What happens if a cockroach gets into your nose? Is a cockroach bite dangerous, and what to do if a cockroach gets into your ear. How to avoid such cases

Anyone who has lived in an apartment with cockroaches knows the disgusting disgusting feeling when you go into the kitchen in the evening, turn on the light - and there are these disgusting creatures scurrying around: on the tables, in the cabinets, on the floor, in the sink. You take a mug to drink tea - and you don’t know if cockroaches have climbed on it. If you forget an open packet of cookies on the table in the evening, you no longer feel like eating them.

Or even worse - you wake up at night because someone is crawling on your body, and you are horrified to discover that a cockroach has crawled onto your bed.

But the trouble is that during the hours of deep sleep a person does not feel insects running over his body, and here you inevitably begin to worry whether cockroaches bite people at night, and if so, how to identify a cockroach bite on a person. You may also have wondered whether a cockroach can get into a sleeping person's ear or nose (if anyone finds this idea funny, don't rush to laugh). Let's thoroughly understand this topic and find out whether domestic cockroaches bite, look at photos of bites, and also find out what to do if a cockroach gets into your ear or nose.

Do cockroaches bite?

No matter how scary cockroaches may seem, they will not eat a person alive, although I understand that such a consolation is unlikely to reassure those suffering from insectophobia. We also note that if a person is bitten by a cockroach, there is no risk of blood-borne infections, since these insects are not blood-sucking. However, this does not mean that living in a house with cockroaches is safe.

Why do cockroaches bite people?

To understand why cockroaches bite, let’s first find out what they eat. The diet of cockroaches is varied, it includes not only all kinds of human food products, but also waste, sewage, microparticles of the epidermis and even hair - any organic matter goes into food. When a person falls asleep, he no longer poses a danger to cockroaches, and is perceived by them simply as a biological object, and therefore a potential source of food.

In addition, cockroaches are moisture-loving and constantly need water, without which they can live no more than a week. And on the human body, for example, in the corners of the lips or eyes, insects can find much-needed life-giving moisture.

But, as mentioned above, cockroaches do not at all crave human flesh, but on the contrary, they are afraid of people and try to stay away. As a rule, these nocturnal creatures live in an apartment within the kitchen and bathroom, where they find sufficient food and water, and do not try to get into the bedroom. But as the population multiplies, the overcrowding gradually forces cockroaches to move around the house in search of new food sources. In neglected apartments, the risk of night bites and a cockroach crawling into the ear or nose of one of the residents increases.

What cockroaches bite?

For those who are wondering whether black or red cockroaches bite, the answer is: according to by and large this does not depend on the species; both can bite a person equally. Another thing is that red cockroaches are the most common species of this order on earth, and they are found in houses more often than others, and therefore red cockroaches bite people more often. In addition, black cockroaches are more cautious by nature, and I have not yet heard of a single case of a black cockroach getting into bed at night, although, of course, this is not excluded.

Other species are also common in subtropical and tropical latitudes, for example, American and Australian cockroaches; they also bite, like their red and black relatives.

How cockroaches bite

The cockroach has a gnawing mouthpart, which has no teeth or a sharp proboscis, but if the cockroach were the size of a person, the sight of its mouth would undoubtedly cause fear. But this is for horror movie plots, in reality cockroaches are tiny creatures compared to humans, and the way they bite is more like pinching. Although cockroaches' bite force is reported to be 50 times their own body weight, human skin is too thick for them to bite through.

To understand the mechanics of how cockroaches bite, imagine what elements the oral apparatus of these insects consists of:

Labrum- the so-called upper lip, which covers other parts of the oral organ
Mandibles(or mandibles) - hard cutting upper jaws with which cockroaches bite off pieces of food
Maskilly- lower jaws (not as massive as mandibles), which help the cockroach hold food, and are equipped with segmented sensory palps for sensing taste
Labium- lower lip that closes the cockroach's mouth from below
Hypopharynx- expanded subpharyngeal structure, equipped salivary glands for salivation

Cockroaches bite humans using mandibles - a tool that resembles pincers, rather than jaws with rows of sharp teeth - and the most they can do is pinch. In this case, the cockroach, of course, does not tear off pieces of skin, but only pieces of the epidermis. At the moment of the bite, a pinch is felt for a split second, and the larger the type of cockroach, the more sensitive the bite.

This is what one woman said, who, due to the extremely high degree of infestation at home, had to experience the bites of red cockroaches:

“It feels like a mosquito or flea bite. You feel that someone is biting, for example, your leg - you look, and there is a cockroach sitting there. Moreover, I was bitten more often by small cockroaches (nymphs - approx.) than by large ones.”
Irina, Novorossiysk

What does a cockroach bite look like on a person - photo and description

Cockroaches usually bite people on parts of the body that have dead skin or food debris, as well as on moist areas of the face. If there is no other food nearby, these parts of a sleeping person's body will provide cockroaches with food and water:

Fingers
Nails
Eyelashes
Hands
Feet

When the population in an apartment becomes overly proliferated, cockroaches begin to make nests even in sofas and beds, and then a person turns into their closest source of food. In such circumstances, cockroach attacks become more frequent, as evidenced by multiple bite marks on the body.

