Cockroaches do not die easily – why

Cockroaches are lighting fast

Cockroaches are very tough creatures and don’t die easily. They have been here on earth since the age of the dinosaurs. The roaches have a reaction time of 1/20 of a second. The hair on their cerci can detect small changes in the air current around them. So by the time, we can get near them the roaches can feel the shift in the air around them. Their minimal reaction time means that by the time we move our hand to hit them, they would have moved to a different location. And we all know how fast a cockroach can travel.

Tough and Flexible Exoskeleton

Cockroaches have a very strong and flexible exoskeleton. They can withstand weights which are hundreds of times their body weight and still come out alive without breaking a sweat. They can compress their bodies by 60 percent in order to travel through small passages. They can even withstand nuclear radiation to a far greater extent than any human can.

Survival without Food and Water

Cockroaches can survive for over a month without food and a week without water. Their diet consists of almost everything around us. They will eat anything – decaying food, dead animals, leaves, paper, glue, other insects, etc.  They don’t have any natural predators within a city. As a result, they are able to multiply rapidly near human settlements. The only natural predators that are available in cities are birds and cats. Apart from birds and cats, frogs, lizards, spiders, ants, mice, monkeys, mongoose, etc also prey on them.

Cockroaches do not need a Head

They don’t drown easily either, as they can survive for up to 20 minutes without air. Even if you remove their head, they can survive for a week with it. Cockroaches breathe through their skin. So they do not need a head to breathe. They have two brains – one in their head and the other near their abdomen. So even without their primary brain, they can function with the secondary one. But without a mouth to drink water, they will eventually die.