Courtesy of Mark Batty Publisher

With all the hype about bedbugs and stink bugs lately, you’d think they were the first pests to ever invade our homes. But what about that old standby, the cockroach? I’m guessing he may feel a little neglected with these competitors stealing all the attention. But they’re just a flash in the pan. Cockroaches have been with us for millennia, and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, they might outlive us: they can live three months without food, a month without water, and a month without a head. It takes 15 times as much radiation to kill a cockroach as it does to kill a human. They’re here to stay, so we might as well learn about them.

A delightful new book, An Illustrated Guide to Cockroaches, does its part to demystify our household companion. Here are a few pages from the book as a preview. Look and learn.

 

For more bug news, tune in to Science Friday this week, where we’ll be talking about a more beloved crawler, Charlotte the spider, and her creator E. B. White.