Bug-bare: Ten things you didn’t know about Cockroaches

Cockroaches are perhaps one of the most loathed of all insect pests, renowned for their remarkable resilience and associated with everything creepy. But despite their reputation, they are also fascinating creatures too…

Fun facts about Cockroaches

1. Cockroaches are one of the most ancient and resilient insects in the world, with a rich evolutionary history that dates back over 300 million years.
2. Cockroaches are social and live in communities with other cockroach families, communicating via the gut bacteria in their faeces.
3. Cockroaches are able to fit through a gap as small as a quarter of their body height by flattening their flexible exoskeletons and splaying their legs to the side.
4. A cockroach can move at speeds of more than three miles per hour, which is very fast given their size. Even a baby cockroach, called a nymph, can travel at close to that speed.
5. Cockroaches can live up to a week without their heads as their open circulatory systems allow them to breathe through little holes in each of their body segments. They only eventually die because they cannot drink water without a mouth!
6. A cockroach can withstand 10 times as much radiation as a human.
7. Cockroaches can hold their breath for 40 minutes, and can survive underwater for 30 minutes.
8. A group of cockroaches is called an intrusion.
9. Cockroach phobia is called katsaridaphobia.
10. The world's largest winged cockroach is Megaloblatta longipennis which is found in Peru, Ecuador and Panama. A preserved female in a collection measures 97 mm in length and 45 mm across. M. longipennis can have a wingspan of up to 20 cm.

Cockroaches are year-round pests, but their affinity to warm environments makes them particularly problematic in the warmer months of the year. As summer approaches, we asked Richard Faulkner, National Account and Technical Manager at Envu, for a mini cockroach masterclass and his top tips for keeping them at bay.

The 5 types of Cockroaches

Envu offers a range of products for cockroach control. Further information on products for the most common cockroach species can be found on the Envu UK website here.