07 December 2014

Kitchen dweller

From time to time an occasional cockroach turns up inside. This little one was happy to sit on the side of a kitchen cupboard while I photographed (I've rotated the photograph 90°); in fact, it was so cooperative I was able to place a ruler carefully alongside to measure it (13mm if you want to know). I like the way the photograph suggests how beautifully adapted these amazing little insects are for speed and the ability to slip away out of sight.


All content © 2014 Pete McGregor

10 comments:

Relatively Retiring said...

Not everyone would be so pleased to have him/her around. What is the function of those spikes on the legs?

pohanginapete said...

RR, I'm not sure about the spines. Possibly sensory — maybe they help it know the size of the crack into which they're slipping?

Avus said...

Nicely photoed, Pete. As you say, beautifully adapted.
However...my wife did her nurse training in an old Victorian Hospital (still being used in 1975. She comments that she once went into the staff kitchen there, turned on the light and the "black" floor dissolved and disappeared - it had been covered in the little fellows!

pohanginapete said...

Avus, I have to admit that the very adaptions that make them so successful also make some species vermin in some situations. Fortunately, my house isn't home to those species!

Deb said...

a great shot Pete :-)

pohanginapete said...

Thank you, Deb :^)

Jono said...

Super shot Pete.

Hope you are settling back into Pohangina life OK.

Jono.

pohanginapete said...

Thanks Jono. Fitness seems to have returned pretty satisfactorily, although I haven't tested it yet with an overnighter in the Ruahine. Work's keeping me distracted, too, so yes, things seem to be settling down O.K.

Anonymous said...

Amazing how beautiful you make a cockroach look!

pohanginapete said...

Robin, it's mostly just a matter of paying attention.