fun fact
While many people think all cockroaches are pests, fewer than this fraction of known species regularly live near humans.
What is a small percentage (or about 1%)?
The cockroach heart is a simple tube that runs along this part of its body.
What is the back (or dorsal side)?
Cockroaches can survive for about a week without this essential body part, which humans cannot do.
What is the head?
Cockroaches can run incredibly fast for their size, moving at several body lengths per this unit of time.
What is second?
Scientists often study cockroaches in labs to learn about this basic type of biological system, which is open rather than closed like in humans.
What is the circulatory system?
This ability allows some cockroaches to flatten their bodies and squeeze through spaces only a few millimeters high
What is having a flexible exoskeleton?
Instead of pumping blood through arteries and veins like humans, the cockroach heart moves hemolymph into this body space where it bathes the organs.
What is the hemocoel?
Some cockroaches can survive for a long time without food because they do this very slowly.
What is lowering their metabolism (or slowing their metabolism)?
This pair of long, thin appendages on a cockroach’s head helps it detect movement and navigate while running.
What are antennae?
Cockroaches have been used in research to study how this body system controls rhythmic movement, like walking or heartbeats.
What is the nervous system?
Fossil evidence shows cockroaches existed during this geologic era, long before dinosaurs dominated Earth.
What is the Carboniferous Period?
Each chamber of the cockroach heart has tiny openings that allow hemolymph to flow in before being pumped forward; these openings are called this.
What are ostia?
Many cockroach species can survive harsh environments because their bodies can tolerate extreme levels of this element, unlike humans.
What is radiation?
Some cockroaches have wings, but most species rely on this method to escape predators quickly.
What is running (or sprinting)?
In some experiments, cockroaches are trained to avoid certain smells, demonstrating this simple type of learning ability.
What is conditioning (or associative learning)?
Cockroaches have existed on Earth for over this many million years.
What is 300 million years?
The cockroach heart can continue beating even if the head is removed because its rhythm is controlled mainly by this system of nerve clusters.
What is the nervous system (or ganglia)?
Cockroaches can survive without water for several days because of adaptations in this system that conserves moisture in their bodies.
What is the excretory system (or Malpighian tubules)?
Cockroaches can turn and change direction almost instantly while running because of their flexible body and this type of nervous system response.
What is reflexes?
Cockroaches have appeared in movies, cartoons, and books; one famous example is this large, friendly cockroach character from children’s literature.
What is “Roach” (or any well-known cockroach character—adjust based on your reference)?
instead of lungs, cockroaches breathe through tiny openings along their bodies called these.
What are spiracles?
Unlike in humans, oxygen in cockroaches is delivered mainly by this system, not by the heart pumping hemolymph.
What is the tracheal system?
Cockroaches can flatten their bodies and squeeze through spaces only a few millimeters high, a survival skill made possible by this feature of their exoskeleton.
What is flexibility (or a flexible exoskeleton)?
Certain species of cockroach can jump or glide short distances, a movement made possible by strong muscles in these parts of their body.
What are their legs (or hind legs)?
Researchers study cockroaches to better understand how animals survive harsh conditions, which can inform designs in this field of engineering that copies nature.
What is biomimicry (or bio-inspired engineering)?