Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Cockroaches You Might Not Know

The record for breath-holding by a human is only 22 minutes and 22 seconds, while a small cockroach can hold its breath for up to 40 minutes. Can you believe that they can survive for a whole month without eating or hold their breath for 40 minutes underwater without a hitch? It's truly miraculous. Perhaps even professional swimmers would envy this extraordinary ability of cockroaches. Just this first fact alone might make you reconsider underestimating these creatures. Especially, some cockroaches can live without a head. They breathe through small openings in the body segments without the need for respiration through the nose. It's quite unbelievable, isn't it?

A human without a head would meet Death, but a headless cockroach can still live for up to 30 days. The reason is that a cockroach doesn't have just one brain but possesses nerve ganglia distributed throughout its body, enabling quick and responsive reactions to threats, and it continues to 'breathe in and out' to maintain normal life. The legend of the robust vitality of cockroaches in an environment filled with radiation originated from the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on the two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945. Scientific reports recorded that cockroaches - insects that have been around for hundreds of millions of years - were the only surviving creatures in the rubble of the two cities. So, what empowered cockroaches? The reason is that cockroaches have a simple body structure and a slower cell development cycle than humans. Cells sensitive to their radiation only divide once a week, each time lasting up to 48 hours. Therefore, the chances for radiation rays to attack and destroy cells are very low.

After reading this information, you may no longer underestimate the swarm of cockroaches as they are practically 'superheroes' that can live without a head. When decapitated, they can survive for a few more weeks before dying, not because they lose their heads but because they can't ingest food and water. The reason they are so extraordinary is that cockroaches breathe through openings all over their bodies, and their blood does not circulate oxygen. In their bodies, there are no high-pressure vessels pumping blood everywhere; the life-sustaining fluid simply stays still as a unified mass. So, when their heads are cut off, blood cannot spurt out, but they lose the ability to search for food, an activity performed based on the coordination of the brain and antennae. Physiologist and biochemist Joseph Kunkel from Amherst College, Massachusetts (USA), studied the development of cockroaches to understand the reasons behind their survival when headless and why humans cannot do the same.

In addition to the above factors, cockroaches are also cold-blooded creatures, meaning they need much less blood than the metabolic activity of humans. 'An insect can survive for weeks with a meal they have,' Kunkel said. Insect biologist Christopher Tipping at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown experimented by carefully cutting off the heads of two American cockroaches 'under a microscope' and healing the wounds with wax, preventing them from dying due to fluid loss. The result was that the two creatures extended their lifespan for a few more weeks in a jar. 'They stood firm, touched each other, and moved around.' Not only did their bodies survive without a head, the cockroach heads themselves also survived, waving their antennae for a few hours before losing all moisture. If provided with nourishment and kept cool, it can live even longer.

A single cockroach is only about the size of a thumb, yet it has become the terror of many. So, what if its size was multiplied many times, reaching a length of up to 0.5 meters? It might sound fantastical, but that was the size of prehistoric cockroaches that coexisted with dinosaurs. Today, although they cannot reach a length of 50 cm, tropical cockroaches can still grow up to 18 cm. Prehistoric cockroaches were nocturnal predators with a shape somewhat similar to present-day beetles. A specimen of the prehistoric cockroach Manipulator modificaputis, dating back 100 million years, was found in transparent amber at a mine in Noije Bum, Myanmar.

Peter Vršanský, a geology expert in Bratislava, Slovakia, stated that the cockroach specimen originated from the Early Cretaceous. According to Nature World News, it belonged to a group of nocturnal predatory cockroaches that are now extinct, with a shape not much different from today's beetles. Unlike present-day cockroaches, which cannot easily rotate their heads and can only lower the flattened head straight down while eating, prehistoric cockroaches had a long neck, allowing them to freely rotate their heads. They also had long, slender legs, similar to many present-day insect predators. According to an article published in the Geologica Carpathica journal, the cockroach specimen was a carnivorous insect that could hunt prey at night. This is in contrast to modern-day cockroaches, as they only consume food, old books, and other decomposed items.

Despite their extraordinary capabilities, cockroaches carry the asthma disease. If humans, especially children with underdeveloped immune systems, inhale particles from the deteriorating organs of cockroaches in the air and feces, they are prone to contracting asthma. For this reason, we should never crush cockroaches by stomping on them, as the moment we crush them is when bacteria on their bodies, including parasites and even microorganisms, will be directly released into the air. This is extremely dangerous as it can cause allergies, asthma, and even lead to colorectal cancer and pneumonia. The harmful cockroach species today is the German Cockroach. Except for the South Pole, the German Cockroach can survive on every continent, especially prevalent in restaurants, hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, and food processing facilities.

