The Giant Burrowing Cockroach in Mareeba

And that’s where they belong! Many locals are not aware that one of the world’s largest cockroaches can be found in Mareeba. The Giant Burrowing Cockroach, Macropanesthia rhinoceros, has a fairly broad range in eastern Australia and that includes a population near Mareeba. Adults are large, 60mm and 30g in weight. They are wingless and dark brown in colour.

Giant Burrowing Cockroaches require compact soils in fairly arid lands. The populations are disjunct. That means they are not continuous or contiguous but occur just where the conditions are perfect for their development.

The area around Granite Gorge Park, near Mareeba, is one of the few local sites where these cockroaches can be found. At certain times of the year males venture forth and can be seen crossing roads. They are subterranean most of the time and make winding burrows under eucalypts, casuarinas and acacias. The burrows are unbranched and can meander for a metre or more underground. At the end of the borrow is a ‘nursery’ where the young reside and where the mothers provide a supply of their food — dry eucalypt and other leaves are stored. Often there is a bit of dry grass, presumably as a sort of nesting material.

The forelegs of the cockroach are modified for heavy digging and if you are in the right place at the right time, you can see soil being flipped out of the hole while the cockroach digs. The fore part of the thorax serves as a type of shovel. Once you know what to look for, you can spot burrows by the characteristic appearance of the entrance hole.

Mothers attend the young cockroaches for a time and adult males may occupy burrows with subadult females. Females produce up to 20 young that take about three years to mature.

November and January are times to check for the wandering roaches. The “wanderers” are almost always males looking for burrows harbouring females. During the dry season, the roaches stay in their burrows and feed upon stored leaves.

The Giant Burrowing Cockroach can produce a hissing sound caused by forcing air out of its spiracles. Adults can live for up to seven years and since they feed only on dry leaves, they make ideal pets since they harbour no diseases and live for a long time. They are easy to care for and appreciate a bit of apple to provide moisture. They are frequently sold in pet shops.

The Giant Burrowing Cockroach would not be able to find its way into your kitchen and if it did, it would likely perish from dehydration. They have few natural enemies but feral pigs have a fondness for these insects and often ravage burrows.