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How many days do cockroaches live without food. How many domestic cockroaches live - in various conditions and methods of dealing with them. Does a cockroach live without a head

The vitality of cockroaches has given rise to several enduring myths. Since it is very difficult to get rid of these insects, and they all look the same, people attributed incredible abilities to the mustaches. It is believed that a cockroach lives for many years, can do without water and food, and does not die, even if its head is cut off.

It is important to note that out of 4 thousand species, not so many varieties of cockroaches live next to a person:

  • Ginger,
  • Black
  • Turkestan
  • American

Article structure

Life cycle of a red cockroach

Most often in Russia we deal with the "Prussians". This family is characterized by an incomplete development cycle.

  1. Cockroaches hatch from eggs small (up to 3 mm) and white, called nymphs. Then their shell darkens.
  2. The insect turns into an adult in 2-3 months, sometimes the process takes up to six months.
  3. The rate of "growing up" depends on external conditions. The warmer, the faster. The adult stage of a cockroach is called an adult. In this form, he lives for about 30 weeks.
  4. In general, the average life of a Prusak is 1 year.

How cockroaches endure hunger

The red cockroach goes without food for 40 days. Blacks, whose life processes are slower, can fast for 2.5 months. The cockroach needs food. But he does not need to spend energy on heating his body. In addition, the cockroach is omnivorous. It can feed on leather, cloth, and even paper.

How cockroaches tolerate cold

The cockroach is thermophilic. That is why it settles next to a person. Low temperatures for insects are detrimental. They cannot heat their body on their own. The cockroach dies already at minus five. In winter, even simple airing of the room will give a certain effect in the fight against "whiskered neighbors".

How cockroaches endure thirst

Water in the life of a cockroach plays a key role. Without it, the insect does not live longer than a week. Water is necessary for insects for thermoregulation, circulatory systems and digestion. Therefore, he prefers to eat wet food. In a room where there is no access to water, the cockroach will not linger for a long time.

The vitality of cockroaches

It is a widespread fact that a cockroach is able to live even if its head is cut off. This is not entirely true. A headless cockroach does move for a while. He does not need a head for breathing, as he breathes with "tracheas" located throughout the body. Exactly the same situation with the nerve nodes that control reflexes. But the cockroach still feeds on the mouth, so without a head it is doomed to starvation.

It is also said that cockroaches are not susceptible to radiation. The threshold of the critical dose of radio emission for a cockroach is 15 times higher than the human norm. But this is typical for most insects.

“Cockroaches are only comparable to beta particles in terms of penetration rate”

The easiest way to deal with cockroaches - physical destruction - is not always effective. The chitinous shell of the "whiskered" is very durable. It is not enough to slap a cockroach with a rag: after a while he will come to his senses and run away. If you have already decided to crush an uninvited guest, crush for sure.

Conclusion

The average life expectancy of a domestic cockroach does not exceed a year. But due to their high fecundity and unpretentiousness in nutrition, the number of these insects is growing rapidly. On the other hand, the cockroach is susceptible to cold and needs constant access to moisture. Without water, cockroaches die in a week. At a temperature of minus 5 degrees and below - instantly.

cockroaches- this is the most thermophilic and hardy species of insects, able to live next to a person. Almost everyone has encountered an invasion of cockroaches in an apartment, and everyone knows firsthand what hostility and damage to health these tenants cause.

It is very problematic to get rid of them, because they are omnivores and have the ability to quickly adapt to new conditions.

Why are cockroaches dangerous?

The antennae, paws, torso and even the intestines of a cockroach are teeming with many types of dangerous microbes:

  • fungi;
  • bacteria;
  • protozoa;
  • poliomyelitis viruses;
  • tapeworm eggs;
  • staphylococci;
  • ticks;
  • causative agents of typhus, cholera, tuberculosis.

Moreover, the combination of so many microorganisms does not bother their owners in any way and does not harm them, since their nature provides such conditions as comfortable for existence.

