Megaloblatta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Megaloblatta |
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| Megaloblatta longipennis | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Blattodea |
| Family: | Ectobiidae |
| Subfamily: | Nyctiborinae |
| Genus: | Megaloblatta Dohrn, 1887 |
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Megaloblatta is a group of very large cockroaches found in warm, tropical parts of the Americas. These amazing insects belong to a family called Ectobiidae.
Some Megaloblatta cockroaches can grow to be about 4 to 9.7 centimeters long. That's like the length of a small smartphone! Even more impressive, their wings can spread out up to 20 centimeters wide. This makes Megaloblatta longipennis the largest cockroach in the world, both by its body length and its wingspan.
Like many other insects, Megaloblatta cockroaches can make sounds to scare away animals that might want to eat them. This special way of making noise is called stridulation. Cockroaches that can stridulate are less likely to be eaten by predators compared to those that cannot make these sounds.
Where They Live
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There are four different types, or species, of Megaloblatta cockroaches, and each one lives in its own special area:
- Megaloblatta blaberoides lives in southern Mexico, through Central America (like Costa Rica) and down into Colombia and Ecuador.
- Megaloblatta insignis is found only in French Guiana and Suriname.
- Megaloblatta longipennis lives in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Sometimes people think they see it in Panama, but those are usually other Megaloblatta species.
- Megaloblatta regina can be found in the Amazon basin areas of Ecuador and Brazil.
See Also
