Cockroaches lifespan, how long do cockroaches live? Have you ever found cockroaches in your house? This is really not a pleasant thing, not only disgusting but cockroaches can be a nasty infestation that can bring disease or cause allergies to cockroaches.
We often find cockroaches at home, especially in dirty parts such as under the bed, corners of the house and so on. No matter what disease is underneath, he still often crosses paths with us at home. This is a pest that can survive some of its odd behavior. These animals spend 75% of their time sleeping and even these animals can survive low temperatures of up to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
How do you suggest wanting to know more about the life cycle of cockroaches, how it survives and how old cockroaches are, we will explain everything here.
Quick Crash Course on Cockroaches
We often say that cockroaches are pests, but did you know that cockroaches are animals that are quite easy to find and even exist all over the world.
Cockroaches that has existed since prehistoric times, it has existed about 350 million years ago. Physically they may be slightly different, but in general these cockroaches are quite similar to the cockroaches that roamed the earth millions of years ago.
There are about 4000 different types of cockroaches, but only a small number are found roaming in people’s homes such as American cockroaches, Oriental cockroaches and German cockroaches. The most common one to find is the German cockroach. South America is the region for the largest species. Cockroaches are 6 inches long with a wingspan of 1 foot.
The average size of a cockroach is 1/2 to 2. While they sleep most of the day, cockroaches can move fast. While they may be able to zip through your homes at 3 mph, even baby cockroaches are nearly as fast as adults.
How Long Do Cockroaches Live?
The average age of cockroaches ranges from 20 to 30 weeks and some are even up to five years old. The life span of cockroaches depends on the species and the amount of food available.
Below is the life expectancy of different species:
- The lifespan of the German cockroach is 200 days
- Madagascar hissing cockroaches can live up to 5 years
- The lifespan of American cockroaches is about 1 year
- Oriental cockroaches have a lifespan of about 180 days.
What we need to know is that the cockroach’s body has bacteria attached to it and the bacteria helps the cockroach survive. So, in the cockroach’s body there are microorganisms that live and this is inherited from the parent. This bacterium feeds on the cockroach and it provides the cockroach with vitamins and amino acids which are essential for the cockroach’s development.
This means cockroaches never worry about what they eat, and they don’t even have to forage for nutrient-dense food. Cockroaches can eat anything and can derive nutrition from it.
Research has also found a relationship between cockroach body size and age in spotted cockroaches. So, their body size can determine how long they experience aging. The bigger the body size, the more useful it will be in sustaining its life.
The Average Cockroach Life Cycle
We need to know the age of cockroaches, understanding how long cockroaches live is important in increasing our knowledge about them. Now you know how many cockroaches live. Let’s continue with other knowledge especially about their average life cycle.
The cockroach life cycle can be divided into three stages: egg, nymph and adult. Let’s look at them one by one.
Eggs
After the cockroaches mate, within 3 to 7 days, the female starts laying eggs. Uniquely, the eggs are covered with Oothecha which is produced by female cockroaches. Then the female cockroach attaches this egg to a place using its saliva. There are about a hundred eggs and each one contains a cockroach larva. Usually the eggs are hidden to keep it safe.
Nymphs
After hatching the eggs, it takes about 1 month for the eggs to hatch. These larvae are called nymphs. After hatching, cockroaches will go through several more phases such as molting or losing their skin so that they are the cockroaches we usually recognize. To develop into an adult it takes about 3 to 4 more months. Cockroaches undergo incomplete metamorphosis, meaning that nymphs resemble adult cockroaches in the development of their wings and genitals.
Become an adult cockroach
When cockroaches start to become adults, they will grow wings and antennae and he will be old enough to be able to mate and reproduce. They will also continue to live their lives, mating and then giving birth to other new cockroaches.
Factors Affecting the Lifespan of Cockroaches
We’ve heard that cockroaches will inherit the world if humanity is wiped out in a nuclear war. Well, this makes sense when you look at the age and resilience of the cockroaches.
Cockroaches are insects that can survive in various conditions, many of them can even survive up to a month without eating. They can even survive on scarce resources like the adhesive on the back of stamps. There are bacteria in their bodies and this causes them not to need to eat a lot of nutritious food because the bacteria will provide vitamins for them. The bacteria eat what the cockroaches eat and then the bacteria feed the cockroaches, which means they produce vitamins in their bodies.
To see how tough they are, take a look at cockroaches that have lost their heads, they can even live up to a week without their heads. These insects do not rely on their heads or mouths to breathe, but their circulatory system is open so that oxygen can enter easily.
Check out more:
– What Eats Snakes? 10 Animals That Eat Snakes
– The Panda Ant Facts (Euspinolia militaris) – Check Out
This means that he died not because he couldn’t breathe, but because he couldn’t drink water. Some of them die naturally because of their short age, but many of them die because they are preyed upon by cockroach predators. Cockroaches are often prey for frogs, mice, and other large insects such as beetles, spiders and other arachnids.
There is also a parasitic wasp that preys on cockroaches, it will store its eggs in the cockroach sheath. But overall cockroaches are tough insects that can survive a lot in a variety of situations. That’s an interesting cockroaches lifespan to know. Even if it’s an insect, its body has many advantages that make it last longer.
