Definicija: The most primitive of the living winged insects. It is thought they have been unchanged for more than 300 million years, and are among the oldest fossil insects. Cockroaches are usually found in tropical climates, but a few species, out of the total 3.500 known species, have become pests. They are common household pests in many countries, imported by ship and carried home in grocery bags. Cockroaches eat plant and animal products, including food, paper, clothing and soiled hospital waste, fouling everything they touch with their droppings and unpleasant odour, to which many people are allergic. They are a major health hazard and carry harmful bacteria, protozoan parasites and faunal pathogens, including those that cause typhoid, leprosy and salmonella. Conventional insecticides make little or no impact on the cockroaches population.

Definicija: Najbolj preprosti med živečimi krilatimi žuželkami. Verjame se, da so nespremenjeni že 300 milijonov let, in spadajo med najstarejše fosilne žuželke. Ščurke ponavadi najdemo v tropskih podnebjih, vendar je nekaj izmed 3.500 znanih vrst postalo škodljivih. So znani škodljivci, v mnogih državah, prevažajo jih ladje in prinašamo jih domov v nakupovalnih vrečkah. Ščurki jedo dele rastlin in živali, pa tudi hrano, papir, oblačila in odpadke iz bolnišnic, okužijo vse, česar se dotaknejo njihovi iztrebki in oddajajo neprijeten vonj, na katerega so mnogi alergični. So velika nevarnost za človekovo zdravje in prenašajo nevarne bakterije, protozojske parazite in živalske patogene, vključno tiste, ki povzročajo tifus, gobavost in salmonelo. Navadni insekticidi imajo malo ali nič učinka na populacijo ščurkov.