Soon after moving into the house I was renting, I found that in addition to our family, there were several cockroaches living together, especially the kitchen, which was a hard-hit area. In order to cut them off, I have bought cockroach bait, cockroach house stickers, and even homemade cockroach traps, and the number of cockroaches is also more and less, but it has never completely disappeared.
And after spending two or three thousand yuan, I also completely compromised, and deeply understood the profound meaning of everyone calling cockroaches "undead little strong". For some time after that, cockroaches completely released themselves. And today they refreshed my cognition, and I found several cockroaches in the refrigerator at home... Doesn't it mean that they are tropical insects and prefer hot and humid environments?
"Only by knowing oneself and knowing the other can we never lose a battle", in order to fight the cockroach to the end, I studied the eighteen generations of ancestors of the cockroach demon.
An ancient insect that has experienced several catastrophes
Cockroaches are very old insects, born in the Carboniferous Period 350 million years ago, which means that cockroaches appeared earlier than dinosaurs. The Carboniferous Period was an era of insect dominance, and ancient dragonflies and ancient ephemerals flew into the sky, but their wings could not be folded, and cockroaches were the earliest insects whose wings could be folded. What are the benefits of this? Of course, it is easier to hide yourself from predators.
Surprisingly, the cockroaches found by scientists in the fossils are very similar to the current cockroaches, cockroaches can always adapt to the changing environment, and after many mass extinctions, the tenacious "Xiao Qiang" is still alive.
The ability to digest wood
We all know that kitchen waste is the favorite of cockroaches, if there are cockroaches at home, the kitchen garbage must be cleaned up in time. They don't choose to eat, they always find something filthy to eat, so they leave us with a dirty impression. But in fact, ancient cockroaches feed on trees, and there is a flora in their intestines that can break down fiber.
In the late Carboniferous period, oxygen levels were as high as 35%, and trees grew densely, so cockroaches were abundant in food and their numbers increased dramatically. How prosperous were cockroaches at that time? According to scientists, there are more than 800 kinds of cockroach fossils in the Carboniferous strata, which is equivalent to 60% of the Carboniferous insect fossils. A lot of coal was formed at the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, and by the late Carboniferous Period, the production of coal was not as much as before... Some speculate that cockroaches are responsible for eating the "coal of the future". However, this is only speculation, and the causes of coal reduction are complex.
Cockroaches, or the ancestors of termites
Ancient cockroaches are social insects. Scientists speculate that cockroaches lose some of the flora that breaks down trees every time they molt, so they eat each other's shells and excrement. In this way, they began to live collectively in order to maintain the number of microflora in the body.
Social insect termites evolved from these wood-eating cockroaches. There is a lot of evidence that ancient cockroaches are the ancestors of termites.
What is even more difficult to accept is that the mantis with full personality and known as the "charm killer of the insect world" also evolved from ancient cockroaches, like termites. The ancestors were so obscene and unbearable, how could the handsome praying mantis accept it?
There are more than 4,000 species of cockroaches on Earth
Fertile, surprisingly fast, unhygienic, horrifying appearance... There are many reasons why we hate cockroaches. However, less than 1% of the more than 4,000 kinds of cockroaches that live on Earth will cause trouble to humans.
After hundreds of millions of years of reproduction and evolution, the cockroach family has spread around the world, and they have been found in all land except Antarctica, and cockroaches have even been found at 5,000 meters above sea level on Mount Everest.
Some cockroaches have evolved specific functions — madagascar sounding cockroaches; South American fluorescent cockroaches glowing; Pacific crustacean cockroaches feeding larvae.
The cockroach scientific name of the cockroach that camps in my home is the German cockroach (Blattella germanica), which is the most widely distributed cockroach in the world. The homeland of the German cockroach is not Germany, but high temperature and humidity in Africa. In other words, most of the cockroaches we see in our homes are "imported". Although the German cockroach has wings, it is basically incapable of flying, so its spread mainly depends on the migration of the population, and it is humans who help them to spread the most hated creatures all over the world.
The cockroaches active in the south of China are mainly The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), which is what we often call "cockroaches as big as a palm". Native to West Africa, the American cockroach entered Europe during the Great Voyage and then into Asia during the industrialization period. The American cockroach is not only large and fast, but also has strong flight capabilities.
Since these two kinds of cockroaches are home in Africa, why is one called the German cockroach and the other called the American cockroach? You have to ask Mr. Linnaeus, who named them. At that time he was very troubled by the naming of the creature. Because this is the named cockroach, the specimen is called the German cockroach from Germany, and the other is from the Americas, which is called the American cockroach.
The feud between humans and cockroaches has a long history
Throughout the evolutionary history of organisms, it will be found that humans and cockroaches were once eaten and eaten. Human records of methods of exterminating cockroaches can be traced back to the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (1750-1304 BC), and on the 22-meter-long papyrus of the Book of the Dead, it is written that priests chanted incantations to exterminate cockroaches before the ceremony began.
Since the introduction of cockroaches to Europe during the Age of Discovery, people have invented a variety of methods to eliminate cockroaches. One of the more interesting methods is to send out cockroach predators, mainly white-fronted cancer spiders and hedgehogs. While this method of cockroach extermination looks cool, it has had little effect. Humans have developed various insecticides to fight cockroaches, but because they are prone to drug resistance, it is still very difficult to control.
In order to reduce the harm caused by cockroaches, it is not only necessary to poison the hands, but also to understand their habits and do the opposite. Since cockroaches are tropical insects and prefer warm and moist places, let the room become slightly colder, drier, and do a good job of home hygiene.
After fully understanding the cockroach family history, I cleaned up everything in the refrigerator and silently bought a large bag of cockroach medicine online.
Special notice: The pictures in this article are illustrations of the original book, which have been authorized.
What is the secret to how insects can flourish after several mass extinctions? When did they grow wings and take to the skies? Are there scientific evidence for giant insects in science fiction movies? How did primitive insects confess? What are the flying insects that gather above you in the summer doing? Is it selfless or ulterior motives for worker ants not to reproduce? Everything about insects, this book will tell you.
The author of this book integrates "biological geeks" and "painting holy hands", synthesizes a number of cutting-edge scientific research results, with informative and conclusive biological historical facts, supplemented by nearly 1,000 funny cartoons, and retraces the 400 million-year evolutionary path of insects with readers, counting the arduous journeys of insects, and the various "strange" strategies they have evolved in order to adapt to the changing environment.
Expert media commentary
Do you know insects? Whether your answer is yes or no, this is a book worth reading! Insects are the most diverse group of organisms on Earth, they are ubiquitous and closely related to us. I've always thought that insect reproduction is the most fascinating part of biology, and when you open this book, you'll know I'm right.
——Miao Desheng (paleontologist and popular science writer)
This is an interesting short history of insect evolution! Through comic stories, the author depicts the bumpy course of the development of ancient insects and the strange strategies adopted by insects to cope with the ever-changing natural environment.
——Zhang Weiwei (entomologist, insect collector)
The author is so talented to tell such a vivid and complex and boring history of insect evolution! As an insect iron fan, I am deeply envious to see that the author understands both insects and can paint. Highly recommend this fun book to anyone who loves insects or nature!
——Liu Ye (Expert in Insect Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Author: [Han] Kim Do-yun
Translator: Shen Linxue
Editor: Zhang Liyan
Typography: Washing dishes