What do you get a beau who loves cockroaches?  Why, you name a cockroach for them!

The Bronx Zoo has various packages available staring at $15 for a basic naming of a cockroach and going up to $75 for a package that includes naming a roach, a cockroach pin, cockroach chocolate candies, and cockroach socks!  For those of you who do not know me well, a fun fact is that I LOVE weird socks (today I'm wearing Tacosaurus socks) and when I saw the cockroach socks it was love at first sight!  While I think the price for the deluxe package is a bit steep at $75 (or if you just get the socks, $35 is still pricey), I still really hope that my husband tracks down some cheaper cockroach socks for me.....

Ensign wasps...they're the good guys (actually, girls)

Have you seen an insect in your house that kind-of looks like a fly, but not exactly?  It will be black in color, but the stunning and key feature is the abdomen; it comes off the top of the abdomen and looks similar to a triangular flag.

I know of many people who have asked me about this "weird house fly" and when I tell them they shouldn't squish they look at me like I'm crazy.  These "weird house flies" are ensign wasps and they help to manage cockroach populations.

The female ensign wasps seek out cockroach egg cases, known as ootheca, where she will lay an egg in one of the cockroach eggs inside the egg case.  The wasp's egg will hatch and the larva will eat the egg in which is was laid. Successive instars of the larva eat the other eggs within the egg case.  The wasp pupates within the cockroach egg case and the adult emerges out when ready.

These wasps are not known to sting humans.

So what should you do if you find one in your house?  Leave the wasp alone and look for cockroaches!

Cockroaches in the house...should you worry?

For the past couple of weeks when I would go into the bathroom at night and turn on the light I would see tiny cockroaches scurrying about.  It also happened one morning when the boy was with me and he was very upset when I rinsed the roach down the bathroom sink.

The boy- "MOMMY! We should have taken it outside and let it go!"
Me- "It's okay, cockroaches commonly live in sewers so it's going to be reunited with other cockroaches."
The boy- "Really? They live in sewers?"
Me- "Yes.  When I was in college working on cockroaches I used to trap all my roaches from the sewer.  I would get jars full of them overnight."
The boy- "Oh, okay."

So why am I not panicked that cockroaches are taking over my house?  Well for one, anyone who knows me knows that I have a fondness for cockroaches so I don't panic when I see them.  They rank from being cute to a mild annoyance to me.  Secondly, I've identified them as American cockroach nymphs and I know that they are coming in the house looking for water because it has been so dry outside.  If I really cared about them being in the house, I could go up in the attic and screen off any vent openings where they might be coming into the house, clean out our gutters (which probably would be a good ideas to do for other reasons as well) and stuff the weep holes with copper mesh.  Our screens are already in good shape- hubby fixed that last month and the weather stripping around doors and windows is also good.  I could also have the hubby go up and dust the attic or do a foundation spray around the house, but I'd rather not.

What do you do when you find a cockroach in the bathroom late at night?

Glow-in-the-dark cockroach

Anyone who has listened to me rattle on about insects for any amount of time knows of my fondness for cockroaches.  I worked with cockroaches for many years while in college and grad school and now have the "pleasure" of being allergic to them.  I still love them and know many of you are disgusted by the mere thought of them.  Maybe this will change your mind.  If not, maybe it will open your mind to the possibility that cockroaches are capable of being beautiful and amazing.

The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State has published their list of the Top 10 new species from 2012.  On the list is....you guessed it....a cockroach!  Lucihormetica luckae, also known as the Lightning roach, is known from a single specimen collected over 70 years ago.  The cockroach was collected from Ecuador and it may now be extinct due to eruption and activty of the Tungurahua volcano.

The really cool part of the whole thing- to me at least- is that the cockroach mimics a poisonous click beetle.  Basically when it glows it's pattern is similar to that of a bioluminescent click beetle.  Wow...insects are so cool!

If you want to see pictures of the cockroach, you can click here.  I think it looks like a Jawa (Utini!) from Star Wars when it glows, but that may just be my somewhat warped mind.

On a side note....there is a FREE webinar on Friday, June 7th on bed bugs.  You can find more information on the webinar here.

Cockroach video- does it get any better?

I know y'all don't have my love of cockroaches, but humor me here.  I know I'm always telling you how cockroaches are actually very clean because they groom themselves, but they just happen to sometimes inhabit gross areas.  Well, if you didn't believe me, I now have back up!

Science Friday has a video on cockroach grooming from research conducted by Coby Schal.  Check it out!

Poor little roaches...wonder if they call it the cone of shame for them as well?

The Cockroach Project

A few years back I was approached by Ruth Fertig, a film student at UT. She was doing a documentary on cockroaches and asked if she could speak with me; I jumped at the chance (we all know I'm a bit crazy for cockroaches). Her documentary, The Cockroach Project, was the end result. She sent a copy to me last year and as I was getting together information for my CV, it popped up on the radar. Apparently, it recently showed on the Documentary Channel (Dish Network). Here is a clip of the video:



Ruth has since graduated and moved to New York City where she continues to make documentaries.