Kim Taylor / American cockroach {Periplaneta americana} female carrying egg case.

Chris Mattison / Orange-spotted cockroach (Blaptica dubia) nymph. Endemic to Central and South America.

MYN / Piotr Naskrecki / Wood cockroach (Parcoblatta pennsylvanica) female with eggcase, St Michaels, Maryland, USA, June. meetyourneighbours.net project

MYN / Piotr Naskrecki / Wood cockroach (Parcoblatta pennsylvanica) dorsal view of female with eggcase, St Michaels, Maryland, USA, June. meetyourneighbours.net project

John Abbott / False death's head / Discoid cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis) captive

John Abbott / False death's head / Discoid cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis) captive

John Abbott / False death's head / Discoid cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis) captive

Piotr Naskrecki / Cockroach (Blattodea sp.) on leaf, Guinea

Oriol Alamany / American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana) at night, Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Pascua or Rapa Nui) Pacific

Rod Williams / Bullhorn cockroach (Archimandrita tesselata) captive, from Central and South America

Rod Williams / Jewel / Emerald cockroach wasp (Ampulex compressa) collecting pebbles for nest. Captive, found in India, SE Asia

Stephen Dalton / American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) UK

Stephen Dalton / American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) feeding on food on tiled floor, UK

Stephen Dalton / American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) on corner of room, UK

Stephen Dalton / Oriental cockroach (Blatta blatta) on dried pasta, UK

Mark Bowler / American cockroach {Periplaneta americana}

Mark Bowler / American cockroach {Periplaneta americana}

Mark Bowler / Giant Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorina portentosa)

Mark Bowler / Giant Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorina portentosa)

Rod Williams / Jewel Wasp (Ampulex compressa) captive from India and South East Asia

Pete Oxford / Giant armoured cockroach (Gromphadorhina sp?) Lake Tsimanampetsotsa soda lake, Tsimanampetstsa National Park, SW MADAGASCAR

Pete Oxford / Giant armoured cockroach (Gromphadorhina sp?) Lake Tsimanampetsotsa soda lake, Tsimanampetstsa National Park, SW MADAGASCAR 2005

Pete Oxford / Madagascar Hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) being eaten by Tree-hole or Huntsman spider. Daraina Special Reserve, Northern MADAGASCAR

Pete Oxford / Madagascar Hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) being eaten by Tree-hole or Huntsman spider. Daraina Special Reserve, Northern MADAGASCAR

Rod Williams / Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) Captive

Pete Oxford / Giant cockroach (Blaberus giganteus) Amazonia, Ecuador

Robert Valentic / Australian Cockroach, species unknown. 25mm long. Kalbarri, Western Australia

Kim Taylor / Giant Cockroach {Blaberus giganteus} in flight, Trinidad, West Indies. Digital composite.

GEORGETTE DOUWMA / Cockroaches on cave wall, showing different stages of larvae and nymphs, with at the top of the picture a fully developed cockroach. Gomontong cave, Sabah, Malaysia.

Kim Taylor / American cockroach {Periplaneta americana} newly moulted adult

Kim Taylor / Oriental cockroach {Blatta orientalis} at night swarming over left over food.

Kim Taylor / American cockroach {Periplaneta americana} newly moulted adult

Kim Taylor / Tawny cockroach {Ectobius pallidus} female with egg sac on grass stem, Europe

Kim Taylor / Oriental cockroach {Blatta orientalis} at night swarming over food remains

Kim Taylor / American cockroach {Periplaneta americana} female carrying egg case.

Rod Williams / Jewel wasp {Ampulex compressa} from Asia

Pete Oxford / Hissing cockroach in hand {Gromphadorhina sp} Madagascar

JIM CLARE / Common cockroaches in bat cave {Blatta orientalis} Trinidad

TIM MARTIN / Giant cockroach {Blaberus giganteus} Costa Rica Guanacaste

Kim Taylor / American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana) recently moulted.

Kim Taylor / American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana) female, captive

Kim Taylor / Oriental Cockroaches (Blatta blatta) feed on sandwich

Kim Taylor / Giant forest cockroach (unidentified) Trinidad, captive

Kim Taylor / Tawny Cockroach (Ectobius pallidus) female carrying egg pod, UK.

Kim Taylor / Giant Cockroach (unidentified), cut-out, Trinida

Mark Taylor / Cockroach (unidentified) Borneo. Captive

Nick Garbutt / Giant hissing cockroach {Elliptorhina javanica} Berenty PR, Madagascar

Andrew Parkinson / Sea cockroaches retreating from advancing tide {Ligia dilatata} Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Premaphotos / Broad wood cockroach (Parcoblatta lata) female carrying her egg mass (ootheca), South Carolina, USA

Premaphotos / Cockroach (Aptera fusca) hissing and standing on its head in a threat to squirt a defensive liquid, South Africa

Premaphotos / Lesser cockroach (Ectobius panzeri) female feeding on Sea mayweed flower, UK

Premaphotos / Cockroach (Homalopteryx laminata) female amongst leaf litter on the forest floor, Trinidad

Premaphotos / Cockroach (Paratropes lycoides), which from a distance resembles a fallen seed pod but close-up has warning coloration somewhat like a distasteful lycid beetle, in rainforest, Peru

Premaphotos / Giant cockroach (Blaberus giganteus) last instar nymph in a room with a bat roost, Trinidad

Premaphotos / Giant cockroach (Blaberus giganteus) amongst bat droppings in a cave full of roosting bats in rainforest, Trinidad

Premaphotos / Cockroach (Gyna sp) a mimic of dead leaves, in forest, Kenya

Premaphotos / Cockroach (Methana marginalis) female carrying her egg-case (ootheca) in rainforest, Queensland

Premaphotos / Cockroach (Ellipsidion sp.) in Eucalyptus forest, Queensland, Australia

Premaphotos / Hissing cockroach (Elliptorhina javanica) at night in tropical dry forest, Madagascar

Premaphotos / Australian cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae) feeding on a cake at night in a house, Costa Rica

Adrian Davies / Common cockroach on bread {Blatta orientalis} UK

Rod Williams / American cockroach {Periplaneta americana cosmopolitan}

Pete Oxford / Hissing cockroach {Gromphadorhina sp.} Madagascar

Dan Burton / Madagascar hissing cockroaches {Gromphadorhina portentosa} captive