Today's interesting fact has to do with Termites.
For a long time entomologists argued over where on the tree of life termites came from.
It was often argued that termites were realted to or even desended from a type of cockroach.
Cockroaches and termites share a few common elements, but then so do most insects.
One thing they share is the Fat Body, a white mass that fills much of the abdomen of many insects.
The Fat Body has two types of cells, adipocytes filled with fat gobules and mycetocytes, which are filled with mutualistic bacteria.
Many insects, if you kill these bacteria, can continue to live and will eventually replace their bacteria.
But with cockroaches, if you kill the bacteria, the cockroaches and termites will usually die.
It seems that the bacteria in both insects are almost the same, closely related species.
When until they genetically sequenced the insects and compared them, it was shown that termites are actualy a type of cockroach, desendents of a type of wood eating cockroach.
Showing posts with label Cockroachs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cockroachs. Show all posts
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Nick Myall doesn't like spiders, so he asked me to do something else today.
So, today's interesting fact has to do with Cockroaches.
Cockroaches have been around for at least 300 million years, which is 70 million years before the first identified dinosaurs.
Their overall basic design has not changed in all that time.
The big difference between fossilized examples and present day ones is the loss of a long ovipositor (egg laying tube) in the current crop.
Of the 5000 odd species so far identified, only five try to inhabit our homes.
The big four are: German cockroach, Brown-banded cockroach, American cockroach and Oriental cockroach.
The identifying the names by places may be misleading, as they are found all over the world and there is no evidence as to where they originated.
The fifth inhabitant is a new arrival, which we can positively identify its origin, and that is the Australian roach, which has only recently decided to join our households and is so far mainly located on that island continent.
Cockroaches can spread disease, and lots of people are allergic to their faeces.
Cockroaches eat anything, including human hair, calluses and nails as well as other cockroaches.
Sailors are reported to have sometimes worn gloves to protect their fingernails.
It turns out that Nick isn't that enamoured with Cockroaches either.
So, today's interesting fact has to do with Cockroaches.
Cockroaches have been around for at least 300 million years, which is 70 million years before the first identified dinosaurs.
Their overall basic design has not changed in all that time.
The big difference between fossilized examples and present day ones is the loss of a long ovipositor (egg laying tube) in the current crop.
Of the 5000 odd species so far identified, only five try to inhabit our homes.
The big four are: German cockroach, Brown-banded cockroach, American cockroach and Oriental cockroach.
The identifying the names by places may be misleading, as they are found all over the world and there is no evidence as to where they originated.
The fifth inhabitant is a new arrival, which we can positively identify its origin, and that is the Australian roach, which has only recently decided to join our households and is so far mainly located on that island continent.
Cockroaches can spread disease, and lots of people are allergic to their faeces.
Cockroaches eat anything, including human hair, calluses and nails as well as other cockroaches.
Sailors are reported to have sometimes worn gloves to protect their fingernails.
It turns out that Nick isn't that enamoured with Cockroaches either.
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