them until the eggs hatch but female Asian cockroaches produces fewer oothecae in comparison to the German cockroach, producing approximately four oothecae in their lifetime, each averaging 35 - 40 eggs. Asian Cockroaches have longer initial and subsequent pre-oviposition periods than its German counterpart, and their eggs require slightly longer time to hatch. Asian adult females produce their first egg ootheca approximately 13 days after becoming an adult, and the period from when the ootheca first appeared to hatching is approximately 19 days. The female German cockroach can produce an Ootheca after approximately 8 days after becoming an adult with an incubation period of approximately 17 days. The oothecae of the Asian cockroach appears slightly smaller than that of the German cockroach as well as once hatched, the Asian cockroach is notably smaller than the German cockroach at the time of its first instar. The Asian cockroach is most fertile from February to May as well as in August through to September. Shortly after hatching, nymph cockroaches turn from white to brown and their skin hardens. Asian cockroach females requires 60 - 70 days to become an adult, slightly longer than the males. The lifetime of male and female Asian Cockroaches are approximately 50 and 100 days respectively, compared with the German cockroach which lives on average 130 for males and 150 days for females. An occasion where an Asian and a German mate with one another is extremely rare due to the behavioural differences of the two species but this can occur. On the rare occasion they produce viable offspring, it has the ability to fly and inherits the insecticide resistance the German possesses. Beneficial insect In 2006, entomologist Robert Pfannenstiel conducted research on the ecology of predators of crop pests in Texas, in particular the Asian cockroach. Asian cockroaches ventured west into Texas in 2006, and became the most common predator of bollworm eggs in the state's Rio Grande Valley region. The bollworm threatens cotton, soybean, corn (maize), and tomato crops. Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) and Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) are leading pests of soybean crops in Southern Texas. Their eggs were placed on the leaves of soybean crops, without pesticides, and were observed in 3-hour increments over 24 hours to observe both the night and day behaviour of predators towards the pests of the crops. From 2001 to 2005 similar tests were conducted on the predation of Lepidopteran eggs