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Flat Orange and Black bug
January 9, 2010
I saw this starnge looking bug in rotten tree stumps in Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa in December. The photo is the posterior, unfortunately I did not get to see the head end. Any idea what it is?
Thanks, Jon Cooper
Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Mountain Cockroaches

Dear Jon,
Though the photo does not provide the best angle for identification purposes, we thought this must be a species of Cockroach.  When we did a web search of “Cockroach South Africa”, we found a biodiversity page on life in Southern Africa with an image of the Cape Mountain Cockroach, Aptera fusca which states:  “The Cape Mountain Cockroach has an interesting biology in that the eggs mature and hatch inside the female so that she ‘gives birth’ to young. In this species the male is winged and the female wingless (hence the generic name meaning ‘without wings’).“  We found some photos online, and some dialog on pet blogs, but the only source of information on the Cape Mountain Cockroach we could quickly uncover was on Wikipedia which states:  “The Cape mountain cockroach, Aptera fusca is a giant cockroach which lives in the fynbos biome of the Western Cape region of South Africa. Adult females can be from 30 to 40 mm long. Males are slightly smaller, and have wings, which are absent in females. Unusually for insects, it gives birth to 18-24 live offspring and protects the young for a while after giving birth. When alarmed, it raises its abdomen into the air and squeaks loudly“.

Thanks for that Daniel,
I thought it was a cockroach at the time but my googling was not as successful as yours. Have looked at pictures on internet and I think you’ve got it right.
Thanks again,
Jon cooper

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