Hard gnawing on the mandibles leaves tiny but noticeable wounds. This is what cockroach bites look like - photo on human skin:

If cockroaches regularly chew cuticles and fingernails at night, as well as the contour of the lips of children or adults, then characteristic signs of gnawing appear in these places.

Although cockroaches, unlike blood-sucking bugs, do not inject painkillers and other auxiliary components when biting, nevertheless, the saliva of these insects causes an allergic reaction on the skin in some people. Externally, cockroach bites are difficult to distinguish from the bites of other insects; allergy symptoms, as a rule, appear the same:

Redness
Short period of pain
Inflammation and swelling

Depending on the organism, allergies can also manifest themselves in the form of mild swelling in the areas of cockroach bites, for example, on the eyelid if the cockroach nibbled the eyelash area at night.

Cockroach bites on humans - how to treat them

Cockroach bites, in addition to allergies, rarely threaten any serious consequences. Much more dangerous are intestinal infections carried by these pests, which enter the body through contaminated food and utensils. True, if a cockroach bite occurs in the area of an open wound, this carries the risk of bacterial infections that will require medical intervention.

If only redness and swelling remain on the body after the bites, then simply wash the damaged area generously with warm water and antibacterial soap and pat dry paper towel. It also won't hurt if you wipe the bite area with an alcohol wipe or hydrogen peroxide. To relieve symptoms of skin allergies, use fenistil gel or similar products; in case of an acute allergic reaction, consult a doctor.

Can a cockroach crawl into your ear?

The news that cockroaches end up in people's ears will be perplexing for some, and a skeptical smile for others. But for those who experienced first-hand what a cockroach in the ear is, believe me, it was no laughing matter.

The online version of the British publication The Guardian published the story of a man named Hendrik Helmer, who one night felt signs of a cockroach in his ear, and as a result experienced a real nightmare. He tells:

“I woke up at 2 a.m. and realized I couldn’t hear in one ear. In my sleep I was still not thinking clearly, but I realized that there was something inside. It was difficult to understand what it was, my finger didn’t go deep enough to feel, but I felt that my ear seemed to be swollen from the inside. It later turned out that it was a two-centimeter cockroach, which apparently fell on my head from the ceiling.

As I later learned, if a cockroach got into the ear (and the signs indicated that it was large), then it could no longer move in the opposite direction. The cockroach's legs were caught between his body and the ear canal, and his only option was to move forward, so he scratched and clawed his way deeper, gnawing his mouth into my eardrum. The pain felt as if someone had stuck a knitting needle into my ear and was pressing on it.”

Then this man described how he tried to get a cockroach out of his ear on his own: he shook his head so that it fell out, sucked it out with a vacuum cleaner, placing the nozzle directly to his ear, poured water into his ear, but to no avail, the pain only intensified. He's writing:

“I writhed in pain until I eventually fell into a fetal position and my muscles started to spasm. My head was bursting from tension, I clenched my teeth with all my might so as not to cry.”

Then he woke up his friend, and he took him to the hospital - the doctor was surprised to find a cockroach in his ear. She poured it into her ear olive oil to deprive the insect of oxygen, and after 15 minutes the cockroach stopped moving. The man recalls:

“The pain I felt up to this point was nothing compared to the pain I felt as the cockroach struggled in its death throes. Then the doctor slowly pulled it out with long tweezers, and I finally felt relief."

Agree, it is unlikely that anyone is prepared in advance for such a situation and knows what to do if a cockroach gets into the ear. Meanwhile, despite its apparent exoticism, this problem is not so rare, and some ENT doctors have already accumulated extensive experience in how to get a cockroach out of the ear. Here, for example, short video one of these cases:

Cockroach in the ear - video

“Cockroaches look everywhere for food, and earwax may be attractive to them.”
Kobi Shawl (Coby Schal), entomologist at the University of North Carolina

Another publication described similar story, which happened in Florida (USA) with one woman named Katie. Also in the middle of the night she woke up from discomfort in her ear, went to the bathroom, and carefully climbed into her ear cotton swab, and felt that someone was moving inside. In addition to this horror, when she pulled out a cotton swab, she saw stick-shaped pieces that looked like insect legs...

At first, Katie's husband tried to remove the insect with tweezers, but only pulled out a couple more legs; the cockroach had already climbed deep inside. They went to the hospital, and the doctor removed fragments of the cockroach's body from Katie's ear. But after a week and a half, Katie still wasn't getting better and felt like her ear was numb.

During the next hospital visit, the therapist examined the ear with an otoscope and discovered another cockroach leg. The doctor removed six more insect fragments, but fearing there was more to come, he referred Katie to an ENT specialist, who finally removed a huge marzipan cockroach (Eurycotis floridana) from her ear.