These insects can bite a person painfully, which, in addition to discomfort at the bite site, can lead to serious damage and infection of the skin. Often bites lead to itching, blisters, erosion and allergies. There are cases when cockroaches get into a person's ear, which leads to serious problems that require medical attention.

In addition to the fact that cockroaches are carriers of dangerous bacteria, they, being omnivorous insects, harm food, clothes, books, and also household appliances, stuck there, which generally contribute to the breeding of unsanitary conditions in the house.

Cockroaches can provoke such serious diseases as:

  • Tuberculosis.
  • Tetanus.
  • Lichen.
  • Trachoma.
  • Diphtheria.
  • Meningitis.
  • Salmonellosis.
  • Leprosy.
  • infectious hepatitis.
  • Polio.

These diseases can even lead to disability and death.

What do cockroaches look like?

Varieties of cockroaches exceed 3.5 thousand, but only a few of them are domestic. If you have insects that look like cockroaches in your house, then it is either red (Prussian) or black (sewer, kitchen).

It is these varieties of such residents that are found in our country:

  1. Ginger- the most common type of cockroaches, refers to domestic. How to determine that it is he? The color is red, reaches 10-15 mm in length, has wings and long whiskers, an elongated oval body, runs very fast. They are considered thermophilic.
  2. Black- a cockroach that lives, as a rule, in dampness ( sewer pipes, cellars). Females reach a much larger size than males. Their length is from 2 to 5 cm. Black or dark gray in color, have wings.

In other countries, mainly such types of cockroaches live, such as:

  • Madagascar- the largest cockroach, reaching a length of up to 10 cm. It has the ability to hiss loudly, which scares people. But in vain, because they themselves are shy and harmless. They live on the bark of trees.
  • American- a cockroach about 5 cm long, red-orange in color with dark horizontal lines on the back. It has a very elongated body shape. It lives mainly in the USA, but is also found in Europe.

Do cockroaches fly?

Probably, each of us asked this question, because if we met a cockroach at least once in our lives, we saw its wings.

There are many varieties of cockroaches that can fly:

  • Asiatic.
  • Australian.
  • Cuban.
  • Woody.
  • Smoky.

These species, as we noted above, are very shy, and in order to save their lives, they resort to the help of their wings and fly away from danger. Flying cockroaches live in countries with a warm climate and live, as a rule, in wildlife.

Do indoor cockroaches fly? Those types of cockroaches that settle in houses do not know how to fly, because due to their comfortable living, they do not feel the need to learn something new and change their places of residence. A person involuntarily provides his domestic "pets" with food, comfort.

Red cockroaches sometimes spread their wings instinctively, either during a fall or during mating (mainly males). But it's hard to call it flight.

How do cockroaches breed?

Unfortunately for the "owners" of cockroaches, these unpleasant creatures multiply very quickly, which complicates attempts to breed them.

Like all insects, they breed their offspring sexually. males different types attract females to mating in different ways. So, for example, the Prussian can take off a little, and the Madagascar, who can hiss, makes special convening sounds.

An interesting fact is that after breeding the first offspring, the female does not need a second sexual contact, since she knows how to store the male gametes and use them again. A fertilized female lays about 40 eggs in a capsule (ootheca) she has made, which she carries with her almost until hatching.

How fast do cockroaches breed?

The offspring of cockroaches, before turning into a formed insect, undergoes 3 stages of transformation:

  1. An egg from which the larvae hatch.
  2. A larva (nymph) that experiences a pair of molts.
  3. Adult insect (imago).

Nymphs differ from adults only in their smaller size and lack of wings. They eat the same way and lead the same way of life as adults. Cockroaches that have reached the adult stage are again capable of reproduction.

The time interval for the transformation of a larva into an adult cockroach is:

  • 2 months, provided the air temperature is above 30 degrees;
  • 6 months - at a temperature of 20 degrees.

