Megaloblatta

Megaloblatta is a genus of Neotropical cockroaches in the family Ectobiidae. Species in this genus are 4 to 9.7 cm (1.6–3.8 in) long and can have a wingspan of up to 20 cm (8 in); the world's largest cockroach by length and wingspan is M. longipennis.^[1][2][3]

Megaloblatta
Megaloblatta longipennis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Blattodea
Family:	Ectobiidae
Subfamily:	Nyctiborinae
Genus:	Megaloblatta Dohrn, 1887
Species
Megaloblatta blaberoides Megaloblatta insignis Megaloblatta longipennis (Walker, 1868) Megaloblatta regina

Megaloblatta, like many other insects, use stridulation in order to steer their predators away.^[4] The stridulating insects are less likely to be preyed upon in comparison to individuals of the species with an inability to stridulate.^[5]

Range

Megaloblatta blaberoides in Costa Rica; the three other species are all restricted to South America

The four Megaloblatta species have separate distributions: M. blaberoides ranges from southern Mexico, through Central America to Colombia and Ecuador; M. insignis is restricted to French Guiana and Suriname; M. longipennis is restricted to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru (although sometimes reported from Panama, this is based on misidentifications of M. blaberoides); and M. regina is from Amazonian Ecuador and Brazil.^[1][6][7][8]

See also

• List of largest insects