How Long Can A Cockroach Survive Underwater?: Our Focus

Many of us are already aware of the amazing survival abilities of roaches, and this has made us wonder: how long can a cockroach survive underwater?

Roaches are very interesting creatures and are very widely studied in terms of the anatomy of their bodies, their breathing abilities, their shocking survival abilities, etc. They are indeed very unique insects.

In this article, instead of just answering the question, How long can a cockroach survive underwater? We will also be answering any related questions your minds may have created about the subject topic.

 

How Long Can a Cockroach Live For?

• How Long Can a German Cockroach Live For?

Male and female German cockroaches will live for 200 days, which is about 6 months and 20 days. These insects have a very high rate of reproduction as they tend to lay about 20 to 50 eggs, which they incubate for 28 days.

What is most amazing is that these eggs will give birth to about 200 offspring. This means that a single German cockroach in your home can mean disaster.

 

Read also: Why Are German Cockroaches The Worst? 

 

• How Long Can an American Cockroach Live For?

The male American cockroach will live for 362 days, while a female will live for 700 days. It appears that females tend to live longer in every living thing, hmm! Well, let us leave that thought for another day. Lol!

Having an infestation of this roach can be a very serious issue, as the female tends to lay 16 eggs at once, which can birth about 224 offspring. OMG!

These offspring go through 13 developmental stages, which may average 600 days before they mature into adults.

• How Long Can an Oriental Cockroach Live For?

Unlike the other species of roaches that tend to live longer, the male Oriental roaches will only live for 160 days, while the females live for 180 days.

The female roach is capable of laying about 16 eggs at once, which will birth about 128 offspring. These offspring will go through 10 stages of development, which will average about 586 days before they emerge as adults.

One amazing fact about the reproduction stages of the Oriental roach is that they will not reproduce or lay eggs at temperatures below 58 degrees Celsius.

They usually require warmer temperatures to lay their eggs. That being said, you do not need to worry when you spot this roach in your home.

You can simply reduce your house temperature to make this roach uncomfortable to lay eggs, thereby preventing further infestation. Do well to reduce the temperature in your homes by purchasing an air conditioner.

 

How Do Cockroaches Breathe?

First of all, yes, cockroaches do breathe.

Unlike humans or other living things, cockroaches do not breathe through their noses or their mouths. If you study the anatomy of a cockroach, you will see that at the sides of their bodies are breathing holes referred to as spiracles.

They inhale oxygen through these small breathing holes located on their thorax. In this thorax are trachea tubes, through which oxygen is evenly distributed across every part of the roach’s body.

 

Read also: Why Do I Find Dead Cockroaches In My House?

 

How Long Can a Cockroach Survive Underwater?

You should note that several species of cockroaches prefer to inhabit areas that are close to water bodies or sources.

We believe that these questions may vary based on the species of cockroach involved. But, on average, how long can a cockroach survive underwater? Cockroaches will generally survive for 40 minutes underwater if fully submerged.

 

Can Cockroaches Swim?

We will not call this process swimming, but rather floating. Cockroaches tend to float rather than swim, but this process is not a very common sight.

When swimming (floating), they tend to close their spiracles (we mentioned this earlier) so that water does not go through their airways.

They do this when traveling up to toilet seats or drains.

 

Can Roaches Drown?

Yes, we have established the fact that cockroaches do swim (float), but can roaches drown?

We earlier stated above that cockroaches breathe through small breathing holes in their thorax called spiracles. For cockroaches to drown in the first place, they must have been submerged in the water and not floating (swimming) atop it.

It was earlier stated that cockroaches will survive for 40 minutes underwater, and after that, bye-bye roaches.

Once these 40 minutes are exceeded, these breathing holes will have been opened, and more than enough water will block the air passageways (trachea tube), thereby preventing the roach from breathing and killing it.

 

Read also: Why Do Cockroaches Bite Eyelids?

 

Extra Facts: Can Cockroaches Die?

If you have taken your time to read the information earlier stated above, you will agree with us that the cockroach is an interesting insect with a wide range of special survival abilities.

Yes, cockroaches can die, and it can be as a result of the following:

• Heart attack. Yes, this one may come as a shock, but roaches, like most humans, may die as a result of a heart attack.
• Without their heads, these insects will survive for another week. Remember we mentioned that these insects do not breathe through their mouths but through small holes in the side of their bodies (thorax), referred to as spiracles?
  If then they do not need their heads to breathe, what then kills them? Well, you see, just like every living thing, roaches need to eat and drink, and without their heads, they lack special organisms this time to help them do so.
  Dehydration (the lack of water) is what will mainly eliminate these pests, as they can survive for a month without food. Amazing right?

 

FAQs About How Long A Cockroach Can Survive Underwater

Are Cockroaches Fast?

Just so you know, cockroaches are very sensitive insects. So sensitive that it’s nearly impossible to sneak up on them without them feeling your vibrations. It is almost like their entire bodies are covered with sensors to detect threats.

Catching them is another difficult task, as they have a speed of 3 mph, which is about 210 mph when measured relative to human speed.

 

How long can a cockroach survive underwater? We believe that after reading this article, you now know.

If you have questions or have anything you would like to add to this, please feel free to reach out to us via the comments section below, as we are readily waiting to respond to you.

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