Vectors: Cockroaches

Vectors: Cockroaches

Cockroaches are commonly found in buildings and homes because they prefer warm environments close to food and water

 Unfortunately, cockroaches can cause allergies and trigger asthma attacks, especially in children.

• Cockroaches crawl through dirty areas and then walk around our homes tracking in lots of bacteria and germs.

• They can contaminate food by shedding their skins. Their cast-off skin and waste byproducts are allergens that can trigger allergic reactions.

Cockroaches:  Ancient Survivors

It is true that you might not be able to see a real dinosaur today.  What if you could see something even older than a dinosaur?  Dinosaurs lived anywhere from 231 to 243 years ago.  Cockroaches, though, have been around since at least 320 million years ago!

Appearance

• Usually, cockroaches have a dark red or brown shell.  The shell is very strong.  It protects the organs on the inside of the body.

• Some cockroaches have wings.  These give double the protection, because the wing covers act as another layer of shell when the wings aren’t being used.

•   A lot of cockroaches are also very small.  They only grow to the size of a thumbnail.  A few species get bigger.  In fact, the biggest cockroach species grow to be 3.8 inches long.

Habitat

Cockroaches can live almost anywhere, but they love living in warm and humid places.  Some species live in very cold weather.  For example, there are cockroaches that can survive temperatures as low as -188ᵒ Fahrenheit!  These cockroaches like to live in places like the Arctic.  Even though they’re found all over the world, the ones we think of as pests usually only come from about four different species.

• Surprisingly, cockroaches are very social insects.  The insects live in groups.

• hey usually recognize other cockroaches, and many even recognize and care for their own young cockroaches.  They are able to make group decisions. 

• They will normally go to places where other cockroaches are to find shelter.  If there isn’t enough room, the group of cockroaches will divide itself in half to fit an equal number of insects in each shelter. 

• The ways they decide where to go seems to depend on how light or dark the area is and how many other cockroaches are there.

  
  

Survival Skills

Cockroaches can also survive in extreme situations.  In some studies, the insects have been able to live for a month without any food!  Others can survive without breathing for forty-five minutes.  Most people can only hold their breath for thirty to forty seconds.  That means cockroaches can hold their breath for about ninety times longer than the average person.  Amazingly, a cockroach’s head can survive without its body for hours!

In the United States, cockroaches are considered gross or scary.  In some other countries, though, they may be eaten or kept as pets!  Some businesses in China have even started cockroach farms that raise cockroaches for people to eat.

Interesting Creatures

There is much more to cockroaches than meets the eye.  At first, cockroaches may seem strange.  Learning more about them is a great way to understand them.  Cockroaches are some of the most interesting insects in the world.