The marzipan or Florida wood cockroach lives in the USA (Florida), and looks like a black cockroach, only with a reddish tint. The adult size reaches 3-4 cm

But if this is a nightmare for an adult, then imagine what a shock it will be if a cockroach ends up in a child’s ear. To avoid getting confused in such a situation, take note of the recommendations below.

What to do if a cockroach gets into a child's ear

From the cases described above, it is clear that when a cockroach is in the ear, this is indicated by clear symptoms: the sensation of a foreign living organism, difficulty hearing and acute pain in the ear. Even if the child is not able to explain, parents can understand from his behavior what is bothering him.

So, if you realize that a cockroach has crawled into your child’s ear, pay attention to following tips from the University of Rochester Medical Center:

Calm your child first
Don't poke into the insect in the child's ear with a cotton swab or something else. You can damage the middle ear and eardrum, and in addition, push the cockroach deeper inside.
Tilt your baby's head to the side and carefully shake. Don't hit child on the head.
If after this the insect does not fall out, pour a small amount baby oil into the ear canal. This will usually kill the cockroach.
If you think the cockroach has died but remains inside, gently rinse the ear canal with warm water using a syringe. The cockroach should swim out.
Do not pour water into the ear canal unless the object in the ear is an insect.

Contact your doctor immediately in the following situations:

The child has a history of ear infections
Are you afraid of pouring oil or water into your child's ear?
Only parts of the insect's body were recovered
If your child shows signs of infection: odor and/or discharge from the ear, fever

How doctors extracted a live cockroach from a woman's skull

A 42-year-old woman in India woke up in the middle of the night with a suspicious tickling sensation in her nose. Later it turned out that a cockroach had crawled into one of her nostrils, but at first the woman thought it was a cold and brushed off the strange sensation.

But soon she felt that something was moving inside. The woman spent the rest of the night anxiously and, barely waiting for the morning, went to the hospital. She says: “I couldn’t explain what I was feeling, but I was sure it was some kind of insect. As soon as it started moving, I felt a burning sensation in my eyes.”

The woman was sent to another hospital, where doctors suggested that it was nasal polyps. At the third hospital, she was advised to have an X-ray of her head and was told that the discomfort was apparently due to foreign body, which appears to be moving. And finally, during the fourth visit, doctors at Stanley Medical University Hospital used an endoscope to determine the cause of the problem - a dark creature with a pair of antennae. A cockroach crawled into a woman's nose.

“It was an adult cockroach, it was alive and it didn’t seem like it was going to get out.”
Head of the ENT Department M.N. Shankar (M.N.Shankar)

According to the doctor, the insect was sitting at the base of the skull between the eyes, close to the brain. Doctors first tried to remove the cockroach using a suction device, but it clung to the tissue. After 45 minutes of manipulation using suction and surgical forceps, doctors removed the cockroach, still alive. The insect spent about 12 hours in the woman's head.

For footage taken during this operation using an endoscope camera, see this video:

When doctors placed the cockroach in a container, it spread its wings and its legs moved quickly.

“If the insect had remained inside, sooner or later it would have died and the patient would have developed an infection that would inevitably have spread to the brain,” adds Dr. Shankar.

This was the first time in his thirty years of practice that a cockroach had climbed into a person’s nose.

It is difficult to find a person whose parents in childhood would not frighten them with stories about how, due to special sloppiness, some individuals scary and evil cockroaches crawl into your ears. Oh, and it was scary, especially when mentioning their ability to gnaw through flesh and get into the brain!

Can cockroaches get into your ear? Perhaps the stories of mothers, fathers and grandmothers are just naive fiction, designed to “restrain” particularly zealous dirty people? Let's figure it out now!

Let us say right away that this is not fiction - treacherous Prussians really capable of crawling into ears sleeping people. By nature, these insects have very flexible and elongated body, allowing you to get into the narrowest cracks.

Considering that the diameter of an adult’s ear hole sometimes reaches a whole centimeter, such a walk is a common thing for a Prussian. As for children, their ears, of course, are incomparably smaller, but cockroaches are also small, so no one can feel safe.

A “maneuverable” cockroach will not be able to climb into the brain. The reason is in the anatomical features of the ear - it is designed in such a way that no pest can penetrate further than the eardrum, with the exception, perhaps, of very exotic centipedes.

But if a cockroach climbed in there then back out without outside help he won't be able to.

The point is that nature didn't give these insects ability to move in reverse. Turn around in the ear he won't be able to either- there's too much narrowly, there is not enough room for maneuver, so it turns out that the Prussian will sit there as if in a trap, unable to return “to his own people” again.

Reference. The people most at risk are those who sleep in dirty places, such as shady hostels or old village houses.

How to get a cockroach out of your ear?

It’s almost impossible to notice such a visit impossible. The cockroach is alive, which means it will be fight. This is expressed in continuous movement and attempts to get free. In this case, the insect will begin to continuously bite and scratch.

