Here are some cockroach facts that will make you despise them even more…
• Cockroaches are able to live for at least a week without their head! The nervous system and organs are not centralized in a cockroach like they are in other creatures. A headless cockroach will eventually die of starvation or dehydration. A headless cockroach can still move around, contaminating surfaces. If it is a female carrying an egg sack, the eggs could still hatch making more cockroach babies!
• A female cockroach will mate only one time, but will be pregnant for the rest of her life. After fertilization, the female will produce an egg case that contains hundreds of baby cockroaches.
• Cockroaches are known to transport a variety of bacteria and viruses on their bodies and legs that are harmful to humans. Cockroaches have been found to carry the pathogens of dysentery, tuberculosis, cholera, and typhoid as well as 40 other bacteria or viruses that can cause disease.
• Cockroaches are opportunistic feeders…almost nothing is off-limits to this hungry bug. Cockroaches will not hesitate to eat human food, coffee grinds, fabric, paper, leather, wood, toothpaste, shoes, paint, wallpaper glue, soap, fabric, human hair, fingernails, and even cigarette butts!
New Jersey pest control experts warn that cockroaches can fit into spaces that are about 1/16th of an inch wide. It’s important to seal any cracks or crevices and have the interior and perimeter of your home treated by a licensed NJ pest control professional to keep cockroaches away.