Blattodea: Roaches and Termites - Order Spotlight

[@rolfzanoli9667]

I love your videos and like to thank you that you speak slow and clear. People like me, which English is the second language, appreciate this.

[@insectspotlightproject]

Thank you so much for the support! I'll try to keep the content coming!

[@rabbithohl2162]

I find it very interesting that ,although not very closely related, termites have evolved to be very similar to ants behaviorally. From eusociality and building physical nests, down to reproductive elates and the nuptial flight behavior.

[@insectspotlightproject]

Fr, such an awesome case of convergent evolution 🐜

[@Synthetic_geth]

Convergent evolution at its finest

[@spilg1]

Fun fact, some insects try to live in termites homes, for food and safety, it's called Inquilinism, they don't hurt or disturb the termites, kinde a free loader way of living. As the termite nest is really well-built, there are times when other insects want to live there. Their either mimic termites physically and chemically so they aren't detected, or they have a strong defense to survive a potential attack.

[@insectspotlightproject]

Honestly cant blame em! I'd probably wanna live in a cozy termite mound if I was a bug too

[@catperson7165]

The biggest known bee species, Megachile Pluto, does this! I guess this nesting tactic was so effective because until somewhat recently, scientists had thought it had been extinct for around 100 years!

[@Chrismas815]

I just found your channel, ive been binging your videos. Commenting for the algorithm. Keep up the great work!

[@insectspotlightproject]

I appreciate it dude! Thanks for the subscribe 😄

[@natalieeuley1734]

Because cockroaches have only a few thousand species, the moment you start to dig in, you see how super different they all are from each other. There are cockroaches in basically every color, and many of them have crazy cool defenses like chemical sprays or making sounds. They include some of the fastest insects on earth and some of the largest. There's ones super specialized for particular environments, like only one cave system, and ones so general that they are everywhere in the world. As much as the, idk, twenty or so cosmopolitan cockroach species can be pests, there is so much diversity punch packed into this small order. An even smaller order than Odonata, and yet, dragonflies and damselflies are very much all similar to each other. Even among those annoying pest species... no one confuses an American cockroach, German cockroach, or Oriental cockroach for each other; every species is just so distinct. Idk I just love so many things about cockroaches but no one wants to talk about them because they are gross.

[@insectspotlightproject]

They are SO overlooked. More love for the full diversity of the Blattodea

[@helgebrunswig5010]

I live in Central Europe, where termites have not been able to establish themselves as neozoa. Are they found everywhere in North America or only in the warmer US states and south of there? I really like your videos, so thanks!

[@insectspotlightproject]

Thanks so much! You can find some species of termites in nearly all U.S. states, but they pose a very small risk up north. The places in most danger of home termite infestations are going to be in the Southeast and California

[@HashFace253]

​@@insectspotlightproject With all the (often shody) housing development in former woodland habitat we have seen a couple termite infestations in crawlspace though not really harming the home. When the mating flights come out pre fall I get a 1000 calls to come inspect for them so they do hurt me a little

[@insectspotlightproject]

@@HashFace253 Oh dang, yea I'm in Georgia right now so termite treatments are pretty standard. What region are you in?

[@sunshinecarnivores1919]

Roaches go squish at my house or wind up as plant food for my carnivorous plants.

[@insectspotlightproject]

Haha nothing wasted, love it 😂

[@chaz1357]

I love your channel. I am a big nerd for taxonomy and what not. Keep it up!

[@insectspotlightproject]

Thank you so much! Greatly appreciate the support 🙌

[@mauricioperezdehita8747]

👌👌👌

[@cortexcarvalho9423]

At all times in the Terra Formars manga I didn't remember the parental detail between cockroaches and termites. I kept imagining that cockroaches working as ant colonies didn't make the slightest sense. For me, fiction is a tasty sauce thrown onto the nutritious plate of knowledge. I already find the subject interesting, with more sauce, for me it becomes even more so.

[@insectspotlightproject]

Lowkey spitting 💯

[@IsabelMaceno]

Please, talk more about roaches.

[@insectspotlightproject]

Def looking forward to expanding on em!

[@1star_god]

I know a lady I respect very much who had a Very Traumatic experience in her childhood involving a cockroach that she is very Very certain bit her. I often feel the need to defend her stance on the matter and I *do* hear people bringing up "cockroaches don't bite," a sort of strange amount. it makes sense, as a defense for roaches, given that most peoples' bug fears tend to focus on 'bites' and I /do/ believe there's just about no reason to /expect/ a roach to bite you but I will say. I have had a roach fall on me and, as I instinctively reached for and then swatted that poor bastard halfway across the room, I did experience a sensation Very Much like biting. I /suspect/ in that in that instance, the creature simply had incredibly stiff, bristled legs. Regardless, a more pressing point would be, any creature with mouth parts CAN bite. There's just practically no reason that a roach WOULD bite.

