There are approximately 4,600 species of cockroaches and they can be found all over the world, in every continent except Antarctica. Before you panic, though, only about 30 of these species can become pests. Most of them live in forests, whether under the ground, crawling across the forest floor or in trees, while others live in caves, fields, swamps and grasslands. One species of cockroach can even live in the desert, absorbing water vapor using its mouth structures in the absence of water.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest cockroach is theMegaloblatta longipennisfound in Central and South America, which can grow up to 3.8 inches long and have an 8-inch wingspan. The Central American giant cave cockroach can reach the same lengths but has a shorter wingspan, around 5 to 6 inches. The heaviest cockroach is the giant burrowing cockroach from Australia which can weigh over an ounce – as heavy as a CD. It is also the longest-lived cockroach, able to live for up to ten years.
And we mean any organic matter. Apart from eating any human food, cockroaches can eat dead insects, paper, cloth, soap, wood, glue, hair and poop. Yup, just about anything. This means cockroaches won’t ever run out of food, though they do prefer to eat sweets, starchy foods and meat. And guess what? Cockroaches can live for weeks without food! This has something to do with the fact that they are cold-blooded, like crocodiles and snakes, which means they can keep their metabolism rate low. Cockroaches cannot live long without water, though – just two weeks at most – and in fact, most dead cockroaches you see probably died of thirst (unless pesticide got them first).
