockroach or Queensland giant cockroach. These amazing insects live in Australia, mostly in the warm, wet parts of Queensland. They are the heaviest type of cockroach in the world! An adult can weigh up to 30-35 grams and grow to about 7.5 to 8 centimeters long.
Unlike some other cockroaches, the giant burrowing cockroach does not have wings. It is not considered a pest. This special cockroach helps the ecosystem by eating dead leaves, especially eucalyptus leaves. It also helps recycle other natural materials. They dig deep burrows, sometimes up to 1 meter underground. These burrows are their permanent homes. They store and eat dry leaves there. The giant burrowing cockroach is the only cockroach known to have permanent homes underground.
This cockroach is quite popular in Brisbane. Many people even keep them as pets!
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About the Giant Burrowing Cockroach
You can easily spot a giant burrowing cockroach because of its large size and weight. An adult can be over 60 millimeters long, sometimes even up to 80 millimeters. They can weigh as much as 30 to 35 grams.
Their pronotum is a big, plate-like part that covers the first section of their body. It has small bumps on the sides and can be wider than 15 millimeters. This pronotum helps them dig, acting like a shovel. Their spiny legs, called tibiae, also help them burrow into the ground. These cockroaches are very good at digging. They have strong back legs and tough body armor. This armor helps protect them from animals that might want to eat them.
The giant burrowing cockroach is one of the few native Australian cockroaches that does not have wings. This means they cannot fly or move very fast. They are also nocturnal, meaning they are active at night.
How to Tell Males and Females Apart
Adult male and female cockroaches look a bit different. Males have a much bigger "scoop" on their pronotum, which is the part covering their head. Females have a smaller scoop.
These cockroaches grow by molting their skin several times. When a cockroach molts, it looks pure white, except for its eyes. After molting, their new skin hardens and turns dark brown. In captivity, these cockroaches can live for up to ten years. You might see adult males more often than females.
Young Cockroaches: Nymphs
Like other insects that grow without a pupa stage, young giant burrowing cockroaches are called nymphs. When they are first born, nymphs are creamy white. But they quickly turn a reddish-brown color. Both adult males and females are dark brown.
Nymphs stay with their mothers for about five to seven months. During this time, the mother brings them food and takes care of them.
Where They Live: Distribution and Habitat
Giant burrowing cockroaches are mostly found in Queensland, Australia. You can often find them along the coast between Rockhampton and Cooktown. They also live on the Whitsundays.
These cockroaches build burrows that can go up to one meter deep underground. This is where they store their food and live all the time. The depth of their burrows can change depending on the type of soil. Some burrows are only about 10 centimeters deep, while others are 100 centimeters deep.
They are common in dry Eucalyptus woodlands in northeastern Australia. There are 18 known groups of these cockroaches across subtropical Queensland. They have a wide living area compared to other burrowing cockroaches, stretching over a thousand kilometers. You can find them in both dry and wet parts of Australia. Dry areas include Maiden Springs and Alpha. Wet areas include Cooktown and Magnetic Island. Places in between include Coen and Mount Garnet.
Sometimes, groups of these cockroaches are separated by areas with unsuitable soil or by water. They usually prefer the drier savanna areas west of the Great Dividing Range. The most common places they live are Eucalyptus woodlands and grassy areas.
Cockroach Behavior
Giant burrowing cockroaches live permanently in their underground burrows. They often come to the surface when it rains, especially during summer. During the dry season, they stay in their burrows and eat the leaves they have collected. They mostly eat dry, decaying eucalyptus leaves. They also bring bark and dry grass into their burrows to compost the leaves.
Their burrows are often made of grass, tree roots, and leaves. The entrance to a cockroach burrow looks like a flattened half-circle. You can spot burrows when the cockroach has been active, but they are often covered by leaves or have collapsed. The entrance is usually about five centimeters wide and two centimeters high. Burrows often go just below the soil surface for up to one meter. Sometimes, they go sharply downwards. The burrows do not follow a set pattern. The cockroaches live at the very end of the burrow, which is widened to about one meter wide. This wider area holds the collected leaves. Other insects sometimes live in these burrows too, like scarabs, silverfish, and other types of beetles and moths.
