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The Difference Between a Waterbug & a Cockroach

Insects make up more than half of all living things on earth. Many appear quite similar and are often confused with one another or may be called different names in different localities. Also, people can be confused by the terms used to identify insects versus bugs or other types of related species. This is the case with waterbugs and cockroaches, which are often mistaken for one another.

Mistaken Identity
- Many people confuse waterbugs with cockroaches. However, a true waterbug is an aquatic insect. Examples include water striders, water spiders, pond skaters, water boatmen and water scorpions. A cockroach is not an aquatic insect and therefore no waterbug is a cockroach, and no cockroach is a waterbug.
Cockroaches
- Cockroaches are one of Earth's oldest residents.
  
  The cockroach or Blattodea belong to the group of insects called Dictyoptera. There are about 4,000 species of cockroaches worldwide and of these only about 1 percent are considered pests. It is estimated that they have been on Earth for more than 250 million years. Most are nocturnal and tropical. A cockroach can live an average of two to four years and may produce more than a thousand young in his lifetime.
Waterbugs
- Waterbugs are members of the order Hemiptera, which means true bug, and the order Gerromorpha, which means they are bugs with mouth parts that suck and pierce. Waterbugs include skimming bugs, which indicates that they are partially aquatic, such as pond skaters and water skaters. Other types of waterbugs include water measurers, water crickets, water treaders or pondweed bugs, velvet water bugs and riffle bugs. Generally these bugs number about 1,500 species worldwide and have been on earth for about 55 million years. Most live on fresh water with only 10 percent being marine bugs. Waterbugs live on the surface of the water by using their water repellent hairs on their bodies against the surface tension of the water.
Contrasts Between Cockroaches and Waterbugs
- Waterbugs are predatory scavengers, while the cockroach is generally a non-aggressive insect. Waterbugs lay eggs on floating vegetation or debris in most cases, while cockroaches may lay eggs in an ootheca or an egg box which may be left in a nook or cranny somewhere or may be carried with the insect, sometimes partially extruding from the body. Waterbugs can be differentiated from cockroaches in their habitat and their eating habits as waterbugs will stab prey with their proboscis. Cockroaches are omnivorous, but they are not predators.

Insects & Science