As we have already noted, there are many types of cockroaches, each of which has its own food preferences. We will take a closer look at what they eat. Domestic cockroaches are omnivorous insects.

The diet of a cockroach can be:

  • any sweet food;
  • bakery products;
  • plant food;
  • cereals;
  • meat;
  • any fatty food.

If such food is not available, they will not neglect other food:

  • clothes and fabrics;
  • paper products;
  • soap;
  • household glue;
  • shoe polish;
  • human skin and dandruff, especially children's.
  • paws of their relatives.

Thus, cockroaches can spoil many valuable things in the apartment, and not just food. The amount of food consumed by cockroaches is 20-50 mg per day, which cannot harm your food and industrial stocks, but can breed unsanitary conditions in the house.

How long do cockroaches live?

The life expectancy of each type of cockroach varies, as they live in different conditions:

  1. Red cockroaches, who do not feel the need for food and live in conditions of optimal temperature for them, on average live 20-30 weeks and even 1 year. How long do cockroaches live without food? If there is no food for more than 40 days, then they die. The same outcome awaits them at low air temperatures.
  2. Life expectancy of black cockroaches is higher than the Prussians. So, in comfortable conditions, they live for about two years, and without food - more than 70 days. Black cockroaches are comfortable in moisture, so if they are denied access to water, they will die within a week.

Do cockroaches bite?

The oral apparatus of the cockroach is well organized: powerful jaws, chitinous "lips" and "tongue", turn this insect into an omnivore.

Do house cockroaches bite? As we noted above, human skin is no exception in cockroach food, especially delicate children's skin.

This unpleasant tenant prefers to choose such places of the epidermis:

  • Earlobes.
  • Lip corners.
  • Corners of the neck.
  • Limb bends.
  • Fingertips.
  • Nasolabial folds.

The question arises: “Why would a cockroach bite a person if there is a lot of other food around?”.

They bite for the following reasons:

  1. Due to lack of food.
  2. Due to the lack of water, when the skin for them is a source of moisture.
  3. An increase in population creates competition among relatives, and pushes cockroaches to look for other food.

Why are cockroach bites dangerous?

If, nevertheless, a cockroach has bitten a person, then this can threaten not only unpleasant sensations, rashes and itching, but also serious allergic reactions, as well as infection, provoked by the infection in the blood. After all, these insects are carriers of dangerous bacteria that can cause very serious diseases.

Possible consequences of bites:

  1. A cockroach bite can cause the development of tuberculosis, tetanus, lichen, trachoma, diphtheria, meningitis, salmonellosis, leprosy, infectious hepatitis, and poliomyelitis.
  2. Allergic reaction.
  3. The strongest swelling.
  4. Visual damage to the skin in the form of scars.
  5. Rarely - disability and death.

You can completely remove cockroaches either with your own hands or with the help of specialists.

If you decide to get rid of these tenants on your own, you need to thoroughly wash the apartment with disinfectants and treat the places where cockroaches accumulate with chemical substances which are produced in various forms.


Remedies for cockroaches can be as follows:

  • Aerosols. The disadvantage is the possible harm to human health, as well as an unpleasant odor.
  • Powders. An example is Thiuram. available in specialized stores.
  • Gels in syringes and tubes. They are safe for health. Quality manufacturers are Chisty Dom, Likvadator and Raptor.
  • Traps. They are safe for children because they are very small.
  • Velcro for cockroaches. They are safe for children and animals.
  • Crayons - a tool that is widespread, but not effective enough.

The most common are substances that have the name: "Clean House", "Raptor", "Combat", "Liquidator".

In addition to the above methods of withdrawal, there are others:

  • Recently, ultrasonic repellers powered by mains have become very common. Does not harm a person.
  • Often used to exterminate cockroaches folk remedies. The most effective of them are lumps made of potatoes and boric acid.
  • Making a trap with your own hands. For example, glue double-sided tape or glue into a matchbox and put bait in the form of food and boric acid there.
  • The easiest and most ineffective way is to crush the cockroach with your foot. It must be remembered that this creature has the ability to recover, so if you decide to press, press carefully.

