Cockroaches

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea, which also includes termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. About four species are well known as pests. 

The cockroaches are an ancient group, dating back at least as far as the Carboniferous period, some 320 million years ago. Those early ancestors however lacked the internal ovipositors of modern roaches. Cockroaches are somewhat generalized insects without special adaptations like the sucking mouthparts of Hemiptera; they have chewing mouthparts and are likely among the most primitive of living neopteran insects. They are common and hardy insects, and can tolerate a wide range of environments from Arctic cold to tropical heat. Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger than temperate species, and, contrary to popular belief, extinct cockroach relatives and 'roachoids' such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were not as large as the biggest modern species. Some species, such as the gregarious German cockroach, have an elaborate social structure involving common shelter, social dependence, information transfer and kin recognition. Cockroaches have appeared in human culture since classical antiquity. They are popularly depicted as dirty pests, though the great majority of species are inoffensive and live in a wide range of habitats around the world. 

Cockroaches are members of the order Blattodea, which includes the termites, a group of insects once thought to be separate from cockroaches. Currently, 4,600 species and over 460 genera are described worldwide. The name "cockroach" comes from the Spanish word for cockroach, cucaracha, transformed by 1620s English folk etymology into "cock" and "roach". The scientific name derives from the Latin blatta, "an insect that shuns the light", which in classical Latin was applied not only to cockroaches, but also to mantids. 

Historically, the name Blattaria was used largely interchangeably with the name Blattodea, but whilst the former name was used to refer to 'true' cockroaches exclusively, the latter also includes the termites. The current catalogue of world cockroach species uses the name Blattodea for the group. Another name, Blattoptera, is also sometimes used. The earliest cockroach-like fossils ("blattopterans" or "roachids") are from the Carboniferous period 320 million years ago, as are fossil roachoid nymphs. 

Since the 19th century, scientists believed that cockroaches were an ancient group of insects that had a Devonian origin, according to one hypothesis  Fossil roachoids that lived during that time differ from modern cockroaches in having long external ovipositors and are the ancestors of mantises, as well as modern blattodeans. As the body, hind wings and mouthparts are not preserved in fossils frequently, the relationship of these roachoids and modern cockroaches remains disputed. The first fossils of modern cockroaches with internal ovipositors appeared in the early Cretaceous. A recent phylogenetic analysis suggests that cockroaches originated at least in the Jurassic. 

The evolutionary relationships of the Blattodea (cockroaches and termites) shown in the cladogram are based on Eggleton, Beccaloni & Inward (2007). The cockroach families Lamproblattidae and Tryonicidae are not shown but are placed within the superfamily Blattoidea. The cockroach families Corydiidae and Ectobiidae were previously known as the Polyphagidae and Blattellidae. 

Hardiness

Cockroaches are among the hardiest insects. Some species are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources, such as the glue from the back of postage stamps.  Some can go without air for 45 minutes. Japanese cockroach (Periplaneta japonica) nymphs, which hibernate in cold winters, survived twelve hours at −5 °C to −8 °C in laboratory experiments. Experiments on decapitated specimens of several species of cockroach found a variety of behavioral functionality remained, including shock avoidance and escape behavior, although many insects other than cockroaches are also able to survive decapitation, and popular claims of the longevity of headless cockroaches do not appear to be based on published research.  The severed head is able to survive and wave its antennae for several hours, or longer when refrigerated and given nutrients. 

It is popularly suggested that cockroaches will "inherit the earth" if humanity destroys itself in a nuclear war. Cockroaches do indeed have a much higher radiation resistance than vertebrates, with the lethal dose perhaps six to 15 times that for humans. However, they are not exceptionally radiation-resistant compared to other insects, such as the fruit fly. The cockroach's ability to withstand radiation better than human beings can be explained through the cell cycle. Cells are most vulnerable to the effects of radiation when they are dividing. A cockroach's cells divide only once each time it molts, which is weekly at most in a juvenile roach. Since not all cockroaches would be molting at the same time, many would be unaffected by an acute burst of radiation, but lingering radioactive fallout would still be harmful.