Facts about Cockroaches
The world's largest roach (which lives in South America) is six inches long with a one-foot wingspan. Some female cockroaches mate once and are pregnant for the rest of their lives. A cockroach can live for almost nine days without its head. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can't drink water and dies of thirst. A cockroach heart is nothing but a simple tube with valves. The tube can pump blood backwards and forwards in the insect. The heart can even stop moving without harming the roach. Cockroaches have 18 knees but only 6 legs. Cockroaches can hold their breath for as long as 40 minutes. Female cockroaches attract male roaches by producing pheromones. Pheromones are chemicals that make the female roach smell REALLY good to the male roach. Male cockroaches transfer sperm to females in a "gift-wrapped" package called a spermatophore. Some males cover the package in a protein-rich wrapping that the female can eat to obtain nutrients to raise her young. Cockroaches can run up to three miles in an hour. This makes a cockroach the fastest living being on six legs. Cockroaches are some of the most ancient insects. Fossil records show their relatives have been around, virtually unchanged in appearance, for over 350 million years. The popular Latin American song "La Cucuracha" means The Cockroach. Recent studies have confirmed that cockroaches are a major cause of allergies and asthma. In some inner city areas up to 45% of the children are allergic to roaches, and many of them have developed asthma as a result of constant exposure. The common German Cockroach can survive for over a month without food, but less than 2 weeks without water. Cockroaches have been found to carry, on their bodies, the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, cholera, leprosy, dysentery, and typhoid, as well as over 40 other bacteria or viruses that can cause disease. "Roach Art" has been performed by at least one "artist", who poses dead roaches in life-like backdrops with various props around them that suggest settings such as beauty parlors, department stores, restrooms, bowling alley, restaurant, and others. Doctors in some inner city areas report that one-half of the foreign objects they remove from children's ears are cockroaches. In the classic short story "The Metamorphosis", by Franz Kafka, the main character of the story wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant cockroach. The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, a species about 3 inches long, can force air out through its breathing holes - its "spiracles" - to make a distinct hissing sound, very similar to the sound of a snake. The Death Head Cockroach is called this because of the "death mask" image that appears on its thorax. Cockroaches are among the fastest land-moving insects. They are capable of moving 50 body lengths each second! If a human had this potential he could run a 100 yard dash in 1 second, reaching a speed of 200 miles per hour. Cockroaches can detect changes in barometric pressure, and thus instinctively know when a severe rainstorm is imminent. In Bermuda, about an hour before a downpour, thousands of cockroaches have been observed running across the roads. In 1965 in Indiana over 6,000 cockroaches were found in a single beer carton In 1947 a 4-room apartment in Texas was treated, and over 100,000 roaches killed In 1967 a treatment killed 133 pounds of American Cockroaches that were living in the cage around a Chicago zoo's prize gorilla An estimated 1 million or more cockroaches were living in a house in New York, along with a family, 24 dogs, 20 cats, 2 mice, and a parrot. The house was so saturated with roaches that they had flowed out over the lawns, tree trunks, and walls of nearby homes, and into the sewers. This happened in 1979. The Madagascar hissing cockroach is a large, wingless cockroach from Madagascar. The aggressive encounters between males are quite impressive. Males ram into each other with their horns and/or they push each other with their abdomens. Larger males usually win. Hissing plays an important role during male-male inter- actions. Winners of encounters hiss more than losers. The hisses of males also contain information about the size of the male hissing and may be used to assess the opponent's size. Males can also discriminate among the hisses of familiar males and strangers. These hisses are audible and can be heard by observers. Although this species is primarily nocturnal, you can see males fighting during the day. Males also hiss during courtship interactions with females. Again, their behavior is unusual for insects in that strength and sound are used. Mating occurs in an end-to-end position. To achieve this, the male pushes his abdomen under and along the female's body until he engages the end of her abdomen. |
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