Maintain conditions unfavorable for cockroaches: lack of water and food, low room temperature. Remember that the greatest effectiveness in the destruction of cockroaches will be achieved by their complex breeding.

How do these insects live? These are quite mobile creatures, they love heat and moisture, are nocturnal (during the day they hide in a dark place, and crawl out at night in search of food). Winged birds can fly at night into the light. They feed on plant and animal remains. And, of course, they multiply quickly.

These are the hardiest insects: certain subspecies and individuals can go without food for a very long time! The body of the insect is oval and flat. The length of an adult cockroach ranges from 1.7-2 cm to 9.5 cm or more. The structure of the body allows him to hide in any gap.

Lifetime

How many years do these insects live? The life expectancy of cockroaches depends on external conditions. If there is enough moisture, food and warmth, then an adult red Prussian can survive for 1 year. The life span of the black is 2 years (the development of this species is slower), and the Madagascar (in a terrarium) can live from 3 to 5 years, depending on care.

The life cycle of a cockroach can be divided into 3 stages of development: egg, larva, adult insect. The most important thing for this beetle is to be fruitful and multiply, giving life to new cockroaches. The female attracts the male with odorous substances secreted by special glands. Some individuals take care of the females for a certain time, but the result is the same - fertilization.

reproduction

It is important and interesting that it is enough for female representatives to mate with a male once in a lifetime. Subsequently, the eggs are fertilized with seed material stored in a special section of her body. After some time, the female cockroach lays her eggs in a dense bag of foamed protein substance formed for this (the protein solidifies, turning into reliable protection for future babies: such a capsule does not allow water and toxic substances to pass through, it is difficult to crush it). For some time - a day or several weeks (depending on the type of individual) - the female carries this capsule in herself, dragging behind her that part of it that protrudes beyond the edges of the abdomen. This happens while the clutch is growing. Then she dumps the container in a secluded place where there is enough moisture and heat.

The development of larvae takes a short period - only a few weeks. As a result of this process, absolutely healthy individuals are born, adapted to life in the outside world. Insects are very prolific - one clutch can contain up to fifty larvae. Small insects of a whitish color and about 3 mm long scatter quickly in search of food and in order to grow (a growing organism requires strength and energy). After a while, their skin hardens, turning into chitin. Before full maturity, several molts will pass, and the cockroaches will acquire the color inherent in their species.

The development process is directly related to temperature environment. If it fluctuates within 30 ° C, then all molts pass in 2 months, and if it is about 20 ° C, in six months.

Cockroaches are not viviparous insects, although this impression may be formed about some of them. They don't have to give birth. There are species in which the eggs develop inside the body of the female. An example of this is the Madagascar cockroach. The capsule with eggs throughout the development is inside the insect, and only a few times a day a pregnant cockroach puts them outside for airing.
The larvae have to be born from an egg also inside the mother's body and quickly leave the brood chamber. An outside observer gets the impression that the cockroach is giving birth. As a rule, the process of birth of cockroaches lasts from several minutes to several hours.

cockroach life

These insects are cold-blooded, in view of this, they do not need to spend energy on maintaining body temperature, and their metabolism is slow. Therefore, cockroaches live without food for a rather long period of time - up to two and a half months. It is not so easy to starve them to death: they hide and wait for the moment when the opportunity to eat well presents itself. But water is vital for a cockroach. High humidity helps them avoid overheating. Without water, a cockroach is unlikely to live more than a week. The liquid evaporates from the surface of the insect's shell, and it threatens to dry out and die with a lack of moisture.

Interesting fact

These amazing insects have one more feature - they can live for some time without a head! Scientists conducted experiments and found out how long a cockroach lives without a head.

Black and red individuals can exist without it for up to 9 days. This is due to the fact that they do not have a closed circulatory system, they cannot die from blood loss. In this case, the separated head tries to feed, and the body lives offline until it dies from mold or attacking microorganisms.

