College : CMR National PU College, ITPL, Bengaluru

Sample: Periplaneta americana (cockroach)

Site of collection of sample: Kundalahalli, Bengaluru

Date of Collection: 19 February 2019

Date of Observation: 19 February 2019

Students involved: Navyaa Shah, A.S.Vidisha, Malavika Rajesh

Observation:

The morphology of a Cockroach was observed under a foldscope. The cockroach comes under the genus Periplaneta and phylum Arthropoda.

The body of a cockroach is divided into head, thorax and abdomen. The antennae of the cockroach when viewed with the naked eye, appear as thin projections from the head region of the cockroach. However, when viewed under a foldscope, they appear to be segmented and also possess a large number of hair-like projections. These serve the functions of sense organs as they possess sensory receptors. The prothoracic legs of a cockroach were also observed under the foldscope. They also seemed to be covered with similar hair-like structures. The entire body of a cockroach is covered by a brown, hard, chitinous exoskeleton.