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Sticker of Cape Mountain cockroach
Bug card No. 0786 of 4,939

Cape Mountain cockroach

Aptera fusca
Eats: PlantsCockroaches and termitesGardens and meadows6 legs

The Cape Mountain cockroach is a big, chunky wild cockroach from South Africa. It is dark with bright yellow edges on its body and a reddish head. It is not a house pest. It lives outdoors on low plants on the mountains.

Lives in
The Western Cape of South Africa, in the fynbos shrublands
Length
2.9 to 4 cm (1.1 to 1.6 in)
Top speed
about 3.5 km/h (2.2 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. If you pick it up it squirts a smelly liquid that leaves a brown stain on your skin, so better just look.
What does it eat?
It eats plants and comes out to feed at night.
For real!Photo of Cape Mountain cockroach
Picture by User:Slashme. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Cape Mountain cockroach about 4 cm long (1.6 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 7 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 1 secondsmoves 24 times its own body length every second

How big is Cape Mountain cockroach compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Unusually for an insect, the mother gives birth to 18 to 24 live babies instead of laying eggs.

2

The mother looks after her babies for a while after they are born.

3

When it is scared, it lifts its back end into the air and squeaks loudly.

4

The females have no wings, and the males have dark brown wings.

5

Families live together hidden in a crack: the mother, two or more males and the black babies.

you asked

Most asked questions about Cape Mountain cockroach

?Is the Cape Mountain cockroach a pest?

No. It lives outdoors on mountain plants, not in houses.

?What does the Cape Mountain cockroach do when it is scared?

It raises its back end, squeaks loudly and squirts a smelly liquid.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Aptera fusca
Group
Cockroaches and termites
Family
Blaberidae
Classification
Insecta > Blattodea > Blaberidae
Lives on
Africa
Also known as
Giant cockroach, Table Mountain cockroach

Where the facts come from

  1. Aptera fusca (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by User:Slashme. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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