In our daily life, we notice tons of insects, animals, birds, and other organisms roaming around in the open environment. While many of us happen to be aware of many of these organisms in their correct sense, certain such organisms can confuse people to a huge extent because of having certain similarities in their appearance.
Cockroach and Water bug are two such insects that people often understand interchangeably and get confused about. While both of these appear similar in their outer look, they carry a lot of significant differences in many aspects.
Cockroach vs Water Bug
The main difference between Cockroach and Water Bug is that the former belongs to the order Blattodea and happens to be an insect found on land with large antennas and a flat body structure. But on the contrary, the latter belong to the order Hemiptera and happens to be a water insect with legs that help it in swimming its way across the water. This is not the only difference, and there exist a lot of differences between the lifestyle of these two.
A cockroach, on the one hand, happens to belong to the order Blattodea and is the main insect found on land almost everywhere on the earth. This insect can have a size up to 1.5 inches usually, but there is no definite size limit as the color and size of this insect can differ from species to species. This can usually be found in humid places because it likes to hide in such places to feel the warmth of the earth. To survive, this insect feeds on almost everything that comes in its way, be it a plant, a smaller insect, or any leftover food.
But on the contrary, a Water bug is another kind of species of insect as it is found in water rather than land. It can be noticed in many water bodies across the world and carries a similar appearance to cockroaches. This is the reason behind the confusion of many people between a cockroach and a water bug. It happens to be bigger in size and even dangerous than the cockroach as it can bite humans also. To survive, this insect feeds upon smaller insects found in the water and uses a very powerful liquid built inside its body to kill its prey.
Comparison Table Between Cockroach and Water Bug
| Parameters of Comparison | Cockroach | Water Bug |
| Meaning | It is an insect found on land with large antennas and a flat body. | it can be any type of bug found in water that stays in the water and feeds in water, and carries long legs that help it in swimming. |
| Another name | Also known as American roach or roach. | Also known as a true bug. |
| Order | Belong to the order Blattodea. | Belongs to the order Hemiptera. |
| Found in | It wanders on land and stays in a humid atmosphere. | It wanders inside water and stays in it only. |
| Nature | It has a nature of a scavenger as it can feed upon almost anything. | It owns a nature of a hunter because it hunts its prey. |
| Size | Up to 1.5 inches generally. | Up to 2.5 inches generally. |
| Harm to humans | It rarely causes any harm to humans. | It can bite humans and leave a nasty bite behind. |
What is Cockroach?
Popularly known by another name Roach, a Cockroach can be described as a species of insect that is usually found on land all over the world. It belongs to the same order to which termites belong. That is the order Blattodea. They have more than 5000 varieties ranging between different sizes, colors, and lifestyles.
A cockroach happens to be adaptive towards climate and can survive in almost any weather condition. Looking at the structure of this insect, it carries two large antennas on its head and looks like a flat shape insect. It is usually seen in many households, and sometimes it is categorized as a pest.
In the normal course, it happens to exist in the size of almost 1.5 inches. This insect happens to be very fond of humid and warm temperatures, and therefore it prefers staying in inner areas. To survive, this insect feet up on almost everything that it can found easily. It can be fungi, algae, leftover food, smaller insects, etc.
This insect does not cause any direct bodily harm to humans, such as bite marks, etc. but can be responsible for certain medical complications in the place where they are found due to poor hygiene.
What is Water Bug?
Found in numerous water bodies, a water bug happens to be an insect in the world of water only. Almost 2000 species of this insect are found all over the earth, and they all differ from one another in terms of their colors, sizes, and patterns of living.
It has a cockroach-like structure but lacks direct antennas. It has very wide legs that have a great grasp over the water. These help the water bug in its swimming activities across the water. In most cases, this insect happens to exist in black color. It is a size of almost 2.5 inches.
It feeds upon small insects, fishes, amphibians, etc., to survive. The body of this insect carries a very special enzyme that helps this insect in finding food. Basically, this insect injects this enzyme somehow into the body of its prey resulting in liquifying the body of the prey.
However, a drawback associated with this insect is that it can sometimes bite humans as well and leave a nasty mark behind. In its social life, it prefers to stay without the company.
Main Differences Between Cockroach and Water Bug
- The cockroach is an insect found on land with large antennas and a flat body. While a Water bug can be any type of bug found in water that stays in the water and feeds in water, and carries long legs that help it in swimming.
- The cockroach is known as the American cockroach or roach, while the Water bug is known as the true bug.
- Cockroach belongs to the order Blattodea, while Water bug belongs to the order Hemiptera.
- Cockroach stays on land while Water bug stays in the water.
- A cockroach happens to be harmless to humans, while A Water bug can be harmful.
Conclusion
After looking at all the comparisons and differences between a cockroach and a water bug, it can be ascertained that these two look similar indeed but still happen to be a lot more different than one another. While the cockroach is an insect of land and usually not harmful to humans, a water bug happens to be slightly harmful towards humans and resides inside water rather than land. Other differences between the two lie in the aspect of their size, lifestyle, feeding nature, etc.
Although a cockroach is not considered harmful to humans, it still causes certain hygiene and medical complications. And talking about a water bug, it can even bite humans. So, regardless of which one of these is in front of a human, he must stay aware anyways.
References
- https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/43832
- https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3678&context=extensionhist