About Aptera fusca (Thunberg, 1784)
Aptera fusca, commonly known as the Cape Mountain cockroach, giant cockroach, or Table Mountain cockroach, is a large cockroach widespread on low vegetation in open areas of the fynbos biome in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Adult females measure 30 to 40 millimetres (1.2 to 1.6 inches) in length. Males are slightly smaller, with a body length of 29 millimetres (1.1 inches); males have dark brown wings, which females lack. This species has a stout build, a reddish head, and brown to black body segments marked with prominent yellow margins. Its femora are heavily spined, and the hind tibiae have two very broad ridges with only two rows of spurs. Aptera fusca is nocturnal and herbivorous. Unusually for insects, it gives birth to 18 to 24 live offspring and protects its young for a period after birth. In late summer and autumn, family groups consisting of a brood of black nymphs, a wingless female, and two or more males can be found living together in hidden cracks. When alarmed, the species raises its abdomen into the air and produces a loud squeak. If handled while alarmed, it also releases a foul-smelling liquid from glands on its back that leaves an indelible brown stain on human skin. A. munda, the only other species in the genus Aptera, is rare and found in the Richtersveld.