Interesting facts from the life of cockroaches

For the most part, cockroaches do not care about children in any way. But there are exceptions: some types of insects that live in conditions high humidity and temperatures, for example in the tropics, watch their newborn cockroaches and take care of them. The female Madagascar cockroach in the first day does not let go of her offspring. The babies cling to their mother, hide under her, and she protects them from enemies, hissing menacingly and making frightening body movements. But by the end of the first day, cockroaches crawl, and this is where maternal care for them ends. Only relic cockroaches pay special attention to babies.
They live in small colonies and are very caring towards their offspring.

At ambient temperatures below zero, cockroaches die: at -5 ° C - within half an hour, and at -7 ° C - in a minute. The larva can slow down its development even in the egg if the air temperature is below 15°C. This feature helps the young to survive the difficult period under the protection of a dense capsule. An adult individual dies at sufficiently low or very high temperatures. Indicators -3 ... + 42 ° С are detrimental to them. But a capsule with larvae can relatively comfortably survive even a short 10-degree frost and high temperatures.

If the mother dies during the disinfection of housing by people, then the eggs in the capsule continue to develop, and later healthy young will hatch from them anyway.
If there is little moisture, cockroaches are able not to breathe for up to 40 minutes, so as not to evaporate the water in the body. These insects are not afraid of the dose of radiation, which is fatal for humans. Lack of food and moisture shortens the life of a cockroach.

The life of a cockroach is notable for the fact that every day it very quickly runs away from enemies, prowling in search of water and food. At the same time, insects breed very quickly, bringing numerous offspring. His vitality is amazing.

Many are familiar with cockroaches firsthand. These insects can be seen in country house, and in a city apartment. How long do cockroaches live? They are able to live without food and water for a long time. Even radiation exposure that is fatal to humans is harmless to cockroaches. They freely tolerate a dose of radiation that is 15 times higher than the lethal one for humans.

There are more than 4 thousand species of cockroaches in the world. Some of them live next to a person. 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 whiskers that help them navigate and communicate with other insects. The insect has developed legs, on which it moves very quickly. It lives in warm conditions, most often in people's 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 long, while males are much smaller - only 2-3 cm. They live in warmth, often next to a person. American cockroaches are similar in color to Prussians. These insects are up to 5 cm long. Females are larger than males.

It has a size of up to 9 cm. It can hiss quite loudly. Lives in the bark of some trees in the Amazon. It is completely harmless to humans, a rather shy insect. It comes to our country with parcels. These insects live in houses and apartments. Its large size does not allow it to hide in the cracks, so the fight against it does not present any difficulties.

Habitat and habits

This question is of interest to many. The owners of apartments and houses in which these guests live are especially interested in them. These insects are unusually tenacious creatures. They go 40 days without food. And absolutely everything serves as food for them, even concrete and brick. The main condition for their life is the presence of water. Therefore, they settle closer to its sources.

In the apartment, such a place is a bathroom and a kitchen. When water is found, insects start looking for food. Their digestive system is designed in such a way that it digests the most different products organic origin.

After about 2-4 weeks, the females throw off the offspring, hiding it in an inaccessible place.

A common property of representatives of this family is an incomplete cycle of their biological development. They do not have a 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, the ootheca also swells and becomes heavier.

After 2, maximum after 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. Nymphs gradually turn black, their shell hardens. Before the transformation of the nymph into an adult cockroach, several molts pass.

The life expectancy 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 the refrigerator or under it, under the sink, baseboard, in various crevices. In their corners they live pretty large groups. During the day, they try not to crawl out of their minks, since their mode of life is nocturnal. At night and early in the morning, when everyone in the house is asleep, they have time to eat crumbs and small pieces of food that they find on the floor or on kitchen table. In daylight, they appear only when their burrows do not accommodate all individuals. Their appearance during the day is a signal to take measures to exterminate insects.

