Currently, scientists know about the existence of more than 7,000 species of cockroaches. According to their calculations, cockroaches lived on our planet 500 million years ago, long before the appearance of dinosaurs. They were able to survive many mass extinctions because they are not afraid of radiation, can go without food for months, and are generally very tenacious. In some countries, cockroaches are eaten, but mostly they only cause disgust in people. When we see a cockroach, most of us try to squash it with a slipper. It may seem that our lives would be much better without them. However, if cockroaches become completely extinct, many species of animals on our planet will also disappear. But what could be the connection between cockroaches and the lives of other animals?
Cockroaches are one of the most resilient creatures on our planet. And this is good
Interesting fact: fear of insects, including cockroaches, is called insectophobia . There is a theory that this phobia was passed down to us from distant ancestors who lived in caves and did not know that insect bites could be fatal.
Where does the domestic cockroach live?
There are more than 4 thousand species of cockroaches in the world. Some of them live next to humans. The most common of them are black and red. Redheads are also called Prussians. These insects are 10-15 mm long. They have large wings and long antennae that help them navigate in space and communicate with other insects. The insect has developed legs on which it moves very quickly. It lives in warm conditions, most often in human homes.
The black species can be up to 5 cm long. The wings of females are short, those of males are long. Females are 5 cm in length, while males are much smaller - only 2-3 cm. They live in warmth, often next to humans. American cockroaches are similar in color to Prussians. These insects are up to 5 cm long. Females are larger than males.
The Madagascar cockroach has a size of up to 9 cm. It can hiss quite loudly. Lives in the bark of some trees in the Amazon. Completely harmless to humans, a rather shy insect. It comes to our country with parcels. These insects live in houses and apartments. His large size does not give him the opportunity to hide in cracks, so fighting him does not present any difficulties.
Where do cockroaches come from in an apartment, and why are even clean housewives not immune to the problem?
According to scientists, cockroaches were one of the first inhabitants of the Earth. They successfully coexisted with dinosaurs. While the huge green lizards died under the influence of natural conditions, the insects steadfastly endured all the disasters. With the development of human civilization, the conditions for living and breeding of cockroaches have become simply heavenly - cozy houses, basements, leftover food, water, garbage disposal, and so on. But man is not a dinosaur. For people, being around insects is not only unpleasant, but also dangerous. How and why do cockroaches appear in an apartment?
While cockroaches cause disgust, disgust, fear and a whole range of negative emotions in the average person, researchers have a genuine interest in these creatures. These are, without exaggeration, amazing insects. Just look at the following facts about cockroaches.
- They can live without a head. For about seven to ten days, until the body feels a lack of water and food, the body can act autonomously.
- They can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes. This helps them retain moisture in the body and also protect them from chemicals sprayed in the air.
- They run fast. Sensing danger, insects can reach speeds of up to 5 km/h, which is quite good for those with short legs.
- They escape expertly. To hide from its pursuer (most often from a person), a cockroach can change its trajectory up to 25 times per second.
- Virtually invulnerable. Pests don't even care about a nuclear explosion. The reason is a slow cell division cycle.
Habitats and habits
This question is of interest to many. The owners of the apartments and houses in which these guests live are especially interested in him. These insects are unusually tenacious creatures. They survive without food for 40 days. And absolutely everything serves as food for them, even concrete and brick. The main condition for their life is the presence of water. That's why they settle closer to its sources.
In an apartment, such places are the bathroom and kitchen. When water is found, insects begin to look for food. Their digestive system is designed in such a way that it digests a wide variety of organic products.
After about 2-4 weeks, females shed their offspring, hiding them in an inaccessible place
A common property of representatives of this family is the incomplete cycle of their biological development. They do not have the stage of transformation of larvae into pupae. Females carry fertilized eggs on their stomachs in a special container called an ootheca. The eggs grow over time, and the ootheca also swells and becomes heavier.
After 2, maximum 4, weeks, the offspring are shed in a warm place with sufficient humidity. Nymphs hatch from the ootheca. These are small (up to 2-3 mm) white cockroaches. The nymphs gradually turn black and their shell hardens. Several moults pass before the nymph turns into an adult cockroach.
The lifespan of an adult is 20-30 weeks.
For their habitat, insects usually prefer secluded corners in hard-to-reach places. They can be found behind or under the refrigerator, under the sink, baseboard, and in various crevices. In their corners they live in fairly large groups. During the day, they try not to crawl out of their burrows, since their mode of life is nocturnal. At night and early in the morning, when everyone in the house is asleep, they manage to eat crumbs and small pieces of food that they find on the floor or on the kitchen table. In daylight, they appear only in cases where their burrows do not contain all the individuals. Their appearance during the day is a signal to take measures to destroy insects.
To more effectively fight cockroaches, you need to know where they live. Insects to look for:
- Under the refrigerator
- Behind the refrigerator
- Under the sink
- Under the bath
- Behind heating appliances and pipes
- Under the baseboards
- Behind kitchen cabinets
- In cabinet door hanging mechanisms
- In trash cans.
