Reproductive System of Male Cockroach

A cockroach is an insect that lives in damp places. It is omnivorous, eating small insects, grains, cereals, other plants, and animal products; as a result, it consumes all organic materials. The body of the cockroach is divided into three parts – head, thorax, and abdomen

The male reproductive system of cockroaches consists of the testis, phallic or conglobate gland, mushroom gland (utriculi majors and utriculi previous) vas deferens, ejaculatory duct, conglobate gland, male genital pore, genital pouch, and gonapophysis or phallometric. These are located in the abdominal part of the cockroach. 

Body Structure of  Cockroach

The body parts include the legs, antennas, eyes, mouth, salivary glands, antennae, brain, heart, gastric, and digestive system. Cockroach is an arthropod that has a tube within a tube type of body plan. It has a complete alimentary canal with a mouth and anus. Cockroaches are placed under the Blattodea order. 

These are omnivorous creatures that feed on food sources, like starch in book lining, fruits, leather, dead skin, paper, bread, and waste products. Another species of cockroach that can digest wood, is called Panesthia Cribrate.

Reproductive System of Cockroach

Reproductive System of Male Cockroach

The cockroach male reproductive system includes testes, vasa deferentia, ejaculatory duct, mushroom-shaped utricular gland, phallic gland, and external cockroach genitalia.

• Testis – There is a pair of testis present in each dorsal lateral side of the four, five, and six segments. Each testis is a three-lobe and consists of about 30 to 40 small white transparent follicles arranged in the longitudinal series. The testis appears to be well-developed in the young cockroach and full of sperms. The testis becomes non-functional and decreases in the old cockroach.
• Vasa deferentia – Vasa deferentia comes one from each testis and runs posteriorly downwards to open into the ejaculatory duct through the seminal vesicle.
• Ejaculatory duct – The ejaculatory duct is a single, median muscular duct that extends posteriorly and opens into the genital pouch through the male genital pore which lies beneath the anus.
• Mushroom gland or Utricular gland – The junction of two vas deferens and ejaculatory ducts is surrounded by a complex mushroom gland consisting of utriculi majors and utriculi breviores. Utriculi majors are long, slender peripheral tubules filled with sperms.
• Phallic or conglobate – This is a long accessory gland. Its anterior portion lies in the sixth segment and is elongated posteriorly into a tubular structure. It opens by a separate aperture that appears near the male gonopore.
• External genitalia – Asymmetrical structures surround the male gonopore at the end of the abdomen. There are three phylloxera found in the external genitalia.
• Right phylloxera – It is present in the middle dorsal position. It has two membranous lobes with a saw-toothed edge and two large teeth.
• Left phylloxera – It has a wide base where many portions evolve. On the left side is a long slender arm with a curvy hook-like structure called titillation. After that, there are short and wide arm ends with a hammer-like head called pseudopenis. Next to the pseudopenis are three small lobes called the aspirate lobes.
• Ventral phylloxera – It lies just beneath the right phylloxera. This appears in brown and holds male gonopore.
• Spermatophore – When the cockroach is young, the testis can produce sperms and move to seminal vesicles through vasa deference for storage. The sperms are joined together to form a bundle shape called a spermatophore. This spermatophore is released during the copulation of the cockroaches.

Conclusion :

So, it can be concluded that A male cockroach’s body is smaller than that of a female cockroach. A male cockroach’s abdomen is thinner than its female counterpart. In addition, the male cockroach’s abdomen has a pointed last segment, whereas the female cockroach’s abdomen has a blunt end segment. Male frogs wrap their hands around the female frogs during reproduction. The female frogs deposit the eggs and the male frogs fertilise the eggs, which further hatch into tadpoles and later develop into froglets.