For a more fruitful fight against cockroaches, you need to know the places of their resettlement. Insects to look for:

  1. under the fridge
  2. Behind the fridge
  3. Under the sink
  4. Under the bath
  5. Per heating appliances and pipes
  6. Under skirting boards
  7. Behind kitchen cabinets
  8. In the mechanisms of hanging cabinet doors
  9. In trash cans.

These are the most favorite places of their settlement.

Whether a cockroach lives in a particular place is easy to determine by the smell and by the black dots of feces remaining in places of active life of insects.

Without food, they live for several weeks, without water for no more than a week.

They feed mainly on foods high in organic matter:

  1. Sweets and sugar
  2. Beer
  3. Khebny crumbs and flour products
  4. toilet paper and tissues
  5. meat
  6. Wallpaper and glue
  7. Spoiled and rotting food
  8. Stockings, socks and underwear
  9. Books, magazines, newspapers

Life span and vitality

The red cockroach from a nymph turns into an adult in 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 larvae develop. lives less than red for a couple of months. Without food and drink, the life expectancy of cockroaches is reduced. Without food, the red cockroach lives for about 50 days. The life 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 expend energy maintaining a constant body temperature. In the absence of 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 survivability of cockroaches drops sharply along with a decrease in ambient temperature. The Prussians begin to die already at a temperature of -1 ° C. Therefore, cold is a good method of dealing with these creatures. How many years do insects of this species live without water? Water is the main thing in the life of cockroaches. Without non-viability lasts up to 7 days. Moisture evaporates intensively from the surface of the shell, and the insects dry out and die. That is why the Prussians are more willing to eat moist 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 after a series of experiments, American scientists 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 occurs not with the help of the head, but with the help of holes, spiracles on the body and small tracheas.

The brain is not involved in breathing. It is not particularly needed for life, since all parts of the body have ganglia - nerve knots. They are fully responsible for all reflexes. The insect can move its paws, get up and move.

Effect of Temperature on Insects

The activity of cold-blooded insects depends on temperature. Cockroaches love warmth. The optimum temperature for them is from +2 to +28°C. It is at this level that it is always maintained in residential premises. Therefore, cockroaches often become our neighbors.

At what temperature does death occur? At 0°C, insects slow down all vital functions, including reproduction processes. At temperatures from -5 to -10 ° C, insects die in 30-40 minutes. With a subsequent decrease in air temperature, cockroaches die even faster.

The high temperature of the surrounding air is also detrimental to them. With heat above 28 ° C, cockroaches lose their a large number of the moisture they need. Upon 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 a little into the cracks where the pests nest.

Popular Pest Control Products

You can fight these red and black pests with cold, heat and many other means:

  1. Boric acid
  2. Disinfectants
  3. Folk methods.

Boric acid has long been used as a cockroach killer. It shows very good results in practice. Boric acid powder is used to make insect baits. Pests die after testing the composition and infect their fellows. For people living indoors, boric acid is absolutely safe.

Of the disinfectants can be called preparations in the form of gels, sticks and aerosols. At correct application they are able to 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.

Cockroaches are among the most unpleasant insects, but information about them is of interest. The details of the existence of arthropods are so amazing that they become the basis for various myths. More often than others, the question is asked: how long do cockroaches live without food and water. Incredibly hardy representatives of the fauna are able to do even without a head.

How long do domestic cockroaches live

Representatives of the cockroach order are extremely hardy. They inhabited every continent except Antarctica. Negative temperatures are the limiting factor for insects. In its development, the cockroach goes through 3 phases: egg, larva, adult. This is an incomplete transformation (no pupal stage). Reproduction occurs with characteristic features. A fertilized female lays her eggs in a special chitinous capsule - an ootheca. In a cocoon, they are protected from temperature changes, mechanical stress, and insecticides.

Interesting fact. The real centenarians are Australian burrowing cockroaches or rhinos. Large insects weighing 35 g reach the age of 10 years.

