Do Flying Cockroaches Really Aim for Your Face, or Is It Just Your Imagination?

It might be hard to believe, but when a cockroach is casually crawling along your wall — especially near the ceiling, as they love to do — it’s not actively choosing the best spot to leap onto your face. Although it can definitely feel like that at times, right?

Cockroaches have existed for around 320 million years, and for much of that time, the idea of flying directly at a human's face wasn’t even a possibility. With over 5,000 species of cockroaches on Earth, their behavior can differ greatly between species. However, most cockroaches are nocturnal — in fact, the insect order that includes both cockroaches and termites is called Blattodea, which translates to "insect that avoids the light" in Latin. So, you're typically not around when most cockroaches start their dive-bombing antics.

In tropical regions, many cockroaches are active during the day, and some nocturnal species are drawn to light, much like moths. For example, North American cockroaches from the genus Parcoblatta are particularly attracted to light, but only the males have the ability to fly. So, do they intentionally fly towards our faces?

"No!" says Dr. Coby Schal, an entomologist in the Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University, where his Schal Lab specializes in cockroaches. "These cockroaches fly toward bright lights, and when we sit outside at night with a light overhead or behind us, our face and head create a halo effect — similar to an eclipse. Insects are attracted to this light."

Unlike blood-sucking pests like mosquitoes, bedbugs, and fleas — or moths that can detect the gases emitted by flowers — cockroaches likely don’t have the ability to sense the carbon dioxide we exhale.

"I’m not aware of any studies showing that roaches are attracted to CO2 or human scents," says Schal.

So don’t worry: Cockroaches have no interest in you. But your leftover food or beer? That’s a whole different matter.