Roaches and their odd ways – Issue #100

Hello Explorer,
Some time ago in “Teaching a love for nature – Issue #62” I mentioned the species Oxyhaloa duesta or the Red Headed Cape Cockroach, and I shared a photo of it there. This weekend, however, I witnessed and managed to capture a very strange part of their life cycle that is abnormal to insects.
Generally when we think of the reproduction of insects, they lay eggs after mating, from which the offspring hatches. However, some insects like the Red Headed Cape Cockroaches do not lay their eggs.
To explain clearly how this works we first need to understand a bit more about how offspring is produced by various animals. Animals that lay eggs are known as oviparous, meaning they produce young by laying eggs, through which the young hatch out. Animals that give birth to live young are known as viviparous or ovoviviparous. Viviparous animals are animals that produce the young inside the body of the female, while ovoviviparous means that the female will produce eggs inside her body, but she will not lay them. Once the eggs are then fully developed, they will hatch inside the female’s body, and she will give birth to live offspring.
Within the cockroach group both oviparous and ovoviviparous species are present. Some cockroaches will lay their eggs in a secure place, while other species will keep the eggs inside their body until they hatch, to avoid the eggs from being eaten by other cockroaches.
Did you know that some cockroaches give birth to live young and do not lay eggs? Do you know any of the other insect species that are ovoviviparous?

If you would like to send me a message with your answers, feel free to do so on Instagram or Twitter @abugmanslife or via email to [email protected].