It causes enough severe pain . In addition, cockroaches have tough chitin and wings, the effect of which on tissue can cause bleeding. Yes and the victim will hear sounds such that mother, don’t worry.

No need to try on your own remove the pest. This may lead to its dismemberment, which will create additional difficulties for the doctor, whose visit cannot be avoided. In addition, there is a risk of damage to the hearing organ. If you realize that there is a cockroach in the ear canal, you need to go straight to the hospital. There are two options to solve the problem:

Usually the procedure lasts no more than 15 minutes, but if the victim has already tried to resolve the issue, then the time frame can increase to an hour and a half - removing a guest piece by piece is much more difficult.

Important. The main thing is not to panic. In a state of intense fear, people begin to actively pick at the ear, tearing off the visitor's paws and other body parts. As we have already learned, this will only create further difficulties.

Useful video

What happens if a cockroach crawls into your ear in the video below:

The ability of cockroaches to penetrate the narrowest crevices does not exclude the possibility that some curious individual will one day crawl into the human ear. This happens quite rarely, but the fact remains that a cockroach in the ear is a realistic situation that happens regularly. In this article we will describe possible actions what you should do if such a nuisance happens to you or someone you know.

the photo shows the structure of the ear

What are the consequences of having a cockroach in your ear?

Most often, small cockroaches get into the ears of sleeping people. Symptoms of this event will be a sensation of movement in the ear. If the insect has crawled deep enough, additional signs will appear in the form of pain and loud noises due to the proximity of the eardrum. In general, a person should easily understand that something living has entered his ear.

Contrary to popular opinions, a cockroach that has crawled into the ear is not able to crawl to the brain or lay eggs in the ear. The structure of the ear is such that the insect cannot penetrate beyond a certain level. By and large, he will have no time for this: finding himself in a cramped space where it is impossible to turn around, the cockroach will try to get out of there, fight, twitch its legs, bite and flounder.

At this moment, the most painful sensations occur in the victim: due to the proximity to the eardrum, all convulsions and movements of the insect cause a sensation of rumble and loud noise in my head. Due to the sensitivity of the membrane, the movements of the insect respond with severe sharp pain, and sometimes minor bleeding may occur.

The diameter of the ear canal in an adult is uneven throughout its entire length and averages 9 mm.

The problem is aggravated by the fact that once a cockroach gets into a person’s ear, it cannot get back out on its own: as already mentioned, there is no room to turn around, and this insect does not move in reverse. It is necessary to immediately pull him out of there, otherwise this may result in consequences such as mental shock (especially for a child), or damage to the auditory canal.

What to do

Ideally, it is advisable to immediately see a doctor who will carry out the procedure to remove the uninvited guest professionally. But there are times when it is not possible to do this immediately, and there is no strength to endure severe pain and noise until an appointment with an otolaryngologist.

In this case, you can alleviate the victim’s condition on your own and remove the insect at home. In most cases, it is even possible to remove the cockroach, but subsequent examination by a doctor should not be ignored.

It happens that a cockroach has not crawled into the ear too deeply, and then someone close to you can pick it up with tweezers and take it out of the ear. However, if the insect has moved very deep, it is not worth taking risks and doing this without being a professional, so as not to damage the eardrum.

As a rule, cockroaches are active at night, when humans tend to rest. Fast and arrogant insects can move unhindered on any surface, including the human body; some curious insects can even penetrate the ear, believing that this is a very convenient, secluded place. On the Internet you can find a huge number of disputes on this matter, since not everyone is sure that there can be a cockroach in the ear. However, this is quite possible and such cases are often recorded, so you should familiarize yourself with this situation in more detail.

Many are trying to find out whether cockroaches can crawl into the ear; to answer this question, one should consider the behavior and structure of this insect. Cockroaches live not only in homes, but also in the wild. Due to the unique structure of the body, they can easily penetrate into the narrowest holes and crevices. The hearing aid in an adult is quite large - 9-10 mm in diameter, this size is enough for an insect to easily enter the space of the ear, if such a desire arises.

The cockroach is quite small, so it can get into the ear

Whether a cockroach can get into the ear is confirmed by experienced otolaryngologists, who were approached by patients with complaints about painful sensations in the ear, after examination it was possible to determine that the cause was an insect. The difficulty of removing the pest is not very great; it all depends on the size of the insect and the depth of its penetration. This can be done at home, but it should be precisely determined that the reason is precisely the penetration of a cockroach into the ear; the following symptoms may indicate this:

pain;
minor bleeding;
strong sound and tinnitus;
in some cases, hearing deteriorates;
feeling of movement.

Once a cockroach has entered the ear, it is quite difficult not to notice its penetration. At first, the person experiences severe pain, as the arthropod will actively try to get out of the trap. At the same time, it will not move back; sometimes such manipulations can damage the eardrum and the walls of the ear canal, which will cause hearing impairment and even minor bleeding. The victim may notice the movement of the insect by characteristic sensations; it is imperative to tell your doctor about this so that he can immediately diagnose the problem.

In addition to physical discomfort and pain, the presence of an insect in the body can cause severe psycho-emotional stress, especially in the fairer sex, as well as children.

A cockroach can penetrate the ear space not only of an adult, but also of a child. Their auricle is much smaller, but their “neighbors” can also have mustaches. Not big size, so it’s not difficult for a Prussian to crawl into the ear of a resting child. As a rule, they are exposed to this in houses with increased pollution, as well as in buildings located near trash cans. Often the patients are tourists who often spend nights in tents.

The main difficulty is that an insect can easily crawl into the ear space, but it can no longer get out on its own. A cockroach cannot move backwards, and the limited space does not allow it to maneuver freely. There is no reason to believe that an insect can penetrate the brain. The ear device does not involve the cockroach moving beyond the eardrum; however, the problem should not be delayed; you should contact a medical facility immediately after the first signs of cockroach activity appear, although the problem can be dealt with on your own.

What can it be confused with?

Only after examining the ear cavity will the doctor be able to determine that the problem really lies in the penetration of an insect. The fact is that the above symptoms may coincide with some diseases and problems. Without special medical training a person may think that poor health is due to the occurrence of one of the following ailments:

otitis media of the inner or middle ear (noise, pain, pulsation);
the formation of sulfur plugs, as hearing deteriorates significantly;
the presence of an inorganic foreign object, which manifests itself in the form of discomfort, congestion and pressure.

Only after examining the ear will the doctor be able to determine that the problem lies in the penetration of an insect

It is pointless to take any means, since getting rid of the insect is possible only through some mechanical manipulations. You can drink a little sedative and painkiller if necessary, but it is better not to waste time and go to the hospital.

If an insect has entered the ear space, then there is no need to panic, but you need to determine what to do if a cockroach has entered your ear. First of all, you need to calm down and visit a medical facility so that help can be provided. qualified specialist. An otolaryngologist is like that; using a large syringe, he will wash out the pest with high pressure of water, although special devices are often used to remove the cockroach mechanically. The duration of the procedure is 10-15 minutes, but it is important to note that the insect must be removed entirely; if any part remains in the ear space, then there is a high probability of complications. In this case, the extraction process will become more difficult and will continue until the insect is completely removed.

Many people try to figure out how to get a cockroach out of their ear at home on their own, but doing this is strictly prohibited, as it can damage the ear canal. This, in turn, will cause various problems, including hearing impairment or its complete absence. Situations arise when it is not possible to contact a specialist, then there is a need to provide first aid to the victim, that is, it is difficult to cope with the problem on your own. First aid consists of killing the insect, and then it needs to be removed, for this you should adhere to the following algorithm of actions:

The victim must be placed in a comfortable position and reassured.
You need to inject a little baby or vegetable oil, a syringe or pipette is used for this, but it should be understood that the substance must be administered carefully. As a result of such manipulations, the insect will choke; it is prohibited to use water for these purposes, since the baleen may be in it. long time, and in order to survive, he will try to get out, so he will cause severe pain to his owner.
After 15 minutes auricle need to rinse with warm water. To do this, the liquid is administered dosed and slowly; in some cases, the pest emerges on its own.
If the insect is within reach, then the likelihood of damage to the auditory organ is minimal.
After removing it, you need to check the insect for integrity; if any part is still lost, then further removal is carried out exclusively in medical institution specialist.

Oil is poured into the ear to kill a cockroach

There is no need to try to get the insect yourself if it is out of reach, then the extraction process is also carried out exclusively by the attending physician. Although at home you can neutralize insects using the methods described earlier, a specialist will have to remove the lifeless body.

Prevention measures

So we found out that there could easily be a cockroach in the ear, and we also determined what to do. A very important and serious question remains - how to prevent insects from getting into the ear space. I would like to answer right away that no one is immune from this, especially those who live in insufficiently sterile conditions, and also often engage in tourism, spending nights in a tent. First of all, you need to eliminate the possibility of cockroaches getting into your ear by destroying them.

If you notice that these mustachioed pests are present in the house, then you need to devote all your efforts to destroying them. Moreover, such actions must be taken immediately, before the insects have finally settled in the house and begin to lay eggs, since then it will be very difficult to remove them. If there are many methods that allow, and it is not at all necessary to spend fabulous money on this and call specialists, if inexpensive means, as well as traditional methods, which our grandparents used.

However, cockroaches will not be able to disappear immediately; on the contrary, if poison or repulsive substances are placed near their habitats, then they will look for new crevices and holes, one of these is the human ear cavity - it is warm, relatively safe and very humid there, which is ideal conditions for insects to live in, which is why we attract them. The best and only solution is to use earplugs. Of course, this will lead to difficulties and significantly reduce the quality of sleep, but there is no other way to cope with the problem.

Where do cockroaches usually hide in an apartment and what you need to know about their “nests”;
Do so-called sewer cockroaches exist and what to do if they suddenly appear in the entrance of a house?
Where cockroaches can live in the kitchen and how to remove these insects from microwaves and other household appliances;
What to do if cockroaches come from neighbors;
Are there mutant cockroaches in your home?

...and other interesting points.

Let's imagine a typical situation: you are sure that your apartment is in complete order, clean and comfortable. And you don’t even imagine that somewhere in this very cleanliness cockroaches are already hiding - the fiends of garbage and unsanitary conditions.

But then one night you discover such a pest on kitchen table, in a bathroom that has been cleaned to a shine, or just on the floor in the hallway. Usually, the residents are puzzled by the question: how is it possible, where did the cockroaches suddenly come from, because the apartment is almost perfectly clean! And if this escaped cockroach is not the only one, then where are the others hiding?..

Let us immediately reassure you: this situation is completely typical, and thousands of people in various parts of our country are puzzled by similar questions. For some of them, the apartment does not at all resemble the standard of cleanliness, while for others, it is quite suitable for a photo shoot in fashion magazine, however, in both cases, cockroaches appear, scare the owners and, most importantly, worsen the overall sanitary situation in the house (since they are potential carriers of pathogenic microorganisms).

The less often the apartment is cleaned and the more it accumulates food waste, the easier it is for cockroaches to survive. However, these insects are capable of inhabiting well-cleaned rooms: the main thing here is that they maintain the living conditions necessary for cockroaches. And given that there are very few such conditions, almost everyone can expect to encounter pests in their home.

All cockroaches need is:

water - in the sink, toilet, bathtub, glass on the table, or even its remains in flower pot. Having access to water sources is the main condition for the survival of cockroaches in an apartment(and this is often used in practice to get rid of pests);
any food products within reach - these could be bread crumbs, fruits and vegetables, groceries, burnt pieces of food on the stove or in the microwave. Cockroaches will not disdain wallpaper glue, splashes of oil behind the stove, and even soap;
the temperature in the apartment is above 15°C all year round– cockroaches do not live in colder rooms;
the presence of secluded places where you can hide and wait out the daylight hours - for example, these could be spaces under cabinets, bedside tables and other furniture, closets with randomly piled things, the back of the stove and refrigerator. Cockroaches love to hide in various household appliances(We'll talk about this in more detail below).

In practice, the situation is often as follows: cockroaches can find food and shelter almost everywhere, and critically important factor their survival becomes, first of all, the presence available sources water.

This is interesting

Experiments show that the glue on a postage stamp is enough for a cockroach to eat for about one month. Rest assured: in your house such a mustachioed neighbor will find something to profit from.

At the same time, when acute shortage Cockroaches can replenish the lack of water with the help of humans - there are known cases when these insects gnawed the wet epithelium from the lips of sleeping people. Young children are especially vulnerable in this regard.

Another risk factor for the sudden appearance of pests in an apartment is the ability of cockroaches to easily enter the room, for example, from neighbors. From places where they breed in large numbers, some of the individuals sooner or later “move out” due to increasing overpopulation in the population.

Where cockroach scouts find suitable conditions, insects “take root” and actively reproduce, colonizing a room previously uninhabited by them. Especially known for this are the so-called sewer cockroaches, which in the warm season crawl out of sewers not only into apartments and houses, but sometimes even just along city streets.

If there is a breeding ground near an apartment or house where cockroaches hide in abundance, then getting rid of them in a single room can be very problematic: here you need to either reliably isolate the room (which in practice is usually not possible), or meet the scouts fully armed. fighting them on your own, or contact the appropriate authorities and complain about a breeding ground for insects near you.

Remember: cockroaches in the entrance are the main candidates for quickly moving into your apartment. If we simply perceive their presence on staircase or near the garbage chute, as a matter of course, do not go anywhere and do not fight on your own, then with high probability you can expect that most apartments in multi-storey building will soon be infected and will simply become breeding grounds for new hordes of cockroaches.

See also our experiments on cockroaches:

We catch cockroaches and test for them different means- see the results...

The photo below shows cockroaches on the wall in the entrance of a multi-storey building:

On a note

Each district of large cities in our country has its own regional SES. If cockroaches come from neighbors or from the entrance, then first of all you need to call the SES. And they will already tell you what to do next: wait for the inspector, call private services, or get rid of it yourself.

Keep in mind that the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station is a state structure, and while its partly bureaucratic mechanism is working, it may be easier to call private service disinfestation, or still come to an agreement with your neighbors on your own.

Optimal hiding places for cockroaches in an apartment

IN the largest quantities insects usually reproduce kitchen furniture and large household appliances (refrigerator, Dishwasher, kitchen stove), since no one disturbs them here, and it’s just a stone’s throw to a sink with water and a trash can with food. The abundance of food, access to water and the heat generated by equipment create an ideal habitat for cockroaches in such places.

For example, sometimes residents are horrified when, during pest control work (or simply during repairs), they move furniture and discover literally hundreds of fattened cockroaches and their larvae just behind the furniture. In some apartments, insects, for example, behind the refrigerator, are able to form an almost continuous swarming “carpet.” Here, on the floor, there is an abundance of chitinous coverings of cockroaches remaining after molting, dry shells of cockroach eggs (ootheca) and black dots of excrement.

Examples of such shelters are shown in the photographs below:

Meanwhile, when planning to remove cockroaches, you need to remember that they come to drink only in those places where there is water available to them - in sinks and bathtubs. This means that it is better to place traps and poisons here, and not just somewhere near the refrigerator or stove.

On a note

Actually, cockroaches do not have a nest - they simply gather in the most secluded places, sometimes forming significant clusters. Therefore, sometimes it may seem that such a cluster of them, which usually looks like a rather dirty and very unsightly place, is a real nest. However, strictly speaking, this is not a nest, since cockroaches have no organization.

However, this does not mean that you shouldn’t look for a “nest of cockroaches”: if you find the main places where these pests accumulate, then it can be much easier to fight them.

The photo shows what a large cluster of cockroaches looks like in an apartment:

In some cases, the main source of cockroach infestation in your clean and well-kept home may be the apartment of less prosperous neighbors. Usually it is the houses of alcoholics that have not been cleaned for years or, as bitter as it is to realize, the apartments of lonely and frail elderly people who are no longer able to maintain cleanliness and order, that are real farms for growing these insects.

It is from here, from the neighbors, that cockroaches sometimes crawl in hordes into the nearest apartments, eventually settling on all floors. Therefore, if you do not want to meet insects in your room, then conduct explanatory conversations and educational work with your neighbors, and if necessary, involve the SES. Remember: if you don’t complain anywhere and don’t take action, then you will be guaranteed proximity to cockroaches for as long as possible. long years forward.

This is interesting

The main habitat of cockroaches in nature is leaf litter in tropical rainforests. Here insects sometimes swarm in huge numbers in close proximity to the main source of food - rotting vegetation and falling fruit.

At higher latitudes, cockroaches also live in forests, but here their habitat is replaced by meadows and rock ruins, and in South Africa by mountain slopes. In any case, cockroaches come from places with an abundance of vegetation and frequent rainfall, which is why they are so dependent on water.

Unusual hiding places

We should not forget that in addition to “standard” shelters, cockroaches are sometimes able to hide in the most unexpected places:

What to do if cockroaches have chosen one of these (or some even more unusual) places in your apartment? Of course, it is necessary to remove insects from these shelters, but sometimes this also has to be done in different ways.

For example, you can remove cockroaches from a microwave by turning off the device from the network and plugging one of its technological holes in the back with cotton wool soaked in ammonia (a 10% pharmaceutical solution is suitable). If some cockroaches are hiding in the electronics unit, then the smell of ammonia will cause them to leave the microwave quite quickly. However, you should be prepared that after weathering ammonia pests can later crawl inside again in search of food and shelter.

You should not try to drive cockroaches out of the microwave using powerful insecticides - in this case, you will not be poisoned for long.

This is interesting

Cockroaches love the smell of wood and stay near wooden objects whenever possible. Therefore, people often report to the SES that they have found a cockroach nest at home in a cage with sawdust where a hamster lives, or in an old plywood delivery box.

Finally, in southern regions our country, as well as in Central Asia and Ukraine, cockroaches can summer time It’s normal to live on city streets and even in fields around villages. In exceptional cases, black cockroaches can even spend the winter outdoors.

Sewer cockroaches: do they exist?

In almost any city, cockroaches inhabit sewer systems. And the reasons for this are quite obvious: there is enough food (don’t ask what kind) and water, high humidity and a more or less comfortable temperature for them.

It is not surprising that insects often get into houses through the sewer system and crawl out through sinks and bathtubs into apartments. And such people from the sewer system clearly do not improve the sanitary situation in the room...

Sewer cockroaches are no different from “ordinary” apartment cockroaches. In our country these are common cockroaches and black cockroaches; in Europe, American cockroaches are also added to these species.

In an apartment or house, they cannot be distinguished from insects that constantly live behind the bedside table or under the sink. One can only assume that the cockroaches found in the bathroom or toilet could have come from neighbors, or could have recently crawled out of the sewer.

On a note

In many newspaper news from around the world, there are regularly reports of invasions of sewer cockroaches in large and seemingly prosperous cities. Naples, Paris, Istanbul, San Francisco, Moscow encounter such a cockroach epidemic with enviable regularity. There is nothing surprising about this: in some years, the number of cockroaches in sewers grows at a particularly rapid pace. In the summer, they crawl to the surface and look for suitable places to settle. And the townspeople, accustomed to cleanliness, begin to panic and cut off the phones of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Stations.

You can get rid of sewer cockroaches using the same methods that are used to combat any other cockroaches: treating the premises with insecticidal preparations, placing traps and poisoned baits, preventing insects from entering the premises. All these actions can be performed either by the apartment owners themselves, or these tasks can be entrusted to the shoulders of professional exterminators.

Mutant cockroaches from the sewer – fact or fiction?

But the mutant cockroaches that are fashionable today to talk about on forums or make magazine notes are nothing more than fiction. All currently known reports about mutant cockroaches are easily refuted not even by a specialist biologist, but by a simple enthusiastic youth.

For example, reports of the appearance in the basements of houses of cockroaches with gills that have adapted to aquatic environment in the sewers, appeared after the discovery of common aquatic swimming beetles in the bathrooms of several residents of Ukrainian cities. As they say, fear has big eyes, and people certainly want to become victims of “mutants.”

Here is a photo of a red cockroach:

And here is a photo of a swimming beetle:

On a note

There is nothing surprising in the fact that a cockroach crawls out of the toilet or from a pipe in the bathroom. These insects swim well, and when full immersion can survive in water for a long time. In laboratory experiments, individual red cockroaches came to life after an hour of being under water, so a trip through the sewer would not be stressful at all for such a Spartan. Therefore, by the way, it is worth remembering that if you flush a cockroach down the toilet, it will simply move down the sewer pipe and almost certainly will not die, but will only find a new habitat with an abundance of food and water.

The situation is similar with white cockroaches, which people always meet in their homes, but which, with the help of the media, began to be talked about in some places as mutated monsters. A white cockroach is not a mutant, but simply a very recently moulted individual that has shed its colored chitinous cover and has not yet had time to form a new one (see example in the photo).

In general, it is not entirely correct to talk about mutant cockroaches: it takes millions of years for the appearance of any serious functional mutation and its consolidation in the insect population (especially if we are talking, for example, about the development of the aforementioned gills) - this is much longer than in this world There are sewerage and running water. In this regard, it would be very naive to believe that sewer system in your home is so unique that the cockroaches in it undergo such major evolutionary changes in just a few years.

However, changes in the body of cockroaches that are invisible to the human eye still gradually occur - for example, under the influence of chemical substances. It’s no secret that over many years of persistent struggle between man and this insect, the latter has adapted (some would say mutated) to survive even when poisoned by some insecticidal agent: this is why the industry offers us more and more new, more advanced drugs.

On a note

By the way, it is also naive to talk about the fact that cockroaches will be the only living creatures that will survive nuclear war. This is another myth. Cockroaches are indeed more resistant to short-term radiation than humans, but long-term radiation fallout is just as destructive for them as for all living things. Cockroaches are no different in their “antinuclear” properties from other insects, and in the event of a corresponding cataclysm they will die out at approximately the same speed as, for example, flies or ants.

Cockroaches are not in the apartment: where else can these insects be found in the city?

It is logical to assume that if in some place outside the immediate human habitation conditions suitable for the life of cockroaches are maintained, then the insects will be able to live there too. Let's just remember the cockroaches in the entrance and in heating mains throughout the city.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, cockroaches hide in a huge number of places in the city.

Warehouses food products and imported products. Here, by the way, among the bunches of bananas and boxes of oranges you can even find representatives exotic species who sailed to us from overseas.
Supermarkets and their warehouses. Despite the certificates received from the SES, almost every such premises provides shelter for a huge number of cockroaches. And in some places insects even manage to seep into trading floors and frighten customers with their appearance.
Metro. Indeed, the climatic conditions here more or less meet the requirements of cockroaches, especially at stations. In the subway, garbage accumulates in abundance, which can become a source of food for picky insects. It is not surprising that cockroaches in the subway are, in general, not uncommon.
Kitchens of restaurants and cafes. Yes, yes, absolute cleanliness in such establishments is observed only in the guest rooms. What happens in the kitchen and who is hiding there among the pots is hidden behind well-closed doors.
Greenhouses where cockroaches simply blissfully warm, high humidity and an abundance of normal, natural food for them.

This list can be continued for a long time: attics and basements, markets, MAFs, greenhouses, enterprises Food Industry, canteens of schools and universities - wherever there is food and is kept warm, sooner or later cockroaches can appear. And the talk that cockroaches have left the cities in Lately, it seems, are as much a myth as the idea that these insects will survive a nuclear winter.

On a note

If you find yourself in Egypt, Jordan or Israel and want to experience a thrill, walk along backyards in tourist areas in the early morning, when the owners open cafes and sweep out cockroaches poisoned at night. Here you can find marbled cockroaches, American cockroaches, and even rarer ones, and in such quantities that you might wonder: who eats more in this cafe - tourists or insects...

So don’t be alarmed if you suddenly meet a red-haired, mustachioed acquaintance in your favorite supermarket or in a cozy cafe. Even with a careful approach to maintaining order, the owners of the establishment do not always manage to prevent insects from entering it.

Ordinary citizens should remember that cockroaches most often get into the house from neighbors or from the entrance, and hide here in the most unexpected places. And if encounters with these pests become too frequent, then you need to contact pest control services, or start an independent fight.