HOLLYWOOD — The big one is out there. The granddaddy of them all. The biggest one in the United States.

And the students at McNicol Middle School may find it — again.

On Wednesday, 40 students in Susan Quinn’s science class manhandled dozens of cockroaches in the kickoff of the second annual Roach-Off, the search for the nation’s largest cockroach. The school got the honor of being the first to be infested because last year, the nation’s largest cockroach was discovered by a 10-year-old McNicol student.

The person who brings in the heftiest critter by June wins $1,000 and a trip to Washington to watch the winning cockroach be enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution’s Insect Zoo.

The winner last year, Laine Snyder, has moved from Florida, but other McNicol students want to keep the school’s name in the Smithsonian.

Take Frank Alvarez, 11, who let contest coordinator Michael “Cockroach Dundee” Bohdan place a hissing 3-inch monster from Madagascar onto his hand. “Hey, no problem,” he said. “I handle lizards. This is just a cockroach.”

Alvarez plans to go roach hunting as soon as he can. “I’d like to get the biggest cockroaches. My mother would scream, though, when I brought it home.” He thought a moment. “She sure wouldn’t scream if I brought home that $1,000.”

But other students weren’t so keen on having their library turned into a Roach Motel. “Cock-a-roaches, they’re disgusting,” said Coretta Ward, 14.

When the students first saw the roaches, some of them, in their words, freaked. “Bleagghh!” was the most common reaction.

After a minute or two of exposure to the roaches, most of the students were fascinated by them. They pelted Bohdan with questions like “What kind is that?” and “How do they see?” and, most often, “How big is that one?”

Bohdan calmly answered them, handing the students large roaches from all over the world. He made certain none of the crawlies stayed in the library after he left — though he did drop them a couple of times, prompting a chorus of shrieks.

Some students were amazed how strong the roaches’ hairy legs were. Bohdan said a human that strong in proportion to size could lift a garbage truck.

Cockroaches have been around for 350 million years and would easily outlive man, Bohdan said.

Barbara Van Creveld, assistant director of the Smithsonian’s Insect Zoo, came to the school to explain insect physiology to potential roach hunters.

Bohdan, a Dallas exterminator, started the contest last year to raise awareness about roaches, which he called the most serious pest problem in the country. The makers of Combat Roach Control System have joined Bohdan in sponsoring the contest.

The rules: Live cockroaches need not apply. They must be dead, but not squashed. Those much smaller than last year’s winner, which was more than 2 inches long, won’t have a chance.

Roaches can either be taken to one of the regional Roach-Offs or sent in strong packages — some got flattened by the Post Office last year — to Bohdan at The Pest Shop, 2231B W. 15th St., Plano, Texas, 75075.

The judging for South Florida is May 4 at Alert Lear Pest Control in Miami, with other competitions in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Louisville, Ky. The Roach-Off finals will be in June in New York.

Some McNicol students are poised for the competition, even if they never thought about roaches before.

“I just step on them when I see them,” said Eric Poirot, 13. “I guess I better stop stepping on them if I want to win this contest.”

AMERICAN COCKROACH

— NAME: Periplaneta americana.

— ENGLISH NAME: Cockroach, from Spanish cucaracha.

— LIFESPAN: 1-1 1/2 years.

— HABITAT: Outdoors and dark, heated indoor areas such as basements.

— LENGTH: 1-2 inches (30-50 mm).

— PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES: Reddish-brown exoskeleton, feelers for smell, leg bristles for touch, wings.

— FAVORITE FOODS: Book bindings, paper, soap, plants, dead animals and bedbugs.

— RESISTANCES: Heat, cold, radiation, poison and almost everything else.

SOURCE: Encyclopaedia Brittanica, World Book Encyclopedia