Cockroach!!－快樂心文教機構

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. The name derives from the Latinized Greek name for the insect (Doric Greek: βλάττα, blátta; Ionic and Attic Greek: βλάττη, bláttē; Latin: Blatta).

There are about 4,500 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pests.

Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, about 15 millimetres (0.59 in) long, the Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 millimetres (0.59 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, about 25 millimetres (0.98 in). Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives and 'roachoids' such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were not as large as the biggest modern species.

蟑螂泛指屬於蜚蠊目（Blattodea）的昆蟲，目前已被發現大約有4000多種，除了其中大約有數十種會入侵人類家居，又有數種被人類飼養為寵物及作為寵物的糧食外，絕大部份品種只能在野外山澗樹林或昆蟲博物館中見到。家居最常見的蟑螂，大的有身長約3.0釐米（1.2英寸）美洲蟑螂（Periplaneta americana）、澳洲蟑螂（Periplaneta australasiae）及短翅的斑蠊（Neostylopyag rhombifolia）；小的有體長約1.5釐米（0.59英寸）的德國蟑螂（Blattella germanica）、日本姬蠊（Blattella bisignata）及亞洲蟑螂（ Blattella asahinai），熱帶地區的蟑螂一般比較巨大。家居蟑螂普遍夜行及畏光，野外蟑螂因品種而異，趨光性有正亦有負。

大部份的蟑螂都是雜食性，與人類的食性重疊，部份蟑螂對人類的家居都有很強的入侵性，牠們繁殖力強，在人類家居棲身及覓食的同時，亦會傳播多種病原體，因此蟑螂普遍地被認為是害蟲。雖然很多人並不喜歡蟑螂，甚至要除之而後快，但蟑螂早在人類出現前的數億年已活躍於地球，從石炭紀及二疊紀的化石找到一些比現存大出數倍的物種，而經過數億年的演化，蟑螂並沒有太大的變化，人們不得不承認牠們是一種成功的生物。