EXTRAORDINARY INSECTS We humans may think we rule the planet but insects are pretty powerful too For a start they outnumber us There are roughly ten quintillion 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 insects alive at any one time from more than 900,000 species And they’re far older than us going back nearly 400 million years long before the dinosaur age They’re about 120 million years older than the flowering plants too In other words flowering plants evolved to survive alongside existing insects not the other way around 6 6
Some insects live alone but others such as ants bees and termites form complex societies working together to build structures gather food nurse their young and defeat enemies Modern insects have developed in some amazing ways resulting in their exceptional beauty camouflage engineering skills weapons defenses and sneaky survival tricks They also affect humanity in ways that are both welcome and unwelcome But the great thing about them is that you have an entire insect zoo in your home and yard Go take a look 7
GREAT SURVIVORS Where is your head HELP Cockroaches first appeared about 320 million years ago Modern-day roaches developed about 200 million years ago and walked with the dinosaurs A cockroach can live for weeks without its head And the separated head can keep on waving its antennae for hours My You are BIG Tasty Cockroaches are scavengers In a pinch they will eat just about anything glue grease soap wallpaper paste leather bookbindings or even hair Some roaches are big Megaloblatta longipennis has a 7-inch 17 8-centimeter wingspan and the Australian rhino cockroach is the world’s heaviest Out of the way I’m winning I’m winning Cockroaches are fast Once all six legs are in motion a roach can sprint at speeds of up to 5 feet 1 5 meters per second And they’re elusive too with the ability to turn on a dime while in full stride 8
COCKROACHES Flick on the kitchen light at night and you may see a flat brown insect racing over the floor to a dark hiding place Few insects are so unloved as the cockroach but of about 4,600 known species only thirty or so are pests Some are specially adapted for cold or dry habitats but most are generalized eat-anything go anywhere critters which helps explain how roaches are found in almost every corner of the planet NUCLEAR PROOF In a nuclear attack among the survivors would be fruit flies and cockroaches They can handle doses of radiation that would kill humans MADAGASCAR HISSING COCKROACH GROMPHADORHINA PORTENTOSA Size up to 3 inches 76 millimeters Lifespan 2 5 years SWEET TOOTH If a cockroach is introduced to a sweet taste such as vanilla or peppermint it will drool in anticipation when it later detects the scent in the air 9
