Giant cockroaches, or blaberids (familyBlaberidae), are the second-largest cockroach family by number of species.[1] Mostly distributed in warmer climates worldwide, this family is based on the American genus Blaberus, but much of the diversity is also found in Africa and Asia.
Description
They are the only ovoviviparous cockroach family.[2][3] The ootheca is seen very briefly before being retracted into the body, where soon after the young nymphs hatch inside, the female gives live birth. The cerci are smaller compared to other families, and most of the time are covered by wings.[4] They're mostly found in caves, rotting logs or buried under leaf litter. Many are often kept as pets or as feeder insects, such as Blaberus, Gromphadorhina or Macropanesthia.
Among the genera of uncertain subfamily, Eustegasta, Isoniscus and Poeciloderrhis[9] have been removed from subfamily Perisphaerinae.[7]
References
^Beccaloni, George; Eggleton, Paul (2013-08-30). "Order Blattodea. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013)". Zootaxa. 3703 (1): 46. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.10. ISSN 1175-5334.
^"Ovoviviparity - Cockroach Species". 2 March 2023.
^"Blaberidae | insect family | Britannica".
^For the Love of Cockroaches: Husbandry, Biology, and History of Pet and Feeder Blattodea
^"family Blaberidae Saussure, 1864: Cockroach Species File". cockroach.speciesfile.org. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^Cockroach Species File: subfamily Panesthiinae (retrieved 21 October 2023)
^ a bCocroach Species File: Perisphaerinae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865 (retrieved 14 October 2023)
^Perisphaerinae Brunner von Wattenwyl and Hyposphaeria Lucas are valid names concealed by the unavailable names Perisphaeriinae and Perisphaeria Burmeister (Blattodea, Blaberidae)
^De Oliveira Cardoso Da Silva, Leonardo; Lopes, Sonia Maria (2018). "Six new species of Poeciloderrhis from Brazil (Blattaria: Blaberidae) with a new record and a new combination". Zoologia. 35: 1–10. doi:10.3897/zoologia.35.e12483. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
External links
Media related to Blaberidae at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Blaberidae at Wikispecies
"Blaberinae". uniprot.org. Retrieved 13 July 2021.