On Cockroaches

I’ve been quiet for some time and I am truly sorry for that, dear readers and friends. You see I have been preparing for a lecture/workshop on paper which will be held in Cagayan de Oro next week.

I want to present a very interesting paper, so that the participants will hear and learn new things, things that I myself have not heard of.

My lecture focuses on the factors that affects the deterioration of paper and the analysis of paper degradation. These factors are environmental, biological, the intrinsic qualities of paper, man-made disasters, and natural calamities. But what I found most interesting was the biological factor.

"Biological" refers to molds, pests, and rodents. I will share with you some very interesting facts I unearthed as I did my research. Here they are.

Carpet Beetles
The carpet beetle can be found outdoors feeding on pollen and necter. They somehow are able to go inside houses and buildings and start a new life in the confines of man-made structures. They feed on wool, fur, hide, horn, feathers, hair, and silk. They can and will feed on linen and cotton provided there are food stains and animal excreta on these materials.

The life of a larva is from 258 to 639 days or almost two years. They wander quietly about, gliding over surfaces with their hair standing on end, wandering all over a closet or storage room, feasting on their favorite food and enlarging the damage to our homes and wordly possessions.

The adult carpet beetle’s lifespan is short, the longest being 40 days. This must be the reason why the adults mate and reproduce without feeding!

Cockroaches
Cockroaches or roaches are insects of the order blattodea. The name is derived from the latin word for cockroaches, blatta. The folk etymology of the English word "cockroach" is the Spanish word cucaracha.

A cockroach needs to be impregnated only once and will lay 300 to 400 eggs in its lifetime of one year!

It is one of the hardiest insects on the planet and will survive without food for a month. It can hold its breath for 45 minutes by slowing down its heart rate. So don’t be fooled by this ploy.

Cockroaches have changed little in the last 100 million years of their existence on earth. We humans have changed little all these years as well. Insects, animals, and rodents forage for food for survival, while we exploit and take advantage of others as we forage, accumulate, and amass material things not out of need but out of greed.