Oh, hey, it's the smell of fresh paint in your new apartment. Allie Ward, don't you dare leave. Don't you leave. I'm holding your hand, maybe a little too firmly for you to get away. I'm urging you to be strong. Let's learn about cockroaches. First of all, it's spooktober. All right. Secondly, there's so much to love. Is there sort of? Find out with me, a person who, until this interview, knew of very few redeeming qualities of a roach, but now I would have a chat with one if its mouth worked that way.

Now, this expert was recommended to me by another ologist who I adore, and when I told her I needed a cockroach person, she instantly named them.

They are an entomology assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

They run a cockroach lab. This guest studied biology for undergrad and ecology and evolution

for their PhD, and we'll talk to them about what is a cockroach and why they are

not quite what you think they are. But first, just a quick thanks to patrons of the show who submit

questions for the ologists ahead of time. Thanks to everyone wearing ologies merch from ologiesmerch.com,

and thanks to everyone who leaves reviews, which helped the show so much, such as this crisp new one

from Not Abby, who wrote a poem review. I know nothing,

but then I listen to Ologies. Now I know a little something. Ain't that great. Not Abby,

that's me snapping my fingers in an appreciative way. Also, if anyone needs shorter kid-friendly

episodes for their children or classroom safe, we have Smologis, S-M-O-L-O-G-I-E-S, wherever you get your podcasts.

There's a separate feed you can subscribe to.

Okay, so first off, the term cockroach comes from the Spanish, Cougaracha, which stems from Cucca for a caterpillar.

But in Latin, the word

blata means that which shuns the light. So let's shed some light on these low-profile,

skittish little critters. Let's learn about their bonkers, their preferred diets, ones that

look like emeralds and candy corn, how to catch a rainforest cockroach if you want to.

They're stunning diversity.

Why we need cockroaches in the wild, at least, but also how to get them out of your house,

how they got there in the first place, and some behavioral aspects that will make you wish you had one as a pal,

maybe a pet, with entomologist,

...