These are their most favorite places of settlement.
Whether a cockroach lives in a particular place can be easily determined by the smell and by the black spots of feces remaining in places where insects actively live.
They live without food for several weeks, without water for no more than a week.
They feed mainly on foods high in organic matter:
- Sweets and sugar
- Beer
- xBread crumbs and flour products
- toilet paper and napkins
- Meat
- Wallpaper and glue
- Spoiled and rotting products
- Stockings, socks and underwear
- Books, magazines, newspapers
How to understand that an “infiltrator” has entered the house
Just because you have not encountered pests directly does not mean that they are not in the house. Signs of the presence of cockroaches in an apartment are as follows:
- insect excrement - black spots on wallpaper, furniture, dishes;
- unpleasant odor - the appearance of an “aroma” that is not associated with the activity of domestic animals or spoilage of food;
- eggs - laying eggs in secluded corners;
- extraneous noise - faint rustling and rustling sounds at night;
- the remains are empty chitinous shells on the floor and in the cabinets.
Life span and survivability
The red cockroach turns from a nymph into an adult in the summer at a temperature of about 30°C after 2 months. If the temperature is 20°C, this transformation takes up to 6 months.
The red cockroach lives in a house or apartment for 9-10 months. Of these, adults live for 20-30 weeks, the rest of the time the larvae develop . The black cockroach lives less than the red cockroach by a couple of months. Without food and drink, the life expectancy of cockroaches decreases. Without food, the red cockroach lives about 50 days. The lifespan of a black cockroach without food can be 70 days. This is due to the fact that domestic cockroaches are cold-blooded creatures. They do not waste energy maintaining a constant body temperature. If there is no food, they can simply hide and wait for food to appear.
Red representatives turn from nymphs into adults in 2 months in summer and 6 months in winter
The vitality of cockroaches drops sharply along with a decrease in ambient temperature. Prussians begin to die already at a temperature of -1°C. Therefore, cold is a good method of combating these creatures. How many years do insects of this species live without water? Water is the most important thing in the life of cockroaches. Without inviability, it lasts up to 7 days. Moisture intensively evaporates from the surface of the shell, and the insects dry out and die. This is why Prussians are more willing to eat moistened food or its waste. It is easier to digest in the body and contains enough moisture.
Can an insect live without a head?
Yes, a cockroach lives without a head
Weird question. But American scientists, after conducting a series of experiments, were able to prove that a headless cockroach also continues to live (up to 9 days). The thing is that their circulatory system is not closed. They do not lose blood and therefore continue to live. But in this case they cannot get food and water.
The respiratory process does not occur with the help of the head, but with the help of holes, spiracles on the body and small tracheas.
The brain does not take part in breathing. It is not particularly needed for life, since in all parts of the body there are ganglia - nerve nodes. They are fully responsible for all reflexes. The insect can move its legs, stand up and move.
Frequent guest of city apartments
Cockroaches are the scourge of city apartments. Indeed, insects have more opportunities for survival in an apartment building than in private housing. In the old days, for example, a procedure was carried out that was called “cockroaching” the hut. It was arranged in winter and was simple, like everything ingenious. When it was cold, they stopped heating the stove for a day, opened the windows and doors, as a result of which the hut froze out. The resulting temperature was so far from tropical that it forced heat-loving “bakers” to leave their homes and go in search of a more hospitable home.
No matter how you get rid of beetles in village houses, the risk of getting them again there is much lower than in city apartment buildings, where residents become hostage to their neighbors. For experience shows that if dangerous neighbors appear in at least one apartment, very soon they will appear in all the others.
Effect of temperature on insects
The activity of cold-blooded insects depends on temperature. Cockroaches love warmth. The optimal temperature for them is from +2 to +28°C. It is at this level that it is always maintained in residential premises. That's why cockroaches often become our neighbors.
At what temperature does death occur? At 0°C, all vital functions of insects slow down, including reproduction processes. At temperatures from -5 to -10°C, insects die within 30-40 minutes. With a subsequent drop in air temperature, cockroaches die even faster.
High ambient temperatures are also harmful to them. When the heat is above 28°C, cockroaches lose a large amount of moisture, which they really need. When reaching 50°C, death occurs within a few hours. This can be used in the fight against hated neighbors in the kitchen. It is worth remembering that cockroaches are afraid of boiling water. It can also be used to control insects. Boiling water is simply poured little by little into the cracks where pests nest.
What are they afraid of?
Despite the vitality and adaptability of pests, there are some things that cockroaches are afraid of in an apartment. There are three factors that can make your home uncomfortable for cockroaches.
- Strong odors. Cockroaches cannot tolerate chemical odors. That's why they run away from the house during renovations. If you paint, for example, a radiator with oil paint, pests will not want to stay in the room.
- Temperature changes. This factor can be used in the cold season, when the heating season begins. Ventilate the apartment daily for 15-30 minutes. Pests will not like frosty air.
