![]() Outdoors, cockroaches might eat decaying plants and dead wood. It's rare that such an expedient scavenger like the cockroach would ever run out of food. What do roaches eat if there is no food anywhere? They have an easier time with keratin, a protein found in your nails and hair. Their sideways-moving mandibles are great for carrying and chewing morsels of the typical cockroach diet, but these same jaws would have a hard time puncturing your skin. This is because cockroach jaws are rather weak. In fact, cockroaches have even been known to bite people, though it's extremely rare and only happens when the infestation has reached cataclysmic levels.Ĭockroaches are more likely to pick on calluses, eyelashes, dead skin flakes and fingernails, rather than living tissue. They’ll also eat their own young if food gets scarce enough. For cockroaches, the starch food group expands to include book bindings, paper, wallpaper paste and the glue on the back of stamps.įor protein, cockroaches view dead insects, animal skin (e.g., the soft inside of leather) and even human hair and fingernails as viable food sources. For example, when you think of adding a starch element to a meal, potatoes, bread or pasta come to mind. ![]() What do roaches eat if nothing else is around?ĭespite being omnivores like us, cockroaches see many other items as viable food sources, ones we’d never imagine. Decaying matter gets their appetites going, so garbage and waste – even human waste – will serve as gourmet roach meals, as well as a few items in your home such as plants, soap and makeup. They'll snoop around to see what else is on the menu, taking a taste of this and a bite of that along the way. If your "restaurant" is "out" of their favorite food items, cockroaches won’t just head over to the take-out place down the block. Cleanliness is a vital part of cockroach prevention. Take extra care to keep sugary foods in airtight containers, clean up your meat prep stations and wipe down your counter for bread and any other crumbs left behind. They also like greasy food, cheese or anything that's moldy or fermented. Sweets, starches and animal proteins are a roach's favorite foods. ![]() Now, if your kitchen were a restaurant, cockroaches would definitely order certain types of foods before others. That's why you’ll find cockroaches in the kitchens, food storage and prep areas of homes with infestations. After all, humans are omnivores too, so it’s no surprise we share similar tastes. What do cockroaches eat first?Ĭockroaches will devour most of the same foods you enjoy. They'll eat whatever you have in your home, as long as it also meets the third point: that the food be organic (i.e., not metal, plastic, etc.). Second, cockroaches are opportunistic eaters. This means they eat both plants and animals, they don’t care. Why? Because these scavengers are among the least picky eaters in the insect kingdom.Ĭockroaches have three elements working together to make them such voracious eaters. Instead of asking "what do cockroaches eat," it might be easier to answer a question about what they don't eat.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |