Blattaria is an order under the superorder Dictyoptera and class Insecta. It is the group of cockroaches. The name comes from the Latinized Greek name for cockroaches. Approximately 4,500 species of cockroaches exist with at least four species classified as pests and 30 species associated with human habitations.
Cockroaches are widely distributed worldwide thriving in various types of environments and possessing considerable survival instincts and abilities that it is popularly believed that they may ultimately become the inheritors of earth if mankind and other animals are destroyed by a nuclear war. Their remarkable radiation resistance is estimated to be 6 to 15 times higher compared to that of humans.
Cockroaches, relative to other insects, are large insects with most species typically growing into adulthood with an average size comparable to the size of a thumbnail. They have broad and flat bodies and small heads. They have compound eyes, two ocelli, and long antennae. They possess a hard outer pair of wings that protect their membranous hind wings. Their abdomens are segmented with several cerci. Cockroaches, moreover, are fast insects running with their sturdy legs with large coxae and five claws eacb.
This category offers various information sources, references, and online resources centered on cockroach biology.