Structural organizations in animals and humans are important to consider, particularly those of insect colonies. Many people wonder what exactly determines the nature of an organism, and structural organizations in animals serve as a model for the study of living things. Insects, for instance, organize their communal bodies into distinct, distinguishable sections according to body size, shape, and function. The degree to which each segment of the colony is rigid and/or flexible influences its position in the overall pattern of animal organization.
Cockroaches are among the most commonly studied insects. These inquisitive insects are characterized by their highly varied morphologies, including the complete lack of a head. These traits make them unique among insects with a preserved head (such as aphids and brachyllids). Although cockroaches are classified as arthropods, they are among the smallest insects with the most complex body arrangements. Interestingly, this complexity is also characteristic of living structures, as cockroaches exhibit asymmetric ventricle and hemispherical egg baskets, with distinctly asymmetric ventricle joints.
The relationship between cockroach anatomy and cockroach organization is both complex and dynamic. For example, the exact relationship between cockroach head size and body size is not well understood. Head size varies directly with body size, and consequently, a large cockroach head can look comparatively tiny compared to other cockroaches. The relative proportions of the body and head size therefore influence the organization of the cockroach body. In general, cockroaches have a planar system with the head being the largest piece of the body and divided into two main parts: the proboscis, which are further divided into the mouthpiece and anus, and the hypodermic, which has a bulbous end.
Mouths and anus are situated near the base of the cockroach’s body, while its long proboscis extends far beyond the body. Hypodermus and bulbous end of the hypodermus provide the means for cockroaches to penetrate their food. Long slender tubes, referred to as caustic tubes, run from mouth to anus. These tubes supply the cockroach with saliva, which helps in the digestion of food and prevents its excretion of waste products.
Most cockroaches have elongated bodies, with the length varying between seven and nine millimeters. Long skinny tube-like segments, called pedigrees, span between seven to eight millimeters and are found along the middle of the cockroach’s body. The cockroach’s head is covered with small, hairless glands (cermosoles) that are located on either side of the tubes. These glandular secretions, released in the saliva, help to waterproof the cockroach’s body and prevent it from drying out while moving. However, these glands also produce an odor, and cockroaches often get sick if they come into contact with such stinkants. Since these are organs, cockroaches can pass their diseases to humans who come in contact with them.
All these details about the cockroach anatomy make it obvious why it is important to recognize all the members of a cockroach society. Even a large group of cockroaches does not signal danger; instead, a cockroach society contains only those cockroaches that belong to that society. When you look at cockroaches, they are living systems in complex multicellular organisms. These systems form a network and if left intact, this network will help the cockroach transmit disease, but if disrupted, the cockroach will die.
As a result, the true nature of cockroach anatomy is mostly unknown. It has been known that some populations of cockroaches do live in social groups, but the exact number of each cockroach in a household is unknown. We do know that these social groups do share some characteristics, including similar metabolic processes and the presence of some common metabolic byproducts such as disulfide bonds and sulfur compounds, but the exact nature of these characteristics in the different species of cockroaches is unknown. In addition, we know that the chemical composition of most cockroaches is similar, but no one is quite sure how these chemicals affect the development and death of cockroaches.
Structural organization is important to animals because without such organization, cockroaches would not be able to survive. However, even if we cannot learn the exact workings of the cockroach anatomy, we can recognize similarities in the general characteristics of cockroaches and other organisms that have living systems. If we do find differences in the general characteristics of living organisms, we can use this knowledge to design better living environments for the rest of the animal kingdom.