In most species, the female carries an ootheca inside her abdomen almost until the birth of the larvae. The offspring is safe, which increases the survival rate. Larvae are mobile, live and feed near adults. Due to their miniature size, they are able to penetrate into any gap. There are about 30 species of synanthropic cockroaches in the world. In Russia, there are much fewer such species - 5. All of them were imported from other countries. In the conditions of the street they cannot survive, a comfortable temperature is 25-30 °. Insects live in colonies, rapidly increasing its numbers.

The lifespan of a cockroach depends on the species:

Blattella germanica

The red cockroach or Prussian comes from Central Asia, came to Russia from Germany, for which he received the nickname "Prussian". Imagoes are small (9-13 mm), reddish-brown, winged. They have long bristle-like antennae, and long suckers on their tarsi between the claws. The embryonic period takes 38-50 days, nymphs need from 75 to 130 days to grow up. Adults live 9-16 months.

Information. Hardy insects are quickly killed by negative temperatures, they die at -5 ° and below. The thermophilicity of synanthropes also has a limit of 45 °.

Blatta orientalis

The black cockroach is a cosmopolitan that appeared in Europe 350 years ago. Adults are large, body length 18-30 mm. Black glossy finish. The wings are poorly developed, because of the small sucker they move poorly on smooth surfaces. The duration of the development of the nymph depends on the environmental conditions. At a temperature of 27 °, they reach sexual maturity in 5 months, if the conditions of unfavorable processes are delayed for 5 years. The larvae go through 6 instars and molt 5 times. Imago reach the age of 1.5-2 years.

Information. Among the representatives of the species, cannibalism is observed, even with an abundance of food, they eat weak larvae and their own egg capsules.

Supella longipalpa

The furniture cockroach is similar in appearance and size to the Prusak. Females shed ootheca 36 hours after laying eggs. Capsules are left in the sink, on the bed or furniture. Embryonic development at room temperature takes 3 months. Larvae develop 4-5 months. The life span of adults is 3-4 months.

Information. Insects appeared in Russia in the 70s. 20th century. Distribution began with large cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Periplaneta Americana

The American cockroach is a large species with a brownish or yellow-brown color. Adult sizes are 27-44 mm. Insects are able to fly due to their developed wings. The egg cocoon contains 10-28 embryos. Larvae go through 13 instars, reaching the state of adults in 1 year. The life expectancy of males is 1.5 years, females are 2 times longer.

How long do cockroaches live without food and water

Pests do not voluntarily leave warm rooms. Even in conditions when they have to starve. According to scientists, insects are able to do without food for a long time:

The ability for such a long fast is due to a slow metabolism and the lack of the need to maintain body temperature. Arthropods reduce activity, cannibalism may begin. The need of the organism of arthropods for moisture is much higher. Water is essential for the chemical processes that sustain life. Their digestion is impossible without moisture; they certainly moisten dry food. Without replenishment of fluid reserves, after 5-9 days, the insect dries up. By completely blocking access to water for insects, you can get rid of pests.

A live cockroach without a head is not a myth.

An amazing fact, but insects are able to live without a head. For humans and animals, this is impossible, their respiratory organs are located on the head. Arthropods have special stigma openings on the abdomen connected to the trachea. A system of tubes braids the internal organs and supplies them with oxygen. Circulatory system designed in such a way that the blood quickly coagulates in the vessels of the neck. They go for weeks without food.

The decapitated body retains reflex functions, it reacts to touch, and can move. The most detrimental factor for the insect will be the inability to drink. The body regularly loses fluid through the chitinous covering. Without moisture, it will dry out.

As a result of the experiments, it was found that the cockroach lives without a head for 9 days.

The endurance of domestic cockroaches is high, but not unlimited. Knowing the vulnerabilities of insects, they can be successfully dealt with. Pests are destroyed with the help of insecticides, lowering the temperature or setting traps.

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