Wharf roach
The wharf roach is not a cockroach at all. It is a big relative of the woodlouse that lives on rocky seashores and harbour walls. It is dark grey and flat, with feelers even longer than its body.
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Fun facts
It lives just above where the waves reach, in damp cracks in rocks and on jetties. Sometimes there are huge crowds of them.
It breathes with flat gills on its tail end, a leftover from its relatives that live in the sea.
It drinks with its legs. Water creeps up through tiny open channels in its legs into its body.
A mother lays about 80 eggs at a time and often carries them around with her.
It travelled around the world by hiding on ships, so now it lives on many coasts far from home.
Most asked questions about Wharf roach
?Is a wharf roach a cockroach?
No. It looks a bit like one, but it is a sea slater, a relative of the woodlouse and of crabs.
?Do wharf roaches bite?
No, they are harmless and usually run away quickly.
?What do wharf roaches eat?
Tiny algae on the rocks and leftover bits of dead plants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ligia exotica
- Named by
- Roux, 1828
- Group
- Woodlice
- Family
- Ligiidae
- Classification
- Malacostraca > Isopoda > Ligiidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Sea roach, Sea slater
Where the facts come from
- Ligia exotica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Daiju Azuma. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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