13 Interesting Facts About the Australian Cockroach
As much as we hate them, we have to admit that cockroaches are some of the most fascinating insects that we’ve ever found on earth. Did you know they are among the fastest and strongest animals? And we bet you knew they're among the most resilient creatures on the planet. Those are some basic facts but there are still a lot more to explore when it comes to cockroaches.
1. A cockroach can grow to nearly 10 cm in size
The Australian roach can grow up to around 5 centimetres. It’s funny when you come across a specimen like that. However, it's a lot more terrifying if you ever cross paths with the biggest of them all. The Central American giant cave cockroach can grow to about 10 centimetres.
Unlike the cave cockroaches, it’s known that Australian cockroaches enter houses to search for food. Some even come in search of a new place to call home. Now, if we are talking 5 centimetres worth of cockroach, you might even split the rent.
2. Cockroaches can feel lonely
We, humans, loathe loneliness. Every one of us needs a hug from time to time. It’s the same thing with cockroaches. Because of their social nature, roaches can be lonely. They follow a particular social structure. Because of that, cockroaches even suffer from ill-health if they are left alone.
Now, we are not saying that you should go and pet the roaches in your home. Or hug them, if they are 5 cm long… In fact, if you have a cockroach infestation, take action fast!
3. They can hear you! (But not with their ears)
Yes, unlike most animals that walk on Earth cockroaches hear with their legs. The amazing way they do it is with tiny hairs on their legs. The hairs pick up the sound as a wave, and that’s how they can hear. Fascinating, isn’t it?
4. Cockroaches are one of the fastest insects
Oh yes! In fact, cockroaches are crazy fast. Those little creatures can run 50 times their body length in a second. That’s faster than any mammal living on earth right now! This leads us to the thought that cockroaches are quite the runners. Who knows… They might be the champions in some kind of animal kingdom Olympic games.
5. And they can run as fast on two legs
Yes, cockroaches might be fast on six legs, but did you know that they can even run with two legs.
Don’t worry, though, there isn’t any proof that roaches are slowly evolving to take our place. You’re safe.
6. They are much stronger when they are conceived in space
The romantic story of an astronaut going to space and returning with superpowers is coming true.
Scientists discovered that cockroaches conceived in space turn out to be stronger, faster and bigger than their earthly cousins. Now, we just hope they never find their way back to earth. No, thank you!
7. Younglings are almost as fast as adults
We mentioned above that these little buggers are quite fast. What we didn’t say is that they are not only fast when they have grown. Cockroaches are fast since the day they are born.
Even when they are as little as a speck of dust, they can run as fast as their parents.
8. They fart more than they weight
Cockroaches fart more in a year than their actual weight. They produce 35 gm of methane gas a year, which is about 45 times their body weight. But don’t worry. It’s quite unlikely you’ll ever smell the product of the little buggers.
9. And they are also quite the poopers
Yes, cockroaches poop. It’s an absolutely normal process. There is nothing interesting about this. It’s good to know that their faeces are quite easy to spot once you know what you are looking for. They resemble a tiny speck of dust or a very fine ground of coffee. This can be one of the signs of a cockroach infestation.
10. Cockroaches bite people
Yes, they bite. But there’s not much reason for us to worry. Cockroaches rarely bite living humans. Most commonly, they bite people on ships. The ones that bite most are, of course, the American and the Australian cockroach.
Read also: Are Cockroaches Attracted to Light?
11. Yet, most cockroaches are not considered pests
Yes, from all 4000 species only about 30 share mutual habitat with us, humans. Most of the cockroaches can be found in caves, on the forest floor and bushes.
Still, that doesn’t mean those thirty species are more than enough for us to deal with. Don’t you agree?
12. The Parasitic wasp lays its eggs inside them
By now in our heads, cockroaches are a pretty hard-to-get creature. However, as we all know, mother nature won’t leave things be that way.
Cockroaches also have natural predators, and one of them is the parasitic wasps. Not only that they feed on roaches, but they also love to lay eggs inside them. If that isn’t over-doing it, we don’t know what is.
13. We can control them?
To finish things off, we decided to leave this fact for last. In 2015 Chinese students found a way to control cockroaches with brain-to-brain technology. This meaning that we can now hop on a cockroach’s brain and see the world through their perspective.
Even though they aren’t the most pleasant creatures on the planet, cockroaches have their good sides too. They certainly are fascinating specimen with all of their surviving abilities and fascinating weirdness.
Breaking some myths about cockroaches
As a pest control company, we can’t sit and let fake facts pass through. Therefore, we've decided to clarify some of the most popular myths about cockroaches. Such as:
Cockroaches have been with us for 320 million years
That is kind of true. In fact, cockroaches that lived so long ago have almost nothing in common with the crawlies that we come to see every day. To be precise, the ancestors that we consider to be 320 million years old are, in reality, more connected to the modern-day mantis. It just happened that cockroaches spurred from them.
Cockroaches can survive a nuclear war.
Not exactly. Yes, cockroaches can survive for up to 40 times more radiation than us, humans, they will surely die in a nuclear war. But from our experience, it’s much easier to give them a nice strike with your slippers—no need to drop a bomb.
Read further: 14 Fascinating Facts About Termites
Now that we've provided you with some interesting information about these insects, we hope we've also cleared out the mystery surrounding these little insects and, hopefully, showed you that there is nothing to fear in case you find yourself face to face with one or many of them in your home.