Scary Cockroach Facts You Didn’t Know

Did you know that the fear of roaches is called Katsaridaphobia? Now you know. It is reported by the AAFA that 60% of homes in the United States have roaches. And among those, 30% have experienced serious infestations. That is to say that six out of ten homes have had roaches. And out of those, 2 have had serious infestations.

This could be any home. So what are some scary facts about these creatures that can help you stay on your toes while dealing with them?

1. Roaches can go for one month without food.

Ever heard of intermittent fasting? Intermittent fasting is a program with a focus on when to eat rather than how much. This is designed for those seeking to lose weight. It is doable but it is an uphill task because of our dependence on food for survival. For most human beings, even going for 3 days without food can be impossible. What about roaches?

These bugs can live up to a month without eating! That’s a bad sign for the starvation system.

However, they’re extremely sensitive to dehydration: a cockroach can’t survive longer than a week without water. Even a few parched days can make a roach too sluggish to get by.

When you take away their food and water, a cockroach immediately begins shedding weight.2 Its cells die at a higher rate. Mitosis—cell division—slows by up to 50% as part of the insect’s natural response to a lack of food and water. You’re winning!

Of course, you wouldn’t see this happening. Here’s what you would see:

Reduced cockroach activity: Without adequate food and water, cockroaches become weak and lethargic. They’ll stop scurrying around as much. If you were seeing a lot of roaches, you’ll notice a big difference within a few days. Read more from Cockroach facts…

2. Roaches are cannibalistic

You didn’t read that wrong. Cockroaches feast on one another. This is especially the case when infestation numbers are high and food is scarce. Even more interesting is the fact that they don’t just feed off each other for cannibalistic purposes.

For certain cockroaches living inside rotten logs in Asia, nothing says “I love you” like some minor cannibalism.

Newly mated pairs of one species, Salganea taiwanensis, take turns chewing each other’s wings down to stubs after they move into the homes where they will jointly raise babies. Scientists say this unique behavior may have evolved because of the roaches’ truly monogamous bond.

Haruka Osaki, who published the finding last month in Ethology, first happened upon some wingless roaches in 2014. She had been collecting insects from the woods as a hobby since becoming a biology student at Kyushu University in Japan the previous year. “When I caught the wood-feeding cockroaches in the wild, I noticed that their wings were chewed by something,” Ms. Osaki said. Read more from The New York Times…

3. Roaches can survive without their heads

Cockroaches don’t need their head to breathe, they usually breathe through their body. They have an open circulatory system. But a major downside for them is that they need water to survive and can only get water into their system through their mouth. So it is impossible for them to survive headless for too long.

Here’s a fun fact you can bring up at the next family barbecue. Cockroaches have adapted to such a level that they can survive several weeks without their heads. This is due to the fact that their control centers are not located in their heads but in their thorax, a marvel adaptation. While headless, cockroaches can still lay eggs. It just goes to show that these creatures are the ultimate embodiment of what lengths nature will go to survive.

Cockroaches are amazing creatures that, despite their bad reputation, are a marvel of nature and a testament to the will of life to continue and survive. As amazing as they are, they can still pose a health threat to you and your family in the form of allergies and asthma. Read more from Cramer pest control…

But listen, you don’t need to be afraid of these little creatures anymore. You can get rid of them. The catch, however, is to deal with them efficiently so they don’t come back, and the only way to guarantee that is to get a pest control expert to do it. You can trust Backyard Bug Patrol to get rid of the roaches so you don’t have to share your home with them. Contact us today for inquiries and quotations.