How Long Do Cockroaches Live? Creepy Crawly Facts For Kids

Be it an American cockroach or a German cockroach, nobody likes to see cockroaches in the kitchen.

Cockroaches have always been that annoying insect inside the kitchen that just won't go. It seems like they live forever, but do they?

Cockroaches can be seen in large numbers in our households. It doesn’t matter what we use, they just won't disappear. But how long do cockroaches live, do they die quickly, and can they survive without their heads? Answers to these and many more questions can be found below. If you like this type of article, recommended next reads include two Kidadl articles; how long crickets live, and cockroach life cycle.

Different Cockroach Species And Their Lifespan

Cockroaches may not be your favorite pest to see. No one wants to see insects in their house, but if we aren't using pest control and killing cockroaches, how long do they live? What is the cockroach life cycle like? There are different species of cockroaches in the world and the lifespan of a cockroach may differ depending on the species.

Generally, cockroaches live for about 20-30 weeks. The cockroach life cycle passes through three stages; the egg stage, the nymph stage, and adulthood. Each and every roach passes through all three stages. When talking about the life cycle of cockroaches, these three stages can end fairly quickly for some species and can last longer for some other species. Understanding the lifespan of cockroach species can help us answer the question of how long do cockroaches live.

To start with, German cockroaches live for about 100 days. Among German cockroaches, female German cockroaches can live up to 200 days. American cockroaches, however, can live for almost two years, but oriental cockroaches only live for a few months. Brown-banded cockroaches have an average lifespan of 3-11 months., and rhinoceros cockroaches have an incredible average lifespan of 10 years! Unsurprisingly, Rhinoceros cockroaches are among the longest-living insects.

As you can see, all these cockroach species have different lifespans when compared to each other. Among these, German cockroaches are the most common species of cockroach. These cockroaches are also known to lay more eggs than all other species. They have almost 30-40 eggs in each egg case. The female German cockroach will hold the eggs in the ootheca (the name for the cockroach's egg case) on her body until the eggs are ready to hatch. In the nymph stage, the German cockroaches will search for food and the nymph will take around 103 days to grow into an adult. In the nymph stage, they will also develop wings on their body and after this, they will enter the adulthood stage.

A German cockroach can take up to six months to complete its life cycle. They reproduce during this time. In the case of American cockroaches, females lay around 16 eggs per egg case. After 600 days, the egg develops into the adulthood stage. The nymph roach looks almost like an adult although they don’t have wings. An adult American cockroach has an average lifespan of a year. Oriental cockroaches also carry around 16 eggs in each of their egg cases. The female oriental cockroach lays its eggs in shelters and it can take up to two months for them to hatch. It takes between 300-800 days for oriental cockroach nymphs to grow into an adult from the egg. An adult oriental cockroach lives for 34-180 days. The brown-banded cockroach egg will hatch in 50 days to form nymphs. For about five to six months, these nymphs will molt up to eight times. The egg of a brown-banded cockroach takes around 276 days to mature into an adult.

After the female lays eggs in the ootheca, each species of cockroach takes a different amount of time to develop into adult cockroaches. Even the area where they lay the ootheca is different for each species. The temperature at which each of these roaches survives will also vary. Consequently, the lifespan of cockroaches is hard to accurately determine.

How long do cockroaches live in a house?

We now know that cockroaches live through three stages. The cockroach eggs that a female cockroach lays survive through the different temperatures and turn into nymphs. These nymphs live to become adults. These adults are seen around houses going through food and water. These pests cause much irritation in the household. How long do cockroaches live in our homes?

These pest roaches can survive and live up to one and a half years. Note the use of the term survive. It simply means that if the house that they live in 'provides' enough food and water, then they can live this long. These roaches cannot survive if houses have no food available for them to consume and no water for them to drink. Food, climate, habitat are essential factors to the survival of cockroaches. It is possible for cockroaches to freeze and die in cold temperatures. This is not a huge issue if the roach lives inside a house. Madagascar hissing cockroaches, for example, can live for around two years to five years as wingless adults.

Temperatures inside houses are often suitable for a roach to live comfortably, which is why you can find many cockroaches inside houses and this is also why cockroach control is essential to get rid of these pests. The female cockroach also lays her cockroach eggs inside houses as it is safer. You might find ootheca structures inside houses, often underneath furniture.

The lifespan of cockroaches in houses depends on how comfortable the house is for roaches. If they are without food, for example, the cockroach lifespan will reduce considerably. However, since the chances of cockroaches going without food inside a house are almost impossible, the only way to reduce the lifespan of a cockroach inside a house is by pest control methods.

How long do cockroaches live without a head?

Do you know that a cockroach can live without its head? Whilst roaches can't live without their head for a long time, they can survive without their head for up to seven days; which is wonder enough.

Cockroaches can live almost a month without food. This is bad news for all those who want to starve roaches to death, but the good news is that they can't live for long without water. They need water to survive. Humans obviously take in water through the mouth and breathe through their nose and mouth. However, whilst cockroaches, like humans, take water in via the head, they breathe via holes in their bodies. This means that they can live without their head because they can still breathe through the body. Cockroaches can survive without a head for a week but then dehydration comes into play and they die. Given that cockroaches drink water through the head, a week is all they can survive without a head. They need water to live and they need a head to drink water. All this equates to the fact that a cockroach cannot survive more than a week without its head.

How do cockroaches die and how long does it take?

If you have an unbearable cockroach infestation and want to get rid of all the pests quickly a natural death may seem too slow, but even when you opt for pest control you will still wonder how long it will take for the cockroaches to die and what the death process looks like.

We already know that a cockroach can live a week without its head and also without water. Naturally, a cockroach can die after being eaten. They will also die if they are turned upside down. We might have noticed these little insects trying so hard to stand upright and dying a futile death from exhaustion. If cockroaches are deprived of air, they can die within minutes. Cockroaches can also die from cold temperatures and can freeze to death within 24 hours. In terms of insecticides, the time taken for cockroaches to die can vary significantly.

Each cockroach species has a different time span to die after being sprayed with pest control spray. German cockroaches take longer to kill compared to other cockroaches like American cockroaches. It also depends on the extent of the infestation. The time it takes for the roach to die varies depending on the mode of death and the species of cockroach. There are some insecticides that dehydrate the pest and kill them quickly. Other methods will take up to a week to kill the cockroaches.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for how long do cockroaches live, then why not take a look at how many legs do cockroaches have or oriental cockroach facts?