Blaberus discoidalis

Distribution

Blaberus discoidalis is found in Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico (Vieques Island), Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and Florida.

Locomotion

The movement of B. discoidalis runs relatively inefficiently – wasting movement as it runs. It can move about 25 of its body lengths per second, around half the speed of common cockroach Periplaneta americana. In laboratory tests, B. discoidalis cockroaches were adept at obstacle climbing, and maintaining stability with miniature "cannons" strapped to their bodies designed to knock them off balance mid-run.

Uses

Pet food

They are very easy to raise in captivity, so make good feed for insectivorous pets such as tarantulas, bearded dragons, and other lizards.

These animals breed readily in captivity. They reach breeding age in about 6 months if kept warm, with 85–90 °F recommended for more productive breeding. Females carry their eggs inside a brooding pouch having genital chamber and vestibulum until they are fertilised by male spermatophore.

Insect eating competitions

Discoid cockroaches are also used in insect eating competitions since they are often raised in captivity and are easier to gather in large numbers during a contest. In 2012, Edward Archibold died as a result of 'asphyxia due to choking and aspiration of gastric contents,' according to his autopsy report, in a cockroach eating contest in south Florida.

Fuel cell

Blaberus discoidalis was used in an experiment to create a miniature fuel cell, producing electricity from naturally occurring sugar in the insect and oxygen in the air. The power density of the species is considered a good design target for small robots.

Image gallery

File:Blaberus discoidalis female and ootheca.jpg|Female with ootheca File:Blaberus discoidalis ootheca.jpg|Female with ootheca before hatching File:Blaberus discoidalis mating.jpg|Mating (male on the left)

References

References

1. "Synonyms of Tropical Cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis)".
2. (2011). "Redescription of Protomagalhaensia granulosae Peregrine, 1970 (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinida: Blabericolidae) Parasitizing the Discoid Cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis (Dictyoptera: Blaberidae)". Comparative Parasitology.
3. "Common Names for Tropical Cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis)".
4. Marshall, Samuel D.. (2001). "Tarantulas and Other Arachnids: Everything about Purchase, Care, Nutrition, Behavior, and Housing". Barron's Educational Series.
5. (1 February 2012). "Biofuel cell generates electricity when implanted in false deaths head cockroach (Press release)". American Chemical Society.
6. Stockton, Donna. "Husbandry Data Sheet: Haitian cockroaches, Blaberus discoidalis". Terrestrial Invertebrate Taxon Advisory Group.
7. "ITIS Standard Report Page: Blaberus discoidalis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
8. Beccaloni, GW. (2007). "species Blaberus discoidalis Serville, 1838". Blattodea Species File Online.
9. (2007). "Cockroaches: Ecology, Behavior, and Natural History". JHU Press.
10. Pavone, Marco. (2005). "Architecture for autonomous robots: adaptive locomotion and distributed covering". Scuola Superiore di Catania.
11. Bekey, George A.. (2005). "Autonomous Robots: From Biological Inspiration to Implementation and Control". MIT Press.
12. (2012). "An Implantable Biofuel Cell for a Live Insect". Journal of the American Chemical Society.
13. Steltz, Erik Edward. (2008). "Redesign of the Micromechanical Flying Insect in a Power Density Context". University of California, Berkeley.