Diet

• Blattodea includes cockroaches and termites, and its members occupy a wide range of feeding niches.

• Most cockroaches are omnivorous or detritivorous, feeding on decaying plant material, fungi, animal matter and other organic debris.

• In the Zihuatanejo region, Blattodea includes both decomposer cockroaches associated with leaf litter and vegetation and termites that break down dead wood and other plant material.

Range

• Blattodea is distributed worldwide, with its greatest diversity occurring in tropical and subtropical regions. The order includes both cockroaches and termites.

• Blattodea occurs throughout the Zihuatanejo region, where tropical vegetation, seasonal forest, leaf litter, dead wood and human structures provide habitat for a variety of species.

• The Zihuatanejo fauna includes both native species associated with natural habitats and widely distributed synanthropic cockroaches that live around buildings.

Habitat

• Blattodea occupies an exceptionally broad range of terrestrial habitats, including tropical forests, dry forests, woodland, grassland, leaf litter, rotting wood, tree cavities, caves and soil.

• Cockroaches may live on vegetation, beneath bark, under logs or among leaf litter; a smaller number are aquatic or semi-aquatic.

• In Zihuatanejo, suitable habitats range from tropical dry forest and coastal vegetation to gardens, agricultural areas and buildings.

• Several species associated with human habitation can occur year-round in warm, sheltered locations, while many native species remain closely associated with natural vegetation and decomposing organic material.

Description

• Blattodea is an order of insects comprising the cockroaches and termites. Molecular and anatomical evidence places termites within the cockroach evolutionary lineage rather than treating them as a separate order.

• Cockroaches generally have a broad, flattened body, long thread-like antennae, chewing mouthparts and spiny legs adapted for running. The pronotum commonly forms a shield over the head.

• When wings are present in cockroaches, the forewings are usually leathery tegmina that protect the membranous hind wings.

• Cockroaches develop through incomplete metamorphosis, with eggs, nymphs and adults; females commonly produce egg cases called oothecae.