Why Study Cockroach Evolution?

• Cockroaches belong to an interesting taxonomic Order, the Dictyoptera, including cockroaches, termites and preying mantids.
  1. Cockroaches- are asocial or pre-social.
  2. Termites- are social.
     - Has social interaction created a behavioral drive, accelerating termite evolution relative to cockroach evolution?
  3. Preying mantids- are antisocial (cannibalistic).
  
  
  
• Cockroaches have assumed a variety of reproductive strategies, providing a variety of relationships between the generations.
  1. Oviparous- Egg laying.
  2. Ovoviviparous- Incubate eggs internally - embryos provided moisture; live birth.
  3. Viviparous- Larvae hatch in utero and feed and grow on mothers milk secreted in utero.
  
  
  
• Cockroaches have formed a relationship with humans during the recent past creating the opportunity for evolutionary divergence between wild and domesticated forms.
  1. Changes have occurred in the domesticated roach, Blattella germanica, and its sibling species in the wild.
  
  
  
• Cockroaches are found around the world in a variety of environments.
  1. Tropical
  2. Temperate
  3. Under bark.
  4. Desert.