We use DNA sequences from sites like Ancestry.com to reveal our ancestry, discover relatives, and expose genetic variants that can affect our health. We can do the same with cockroaches. By examining the DNA sequences of the German cockroach (Blattella germanica), we can uncover genetic traits that enabled the species to become domesticated.
Over many centuries, humans have vigorously bred and domesticated dogs, cats and other animals. The German cockroach has done so independently, without our help! Our recently published study revealed that the German cockroach and the Asian cockroach (B. asahinai) have common ancestral origins in Southeast Asia. The German cockroach diverged from the Asian cockroach about 2,100 years ago and abandoned its natural habitat in favor of domestication with humans.
As is common for parasites that depend on their host — bed bugs, for example — the German cockroach very effectively hitchhiked its way with humans across the globe. Early in its journey, around 1,200 years ago, the German cockroach traveled westward with Asian traders and armies. Around 390 years ago, it hitchhiked eastward with European trading companies and colonial troops.
This species continues to be on the move today, taking advantage of the growth, integration and acceleration of global trade and modern housing conditions such as indoor plumbing, food storage and disposal, and air conditioning that support its omnivorous lifestyle.
What’s the implication for pest control?
By understanding what makes a species evolve a domestic and parasitic lifestyle, we can understand what genetic changes allowed it to do so. Therefore, by comparing the genetic sequences of the Asian and German cockroaches, we can begin to understand why the German cockroach can thrive indoors while the Asian cockroach lives strictly outdoors.
What is it about the German cockroach that allows it to adapt traits that challenge our pest control efforts? What genetic mechanisms help it to change its taste preferences to avoid eating our baits?
Understanding where it came from and what kind of selection pressures occurred in its native Southeast Asian habitat, we can begin to understand the mechanisms that enable the German cockroach to be the “Swiss army knife” of adaptability and resilience to human pressures.
Dr. Schal is the Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professor at the North Carolina State University Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Raleigh, N.C. He can be reached at coby@ncsu.edu.
<p>The post German and Asian cockroaches: The roads more traveled first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>
from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/12/11/german-and-asian-cockroaches-the-roads-more-traveled/
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