Slender abdomen with a pointed final segment.īoat-shaped abdomen with a blunt last segment. Larger in size than males to hold egg sacs (ootheca). The wings on a male will extend the full length of his body, making them a clear cockroach gender identifier. The female has shorter wings and a larger abdomen, which inhibits her ability to fly. However, males can fly when disturbed, while females can’t fly. In brown-banded cockroaches, males are longer than females due to their wingspan. Despite having wings, neither sex are capable of flight. Their wings are also more developed and longer than the females’. Oriental Cockroachesįor Oriental cockroaches, males have narrower bodies. They’ll contain up to 40 eggs before depositing them into an ootheca. However, the slender design of their bodies will enable you to tell them apart.įemales will be much broader. With German cockroaches, the male is more slender and smaller than the female.īecause German cockroaches are already the smallest of their kind, the size difference won’t be stark. With other types of cockroaches, the identifiers between males and females vary. The differences outlined above primarily apply to the American cockroach. Identifying Male And Female Cockroaches by Species Any cockroaches found wandering alone or separated from the group are males.įemales don’t work together but merely ignore and tolerate each other’s presence as they travel. Females partly do this to deflect male advances. If you see a group of cockroaches, the chances are that they’re all female. Socializationįemale cockroaches organize in groups, while males tend to forage and explore alone. This should make the difference easy to identify when you see a cockroach crawling around your home. The females will have notably long, almost flowing antennae. This accounts for their smaller, stockier body size. Male cockroaches have shorter antennae than females. It’s one of the most important parts of their anatomy. AntennaeĪccording to the Journal of Animal Behavior, cockroaches use their antennae to adapt and feel their surroundings. In female cockroaches, the sternum is divided. In the seventh segment of the body, you can find a difference between males and females. This makes their rigid exoskeleton more flexible and allows them to navigate more freely. SternumĪcross their entire bodies, cockroaches are broken into segments, just like at the cerci. For most people, it’ll be difficult to see these small appendages. It may be a small difference, but it’s a way to tell the sex of cockroaches. Cockroaches use a combination of pheromones and styli to determine which mates are ready and able to breed. The styli are found between the cerci at the end of the abdomen.Įven among cockroaches, they’re used to determine who is male and who is female. Male cockroaches have 18-19 segments in their cerci, while females have only 13-14 segments. They’re segmented, and that’s where male and female cockroaches differ. The cerci are a pair of appendages resting near the end of the body. Most cockroaches have a pair of slender, jointed cerci at the tip of their abdomen. This protects the female from harm rather than letting her take to the air. Instead, they work as leathery shields for the back. The wings on the male will be wider, covering more of the back.įor some species, the female will have very short and blunted wings. Male cockroaches have a longer wingspan than females. Wingspanĭepending on the species of cockroach, the male may be able to fly. You can even tell some nymphs apart in their development stage by this indicator. The last segment of the male tends to be pointed, whereas the female’s last segment is blunt. The abdomen of the male is slender, while the female has more of a boat shape.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |