5 Cool Things About Cockroaches
In a big city, you’re bound to become familiar with cockroaches. At our office here in Manila, we’ve all had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of some of the unsung residents of our building. Sometimes a new intern will have a slightly unsettling first encounter, but once you learn a little about cockroaches, you start to see what remarkable animals they really are. Consider the following five cool things about these insects:
- “Mmm … you smell good”: Female cockroaches use pheromones to attract mates, so these ladies don’t need perfume—it’s all about the scent that nature gave them.
- Sweet dreams: Cockroaches are nocturnal and typically run away when you flip on the lights. A breed known as Asian cockroaches are the exception—they are actually attracted to light!
- Humans never met a T. rex, but cockroaches did: Think humans are the most highly evolved species? Cockroaches evolved for hundreds of millions of years even before dinosaurs began roaming the Earth.
- No men allowed: OK, we’re just joking, but some species of cockroaches are parthenogentic, meaning they reproduce without the need for males.
- Expert “fasters”: Cockroaches can go two weeks without water and a month without food.
Even if you’re not ready to get chummy with a cockroach, it’s OK. You can still curb their attendance at your dinner table with kind and humane tactics. Take the pledge to be cruelty-free every day here.
Posted by Edwina Baier