[@insectspotlightproject]

Haha I suppose thats fair! There are always outliers, so I dont doubt your friend had a nasty run-in 🪳

[@1star_god]

@@insectspotlightproject Oh, haha, I appreciate that, I just wanna clarify, I don't want my coment to seem like a criticism at all, just a PSA for anybody who might be feeling gaslit by the whole roaches don't bite thing or for anybody who might take think to use it to invalidate anyone else's experiences. I'm personally solidly in camp roaches don't bite. I imagone most cases of people thinking they were bit actually fall closer to my own example, where something hard and sharp was felt from the creature that simply felt like a bite, but was more likely a stiff leg or similar. I'm certainly no expert but based on what I do know about roaches I would bet a roach would not only never have an instinct to bite (I'm not even sure if eating requires biting for them all the time) but more importantly, I suspect a bite from a roach wouldn't feel very much like what any one person might expect. I just feel the compulsive need to remind myself, when I can, of the experiences of people like my friend and the importance of believing and validating them. Plus I do think its kind of fun to remember that anything with mouth parts can bite ^^' (actually thinking about it, I could imagine the most prominent use of their mouth parts could be the role they play in antenna maintenance, which leads me to wonder... could a bite like that possibly feel.. ticklish...?? hmmm much to consider...)

[@JuniperPacific]

According to Whittaker's Words, which is a very reliable latin to english dictionary, blatta as a noun(blatta, blatae) can mean cockroach, moth or bookworm. This translation supports the sun-fearing insect idea. It also means blood clot, but I wouldn't think to much of that within the context of entomology. As a verb(blatto, blattare, blatavi, blatatus) means to utter in a babbling way when referring to animals. Kinda like a sheep's bleating,

[@insectspotlightproject]

Nice! Gotta get myself a copy of this book 🙌

[@JuniperPacific]

@@insectspotlightproject It's free online, just search Whittaker's Words and it should pop up.

[@JuniperPacific]

@@insectspotlightproject It's a free website. Just search Whittaker's words and it should pop up.

[@littledreamerrem7021]

I love roaches. Unfortunately, i found out the hard way that im allergic to their frass. Had to get rid of my hissing roach and Dubia colonies. :(

[@insectspotlightproject]

That's brutal :( you keeping any other insects instead?

[@littledreamerrem7021]

@insectspotlightproject Other arthropods, yes. Currently have a Honduran curly hair tarantula, an Asian forest scorpion, and a freshwater shrimp colony. Tried raising some Carolina mantis nymphs I found this season, but that didn't go over well. I'm interested in raising some giant water bugs, Odonate nymphs, and millipedes in the future, though.

[@insectspotlightproject]

@@littledreamerrem7021 Sounds like a sick setup! Love aquatic insect/arthropod set-ups (kept one back in college). Best of luck!

[@littledreamerrem7021]

@@insectspotlightproject Thanks!

[@BrolyOrAurak]

I really like domino roaches, theyre just cool, and plenty of roaches make good pets! I have a friend i can set off in the comments with a few facts but as of right now, all i can do is list a few of my favorite species other than dominos lol Temnopteryx phalerata! Lucihormetica luckae! Macropanesthia rhinoceros!

[@insectspotlightproject]

Love it! The bioluminescent one is sick!

[@noeditbookreviews]

At 2:20 is that a slip up or am I extra confused?

[@insectspotlightproject]

That was a slip up 😂 MEANT to say "Roaches and Termites" lol

[@DJLucas-xv7oe]

You know so much more about animals than animal rights activists can ever learn in eons.

[@1star_god]

Also, if you ever felt like doing an even more controversial spotlight (I suppose its not order, RIP, but hear me out!!): cuterebra are probably one of my favorite insects. Cuterebra emasculator not only has the funniest name but also is just the saddest wettest looking little guy (adult form) I have ever laid eyes on. I have never seen a bug look so f*cking sad oh my godt

[@insectspotlightproject]

Haha dont worry I'll definitely at the very least do family level videos (and bot flies DEFINITELY deserve one). I've just been fixated on knocking out the rest of these orders for the time being!

[@HashFace253]

But what about grylloblattodea?!?!?

[@insectspotlightproject]

they are their own order! Definitely going to do a video on them as part of this project

[@thedarkmasterthedarkmaster]

If you think these guys are weird the extinct forms were even stranger

[@insectspotlightproject]

I really gotta deep dive more extinct insects. Always been extant focused because of my ecology background, but there are so many cool extinct groups. Bring back the predatory cockroaches 👏

[@thedarkmasterthedarkmaster]

@@insectspotlightproject To b fair the notion of predator roaches seems to be a bit disputed. If you'd like to learn more I recently made an iceberg video on extinct invertebrates as well as a video series on trilobites you might enjoy