- Bright light. Keep the curtains open during daylight hours. Screw bright light bulbs into chandeliers and sconces.
Popular Pest Control Products
You can fight these red and black pests with cold, heat and many other means:
- Boric acid
- Disinfectants
- Traditional methods.
Boric acid has long been used as a means to combat cockroaches. It shows very good results in practice. Boric acid powder is used to make insect bait. Pests die after testing the composition and infect their fellows. For people living indoors, boric acid is absolutely safe.
Disinfectants include preparations in the form of gels, pencils and aerosols. When used correctly, they can destroy entire colonies of pests. Their disadvantage is that they are harmful to human health. Therefore, before using these products, you need to hide all food and utensils.
Folk methods of control include the use of essential oils of various plants. Cockroaches absolutely cannot stand the smell of cedar and eucalyptus oils, as well as red elderberry oil. The smells of fresh anise and mint repel them.
Tips and tricks
Cockroaches can be found under the refrigerator and under the sink, under the baseboard and behind heating pipes. They most often settle near water sources. These insects cannot live without water for more than a week. Therefore, to combat them, you can block their access to water. Their number is growing every day. If one insect appears, it may not be detected in time, since it is nocturnal. In a year there will be a huge number of them. Many people are familiar with this situation.
Cockroaches can carry bacteria that are dangerous to humans and contaminate food, spoil things and cause allergic reactions. Therefore, to remove them, you need to ventilate the room more often, take out the trash, and hide food in bags. You can dilute geranium. Its smell repels cockroaches.
Related posts:
Know the enemy by sight: common types
Surely, having noticed a pest running around the apartment, no one will have the desire to look at what a cockroach looks like. There will be no possibility, since the insect will run away at the speed of light as soon as it senses danger. A table that contains information about the types of cockroaches will help you recognize your enemy by sight.
Table - Types of cockroaches in the apartment
| View | Characteristic | Where live | What do cockroaches eat in the house? |
| Red (Prussians) | — Elongated body; - color from light red to dark brown; — length — up to 2 cm; - multiply quickly | — Apartment buildings; — country houses; - outbuildings; — catering establishments; — medical institutions | — Fresh and spoiled products; - paper; - soap; — ornamental plants; - human skin; - human excrement; — electrical wiring; — spare parts for household appliances; - corpses of other cockroaches |
| White | — Red cockroaches after molting; - red cockroaches exposed to insecticides | ||
| Black | — Elongated oval shape; - charcoal body with transverse brown stripes; - large insects, can grow up to 8 cm; - reproduce slowly; - emit an unpleasant odor | — Apartment buildings (but not higher than the 5th floor); — country houses; - basements; — sewage drains; - garbage chutes and trash cans | |
| Furniture | — Elongated oval shape; - color from bright orange to red; - transparent wings with brown stripes; - small individuals up to 1 cm | — Libraries; — archives; — residential and office premises; — hotels; - hospital wards | - Starchy substances; — nylon products; — wallpaper (back glued part); - book spines (glued) |
Life without a head
Recent experiments by American scientists made it possible to make a sensational discovery: cockroaches can continue to live for some time if their head is torn off. Tests have shown that a headless cockroach lives for 7-9 days.
Cockroach without a head
On a note!
In addition to the body, the separated head of a cockroach can also “live” for 1 week, when scientists placed it in a cool place and provided it with a special solution.
They love comfort
We are looking for the perfect home in every way. Is not it? Cockroaches too. Insects prefer temperatures between 25-30°C, so they usually live in warm buildings and houses.
They also need walls with a lot of small cracks and crevices - they like to feel the touch of hard surfaces on all sides of the body
. Thus, they will look for small cracks and crevices to ensure complete comfort. That's why sealing cracks is one of the first steps to getting rid of cockroaches.
Now that you know a thing or two about the “psychology” of cockroaches, go out and use your new knowledge to exterminate the pests once and for all!
Sources
- https://sichovka.ru/vrediteli-doma/skolko-zhivut-tarakany.html
- https://geradez.ru/skolko-zhivut-tarakany-ru
- https://combat-dez.ru/skolko-jivyt-tarakany-domashnie-v-razlichnyh-ysloviiah-i-metody-borby-s-nimi/
- https://nithome.ru/tarakany/skolko-zhivut-tarakany.html
- https://notklop.ru/tarakany/o-tarakanah/skolko-zhivut-tarakany/
- https://gsdez.ru/poleznye-stati/skolko-dnej-zhivut-tarakany/
- https://geradez.ru/chto-edyat-tarakany-ru
- https://apest.ru/tarakany/1-info/128-chto-edyat/
- https://murashdom.ru/tarakany/skolko-zhivut.html
- https://zen.yandex.ru/media/geradez/13-faktov-o-tarakanah-znanie-kotoryh-uprostit-vashu-borbu-s-nimi-5bd19d2f844db800aa5b3dc2