Many studies have shown that exposure to allergens from German cockroaches is related to asthma. Some studies in the United States conclude that a high percentage of asthma patients are sensitive to cockroaches, especially in urban areas, indicating the preference of this pest even in the U.S. The harm of cockroaches needs to be better controlled, especially if there are children and elderly people in your family. Allowing children to come into contact with cockroaches can cause skin allergies, asthma, or the spread of bacteria. For children with asthma, cockroaches can be a factor that exacerbates the condition. Therefore, if you have small children, you need to control cockroaches very well in your home. For families with pets, the appearance of cockroaches can indirectly affect your health. In addition, the bacteria in the bodies of cockroaches can be harmful to the health of your four-legged friends.

A recent study reveals a shocking fact for those who despise cockroaches, indicating that female cockroaches can lay eggs without any contact with males for many years. Female cockroaches appear truly independent, capable of reproducing without the need for male involvement for an extended period. Cockroaches are prolific reproducers, laying 40-60 eggs in one reproductive cycle. They only need to mate once, and they can remain pregnant for a lifetime, giving birth to over 300 cockroach offspring. This explains why cockroaches have survived since the time of dinosaurs while dinosaurs went extinct when the asteroid hit. Unlike male cockroaches, which fight for territory when kept together, female cockroaches cluster and live harmoniously through reproductive cycles, producing more offspring than solitary living.

Experts believe this behavior is the most primitive example of cooperative ability in females. According to observations by Japanese experts, female offspring of the American cockroach lineage can lay eggs through parthenogenesis. Offspring born from a single egg are always female cockroaches, but they survive and can continue to produce more female cockroaches. Like other arthropods, cockroaches only employ a method of maintaining the gene pool when there are no males in the colony, as offspring born through parthenogenesis have a lower survival rate than those born through regular mating activity. The report in Zoological Letters also found that reproducing cockroaches can lay eggs on average after 13.4 days. However, if they are kept together in a community, the egg-laying time is shortened to about 10 days. This shows that, even though female cockroaches do not need males to maintain the gene pool, they still prefer to have partners.

Cockroaches belong to the most common insect species. Based on fossil evidence, cockroaches have been present on Earth for over 300 million years. They exhibit a wide range of sizes, with some species reaching lengths of several centimeters. Some biologists consider this group of insects to be one of the most successful insect groups on the planet. Cockroaches are highly adaptable and resilient. With their unique body structure, they can flatten their bodies to squeeze through small gaps, such as the space between the floor and the wall. They are often active at night, searching for food and mating. So, if you use a table trap to cover food, make sure that the trap has no missing parts and no gaps unless you want to treat your home to a grand 'Party' for your roach guests that night.

Cockroaches have excellent load-bearing capabilities due to their tough exoskeleton and inflated abdomen. When subjected to external force or the need to move through tight spaces, cockroaches release all the air in their abdomen, compressing their bodies to the maximum extent. It's hard to imagine how they can do it, right? California biologist Robert Full, collaborating with Kaushik Jayaram, conducted experiments by placing cockroaches in narrow gaps, using high-speed cameras to record the entire process. In the end, they uncovered its secret. With a gap of about 1.27 cm between two surfaces, cockroaches can move freely; with a narrow gap of 0.6 cm, they can run forward quickly; and with a gap as small as 0.25 cm, they will compress and squeeze through.

Unity spirit is not exclusive to humans; many other animal species, including small insects like cockroaches, also exhibit a remarkable unity spirit. Despite being small insects, the unity spirit of cockroaches is truly admirable. Cockroaches are known for their cohesive nature; they care for their comrades. If you lure a cockroach with a sticky trap, once it crawls in, gets stuck, and dies, it releases a quantity of methane gas to prevent other cockroaches from entering that area and meeting the same fate. Cockroaches dislike methane as it is harmful. It's worth mentioning that methane is odorless to us but not to cockroaches. The cohesion of cockroaches is also demonstrated by sharing food with their team. When they find anything, they leave a trail for others to follow, sharing the spoils together.

For significant decisions like relocating, cockroach family members quickly and efficiently join together to choose the best place without disputes or violence. Indeed, humans have much to learn from cockroaches. The resilience of cockroaches is incredible. During the mass extinction caused by a meteorite millions of years ago, most species went extinct, but cockroaches remained as lively as ever. Even experiments involving decapitated cockroaches showed they could still move and function up to 7 days later. Most notably, they can easily survive nuclear explosions. Quite terrifying, isn't it?