Social Life of Cockroaches
These cockroaches are usually solitary, meaning they live alone. However, young nymphs stay with their mothers for several months after they are born. Cockroaches become active after sunrise and may start to dig. Males wander outside their burrows more than females do. Males often wander to find a mate, while females collect leaves to bring back to their burrows.
Adult female cockroaches often go out to find food. They can wander up to 50 centimeters from their burrow entrance to collect leaves. They use their mandibles (jaws) to drag the leaves back into their burrow.
Fighting is common among adult males. However, adult females with nymphs can also be very aggressive. This aggression is linked to their solitary lifestyle. Aggressive behavior includes butting, barging, and hissing. These fights often end with one cockroach being knocked over. Males might fight at burrow entrances to stop other males from coming in. When fighting, males use the front of their pronotum to push away intruders. They also make a hissing sound when they fight.
Cockroach Sounds
The cockroach can make a hissing sound when it is reproducing or when it feels threatened. This hissing sound is made by pushing air out of its spiracles. Spiracles are small openings on the cockroach's body that it uses to breathe.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Reproduction usually happens at night. It is mostly based on scent, taste, and touch. Male cockroaches try to attract females by hissing, changing their body position, moving their antennae, grooming the female, and gently pushing her. We do not know if female cockroaches mate with more than one male. Females can have up to thirty young at one time each year.
This species is ovoviviparous. This means the eggs hatch inside the mother's body, and she gives birth to live young. Unlike most insects that lay eggs, the female giant burrowing cockroach gives birth to her babies. She protects them in her underground home, bringing them leaf litter she collects at night. These cockroaches can live for up to 10 years. You often find mothers with their young together in the burrows. Males are usually not found in the burrows with the young.
The parenting period for the giant burrowing cockroach can last up to 6 months. This is until the nymphs are old enough to leave and dig their own burrows. One group of about thirty nymphs is born each year, usually in late spring. This happens after the eggs develop for about three months. The cockroaches shed their outer skin about fourteen times in their life. They often eat this shed skin because it is full of nutrients.
Young nymphs are rarely seen above ground outside the burrow. Nymphs grow at the same speed. Once they leave the nest, they live alone until they fully grow into adults.
Giant Burrowing Cockroaches as Pets
The giant burrowing cockroach is calm and easy to care for. This makes it a common and popular pet. This species cannot move fast or fly. Its large size, calm behavior, and simple care needs make it a popular pet in Australia and other countries. They are clean, do not carry diseases, do not smell, do not bite when handled, and do not climb or fly.
Males can be aggressive towards other males. So, if you want to keep more than one cockroach, you need a larger enclosure to avoid fights. It is best to have more females than males in one enclosure. This helps prevent conflicts between the males over the females.
Their terrarium should not be kept in direct sunlight for long periods. The tank should have clean, fine to medium grain river sand. Part of the sand should be wet, and the other end of the enclosure should be dry. The cockroach needs the substrate (the sand and dirt) to be up to 100 millimeters deep. They use this to nest and burrow with leaves and sticks. The substrate should be changed regularly, every few months. This depends on the size of the tank and how many cockroaches are in it.
The giant burrowing cockroach has lived for up to eight years when kept as a pet. Nymphs grow faster in the wild compared to in captivity. Wild nymphs can reach their eighth growth stage in five months. However, some nymphs can take up to a year to reach their ninth stage. They have nine growth stages in total. Studies show that they are slow-growing cockroaches with different growth rates.
These cockroaches eat dried eucalyptus leaves. They can also eat fruits and vegetables.
Threats to Giant Burrowing Cockroaches
The biggest threat to the giant burrowing cockroach is habitat destruction. Their main home is in the forests and land in northern Queensland. A lot of this land has been cleared since the year 2000.
Large centipedes sometimes hide in the burrows of these cockroaches. They can eat young nymphs. Large spiders also eat young nymphs. However, neither spiders nor most centipedes can eat adult cockroaches because of their hard outer shell. But a fully grown Ethmostigmus rubripes might be able to eat an adult cockroach.
See also
In Spanish: Cucaracha cavadora gigante para niños
