American Cockroach - Once In A While

This evening an adult cockroach paid our home a visit. He was spotted flying into the boys' room by my daughter, and in a dramatic sort of way. You know, cockroaches don't fly nicely - they flap scarily all around, like trying to find someone's head to land. Very obviously, lots of screaming were heard.

Nevertheless, my elder son - who is currently serving in the NDU (Naval Diving Unit, Singapore) took care of it and presented me with the captured "periplaneta americana", an American cockroach. We do not get cockroaches often, either from the wild or internal-breeding as our home is well-kept by all of us.

Here are some shots of the insect that is widely considered as a pest, in all senses. Hope you will like it, at least the photos.

This particular, adventurous cockroach is about 45mm in length. I placed it in my photo-box that I made for insect photography (especially those that sneak into my home). Here, it is looking at me while I was adjusting my macro lens.

Although, it is considered as a pest, this cockroach certainly has a well-formed and neat body. A close-up view certainly gives us a better feel of its external structure. Just look at the lower segment of the neck! Like a set of goatee!

From the moment it was handed to me, this cockroach has never stopped cleaning itself. I observed that it can even clean its hind legs, up to the "thigh-joint". Now, that is a good show of flexibility, in spite of its longish body.

The cockroach is resting. Yes, it does that once in a while and then when it is done, it looks up and starts checking out the surrounding for a way to escape. After spending a few hours with him, it seems like we had become friends.

It is from here that we know this American cockroach is a male adult. Here you can see the presence of the cerci and styli. The cerci are the two longer (larger) appendages. The styli are the pair of smaller and delicate appendages appearing at the lower abdominal segment.