When I lived in North Queensland, I tried to declare war on the cockroaches. Not the ones in the garden but the introduced species that love to hang around with people. I lost the war. I might have postponed defeat had I used insecticides but the collateral damage might have been too great. There was a bunch of insects (and insect-eaters) that I didn't mind around the house and I didn't want to kill any those. Just the bloody cockroaches.
But now I'm in Melbourne, I'm facing a quandary. There are cockroaches in the house. Not the introduced Periplaneta, which drove me mad in NQ, but a garden-loving native, Drymaplaneta. It's about the same size − 'ken huge − and looks similar but has a rather more laconic attitude. And it doesn't fly. That's a big plus.
Do I tolerate them? (When I say them, I saw this one yesterday, which was the first sighting for about ten months. So we're not talking Plagues of Egypt here.) Do I relocate them? Or do I use them as an excuse to educate myself on the wonderful variety of cockroaches here in Australia?
Hmmm ... let me think.
David Rentz's superb book 'Grasshopper Country' doesn't have much on this genus. (It's an excellent introduction to Australian cockroaches. Yes, they're related to grasshoppers. And stick insects. Go buy it to find out more.) So, if I get a moment at work tomorrow, I'll run a literature search on Drymaplaneta to see what I can find. Watch this space. I'll watch the cockroaches.
