American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
Our best roaches!
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The American cockroach is simply the best: a true champion of survival. They can live months without food, weeks without water; they can run incredibly fast, they can swim, they can fly, and they can make people scream louder than any other insect! They've even starred in their own film — and no, it’s not a horror movie. Check out the cult classic Joe’s Apartment.
Originally from Africa and the Middle East, they’ve conquered the world. Nothing can stop them. What’s their secret? How do they manage to thrive in such a wide range of climates?
That’s exactly what we’re trying to find out in the lab.
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Status: Pest / Invasive
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Origin: Africa, Middle East
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Social structure: Highly gregarious
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Adult size: ~4 cm​
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Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)
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Our favorite pets!
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Madagascar hissing cockroaches are big, slow, and very friendly, making them the perfect pet. As their name suggests, they hiss by forcefully expelling air through specialized respiratory openings called spiracles, located on their abdomen. They hiss to scare predators, to seduce females, or to fight other males. Their social structure is based on male dominance, and males frequently fight each other. They are apterous (wingless), and the males can be recognized by the two horns on their thorax, which they use during fights.
Females are ovoviviparous, meaning their eggs hatch inside their bodies. Right after giving birth, the female secretes a liquidy substance that the young nymphs feed on. Is this maternal feeding behavior linked to their advanced social structure? That’s exactly what we’re trying to find out in the lab.
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Status: Pets / Pet food
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Origin: Madagascar
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Social structure: Large groups structured by a male social dominance hierarchy
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Adult size: 5 to 9 cm
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Lobster cockroach (Nauphoeta cinerea)
Our funniest roaches!
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Lobster cockroaches live in harems with territorial males, meaning one dominant male shares his space with a group of females and nymphs. Males fight constantly to defend their harem and display very distinctive dominant and subordinate postures.
The dominant male regularly patrols his territory in a classic dominant position: standing high on his legs, abdomen stretched out with the tip raised. This makes them the funniest cockroaches to observe!
Females are ovoviviparous, and after giving birth, the mother actively protects her young nymphs. A behavior we’re particularly interested in!
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Status: Pet food
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Origin: Northeastern tropical Africa
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Social structure: Harem
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Adult size: ~3 cm​
Domino cockroach (Therea petiveriana)
Our cutest roaches!
Black with seven white dots, they are definitely our cutest roaches! Only the adults have this striking coloration, the nymphs are brown and look like typical cockroach nymphs. The adults are active during the day (hence their beautiful coloration), especially in the late afternoon.
Besides their obvious beauty, surprisingly little is known about this species…
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Status: Pets
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Origin: Asia
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Social structure: Unknown
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Adult size: ~3 cm
Dubia roach (Blaptica dubia)
Our easiest roaches!
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Dubia roaches are relatively big and slow, cannot climb smooth surfaces, and show clear sexual dimorphism : only the males have wings. All these traits make them the easiest cockroach to work with in the lab!
They are ovoviviparous, but beyond that, we don’t know much about their behavior (yet!).
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Status: Pet food
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Origin: South America
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Social structure: Unknown
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Adult size: ~4 cm​
Turkestan cockroach (Periplaneta lateralis)
Our ginger roaches!
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Like the Dubia roach, Turkestan cockroaches show sexual dimorphism : only males have fully developed wings. They cannot climb smooth surfaces, but they can run very fast. In fact, one of their common names is the red runner cockroach!
Besides their beautiful ginger color, their biology remains mostly a mystery...for now :)
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Status: Pet food / Pest / Invasive
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Origin: Northern Africa to Central Asia
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Social structure: Unknown
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Adult size: ~2 cm
Giant cave cockroach (Blaberus giganteus)
Our giant roaches!
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One of the largest cockroach species, the giant cave cockroach typically lives in caves but can also be found in tree hollows or cracks in rocks. The nymphs are just as beautiful as the adults, though in a very different way. Once again, not much is known about this roach…
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Status: Pets
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Origin: South America
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Social structure: Gregarious
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Adult size: up to 9 cm!
Six-spotted cockroach (Eublaberus distanti)
Our coolest roaches!
Like the giant cave cockroach, the six-spotted cockroach is a cave dweller. They have a striking pattern on their thorax that remarkably resembles a human footprint, making them our coolest cockroaches! Their biology still holds many mysteries waiting to be uncovered.
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Status: Pet food
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Origin: Central and South Amercia
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Social structure: Gregarious
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Adult size: ~6 cm
Greenhouse cockroach (Pycnoscelus surinamensis)
Our feminist roaches!
The greenhouse cockroach is a burrowing species that has spread worldwide through the shipping of plants, hence its name. This fascinating cockroach reproduces exclusively by parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction). Males are extremely rare in this species (we haven’t spotted any in our colony!) and are infertile.
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Status: Pest / Invasive
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Origin: Indomalayan region
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Social structure: Unknown
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Adult size: ~2 cm
Brown-banded cockroach (Supella longipalpa)
Our smallest roaches!
Very similar to the famous German cockroach, brown-banded cockroaches can be distinguished by the two light-colored bands across their wings and abdomen. They’re commonly found inside buildings and are well adapted to arid climates, no wonder they’re so common on our campus! In fact, most individuals in our colony come from the lab next door, where they established themselves in the coffee machine… needless to say, they are a real pest!
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Status: Pest / Invasive
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Origin: Not sure...
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Social structure: Unknown
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Adult size: ~1 cm
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Sde-Boqer Campus, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel