Cockroaches Can Live Without Head

July 7, 2020 7:30pm IST

    To most of the people out there, cockroaches are already very revulsive and creepy organisms. After knowing the fact that it can live for several days without a head, it definitely makes one’s skin crawl! Well, there are several reasons that this little creature can survive without head and we can’t.

The very first thing that may strike our mind by reading head being chopped off is: why the cockroach doesn’t bleed to death ? The answer to this is that, unlike humans, cockroaches have an open circulatory system, which means they have a system for distributing blood through their bodies that doesn’t depend on a closed network of arteries and veins. Their blood doesn’t pump under pressure like ours. Hence, even when the head is cut-off, blood would not be forced out, and a clot would be formed around the neck.

The second thing is why the cockroach won’t suffocate to death ? Well, again, unlike humans, cockroaches do not have a fixed organ for breathing. Rather, they breathe through the small pores, called spiracles , that don’t need a brain to direct them.

The next thing is how cockroach manages to live without a brain ? Yes, cockroaches do have a brain and they use them! However, they don’t need it that much. Cockroaches have nerve tissues that control reflexes throughout their bodies, and these are distributed within each body segment. Thus, even if the roach loses its brain, the nervous tissues around the body continue doing their job. These little devilish creatures would move around as normally as they do with the head.

So, if the headless roaches neither bleed to death nor suffocate and manage to live without a brain, then how do they actually die? Or do they even die? Are they immortal? Well, nothing is immortal in this universe (except memories! ). The thing which kills this creature is the absence of organ for nourishment. It is going to die from being unable to eat. And even before that, it will die from thirst . A headless cockroach has no mouth to drink with and will be dead from dehydration in less than a week.

This brings the total day count from the moment it loses its head to the moment it loses its life to somewhere around 7 days or less. Definitely, it is not exactly a lot. But a lot more than what we could even think of!