 Joseph Jacobs found 25 variants of the same droll scattered over the world from India to Spain, and discusses various theories of its origin.A second literary reference can be found in Carmen Lyra's "Cuentos de mi tía Panchita" (1920), in which, although she acknowledges it to be the same tale as Fernán Caballero's, she also leaves room for an oriental or African origin.In fact, the tale is titled "La Cucarachita Mandinga" ("Mandinga, the Little Roach") and "Mandinga" is just another name for the Mandinka people.