Cockroaches have always been of interest to me, although the first time I encountered a live one in a rented holiday cottage in Dervyshire I was slightly less than enthusiastic. Recently I have been doing some work with George Beccaloni on the Blattodea Species File and Blattodea Culture Group.
George has recently shown (finally and definitively) that termites are part of the order Blattodea (i.e. they are cockroaches). The highly organised social communities of termites are far from what most people imagine cockroaches to be, although as an order cockroaches have an immense variety in the amount of parental care given and received.
One of the most interesting of these various methods has been described here. I find the whole idea quite remarkable.
For any follow enthusiasts the Blattodea Culture Group has been reformed, and has a swish new journal, Cockroach Studies, which contaains a mix of popular and scientific articles. I am currently working on an English version of the website, which should be online soon. All of the group's publications are in English, and I wonder how many people have been put off the German only site? Until the new site goes online you can contact me using the meebo box (to the left somewhere) even if I'm offline and I will send you more details.
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