''Megaloblatta'' is a genus of
cockroaches in the family
Ectobiidae. It includes the largest living species of cockroach, ''
Megaloblatta longipennis'', which can grow to in length and have a wingspan of up to .
''Megaloblatta'', like many other insects, use
stridulation in order to steer their predators away. The stridulating insects are less likely to be preyed upon in comparison to individuals of the species with an inability to stridulate.
Range
''Megaloblatta'' are found in
Mexico,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
,
Panama,
Nicaragua,
Peru,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, and
Ecuador.
See also
*
List of largest insects
Insects, which are a type of arthropod, are the most numerous group of multicellular organisms on the planet, with over a million species identified so far. The title of heaviest insect in the world has many contenders, the most frequently crowne ...
References
Cockroaches
Cockroach genera
Insects of Mexico
Arthropods of Colombia
Fauna of Costa Rica
Fauna of Nicaragua
Fauna of Panama
Invertebrates of Ecuador
Invertebrates of Peru
Insects of Central America
{{Cockroach-stub