Nymph Roach

I found this nymph of cockroach in the plant actively hunting for smaller insects. It is not nymph of best-known pest species are the American cockroach, (Periplaneta americana)Most probably nyph of one of the wood cockroach species.

Cockroaches (or simply “roaches”) are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin name for the insect, Blatta. There are about 4,000 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pests.

Even though they are the commonest insects we see around us, very little information available regarding their identification especially during nymph stage.

Mantodea, Isoptera, and Blattaria are usually combined by entomologists into a higher group called Dictyoptera. Current evidence strongly suggests that termites have evolved directly from true cockroaches, and many authors now consider termites to be a family of cockroaches, as Blattaria excluding Isoptera is not a monophyletic group.

Cockroach nymphs are generally similar to the adults, except for undeveloped wings and genitalia. Development is generally slow, and may take anything from a few months to over a year.

Blattaria is from Latin blatta, a cockroach. English cockroach itself is derived by folk etymology from Spanish cucaracha. That, itself, is a derivative of Spanish cuco, an insect; the Spanish word perhaps from Latin cucus, a Jackdaw (Partridge, 1958, Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English).