5 Things You Didn’t Know About Cockroaches

In Pests

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Cockroaches

Cockroaches are one of the oldest insects on the earth. Dating back 320 Million years. Here are 5 things you didn’t know about cockroaches-

1. Cockroaches have cannibalistic tendencies. Cockroaches are scavengers by nature and omnivores, they will eat anything to ensure their survival. Favourite foods include sweets, meats and starches. If the food source is small or the colony has expanded more than the food can sustain then cockroaches will turn to eating their own dead. This behaviour is a benefit when using gel bait to treat them.
2. Cockroaches are flexible. They can squeeze their bodies through a gap 25% of their own height. This is down to their flexible exoskeleton and their ability to splay their legs out.
3. They can survive a while without a head. Due to their open circulatory system, and that they breathe through little holes in their body segments, they do not need their head or mouth to breathe. The cockroach only dies because with no mouth, it can not drink water and will die of dehydration.
4. They’re not very good fliers. While cockroaches have 2 sets of wings, some species of cockroach will just use the one set to furtively glide. They are much faster crawling. Travelling 3 miles a day.
5. They can hold their breath for a very long time. A cockroach can hold its breath for up to 40 minutes. Cockroaches can even survive being submerged under water for up to half an hour. And as with other insects cockroaches breathe via a system of tubes called tracheae. These lead to openings called spiracles on all body segments. When the carbon dioxide level in the insect rises high enough, the valves on the spiracles open and carbon dioxide diffuses out and fresh oxygen enters.

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