{"id":1001,"date":"2015-10-08T15:25:08","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T15:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/?p=1001"},"modified":"2018-09-10T16:56:31","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T23:56:31","slug":"cockroaches-arent-as-good-at-surviving-as-we-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/2015\/10\/08\/cockroaches-arent-as-good-at-surviving-as-we-thought\/","title":{"rendered":"Cockroaches aren\u2019t as good at surviving as we thought"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you exist on planet earth for more than about 15 years you\u2019re almost guaranteed to \u201cknow\u201d a few things about cockroaches.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They will survive through seemingly impossible odds (war, famine, awkward silences).<\/li>\n
  2. They are ugly and gross.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I won\u2019t dispute number 2. In fact, I\u2019m on board if you\u2019re talking about the American Cockroach<\/a>. But I do have a problem with number 1.<\/p>\n

    Are cockroaches really apocalypse proof? Here\u2019s the story; myth, truth and all.<\/p>\n

    When I say cockroach I am NOT talking about the American Cockroach<\/a>.\u2026.or the German Cockroach<\/a>. I am talking about ALL COCKROACHES. All 7000 of them.\u00a0<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"\"<\/a>
    The 1950’s were a simpler time. And by that I mean that there was a severe television shortage and everyone was obsessed with radiation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The 1940\u2019s and 50\u2019s were the times when America first started worrying about things like nuclear apocalypse. No doubt this mindset affected the insect scientists at the time.<\/p>\n

    In the late 1950\u2019s there were major nuclear disasters, US and Russia were testing nuclear warheads, and there was a massive push for disarmament. This is when we found out that cockroaches can survive 10 times more radiation than humans. Sounds impressive. Although, if you stop reading here you might be 1 proton short of a stable isotope. Plenty of other insects can survive this amount of radiation as well! In fact some insects are 10 times better than cockroaches at surviving radiation.<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>
    Les Stroud is a survivor. I bet he could go without food and water for longer than some roaches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Also in the late 50\u2019s, two scientists named Willis and Lewis tested the lifespans of cockroaches without food and water. \u00a0The best ones survived about a month without water and the worst ones died in 5 days. Humans can survive 3-10 days without water. Without food the cockroaches could survive between 10 and 90 days, with most species lasting about a month. Without food, a human can last between 20-40 days.<\/p>\n

    What you talkin’ \u2018bout Willis and Lewis?! I thought cockroaches were nearly indestructible! They\u2019re not, as it turns out.<\/p>\n

    Well, perhaps the living cockroaches aren\u2019t necessarily that impressive but they\u2019ve survived for hundreds of millions of years. How could they have survived this long and not be impressive?<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>
    A fossil roachoid. This is not a cockroach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Cockroaches aren\u2019t as old as most people say they are. The first insects probably existed about 400 million years ago. But the fossil record doesn\u2019t have anything remotely cockroach like until 100 million years later. And although these insects looked like cockroaches, they aren\u2019t cockroaches. These are the ancestors to cockroaches and mantises. They laid eggs individually, unlike modern cockroaches, and may have behaved more like mantises. They just happen to look like cockroaches. Lucky them.<\/p>\n

    True cockroaches really only appeared 50-125 million years after these roach-like (roachoid) insects first appear. That means modern cockroaches (the ones that understood the nuances of social media) only first showed up in the Triassic or Jurassic period, which makes them no older than crocodiles. Sure, that\u2019s pretty old; but still 100 million years younger than what we thought previously.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>
    Ants rule the land. Definitely not cockroaches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    If you live in an old apartment building in a dense urban area then I get it, there\u2019s too many cockroaches for you to live comfortably. But if you lived in the suburbs you would see less cockroaches and more ants. And if you lived out in the woods, you\u2019d see almost no cockroaches but tons of ants. If your sisters have a good relationship with your children then you see a lot of aunts. It\u2019s all about perspective, and from most scientific perspectives there actually aren’t that many cockroaches.<\/p>\n

    If aliens came to our planet and wanted to know who was in charge, they might ask the ants. Ants, by far, dominate the animal life on lane in terms of number of individuals<\/strong><\/em>. In terms of number of species<\/strong><\/em>, cockroaches are even further behind. Beetles, flies, moths, bees, butterflies, and grasshoppers all have massively more species than cockroaches do. In fact, by number of species, one could argue that cockroaches are evolutionary failures.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    So, in the year 3658 when humans have scorched earth\u2019s sky with our auto-laser-iphone-space-robot-al gore-missiles who will be left standing? Tardigrades!<\/p>\n

    \"tardigrade-water-bear-esa-schill\"<\/a> \"tardigradetiuxt\"<\/a> \"tardigrade-dont-give-a-s-t\"<\/a> \"tardigradetest\"<\/a> \"85656c48fac1577ec03b37ee8f073e8d\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    Such a cute apocalypse.<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Dominic Evangelista<\/a> is a PhD candidate\u00a0studying the biodiversity and systematics of the cockroaches of the Guiana Shield. Follow him on twitter @Roach_Brain<\/a> or ask him a question about cockroaches!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Basset, Y. (2001) Invertebrates in the Canopy of Tropical Rain Forests How Much Do We Really Know? Plant Ecology<\/em>, 153, 87-107.<\/p>\n

    Grimaldi, D.A. & Engel, M.S. (2005) Evolution of the Insects<\/em>. Cambridge University Press, pp.<\/p>\n

    Legendre, F., Nel, A., Svenson, G.J., Robillard, T., Pellens, R. & Grandcolas, P. (2015) Phylogeny of Dictyoptera: Dating the Origin of Cockroaches, Praying Mantises and Termites with Molecular Data and Controlled Fossil Evidence. PloS One<\/em>, 10, e0130127.<\/p>\n

    Misof, B.et al. (2014) Phylogenomics resolves the timing and pattern of insect evolution. Science<\/em>, 346, 763-7.<\/p>\n

    Wharton, D. R. A., and M. L. Wharton 1957. The production of sex attractant substance and of oothecae by the normal and irradiated American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.) J. Insect Physiol. 1: 229- 239.<\/p>\n

    Wharton, D.R. A., and M. L. Wharton 1959. The effect of radiation on the longevity of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana, as affected by dose, age, sex and food intake. Radiat. Res. 11: 600-615<\/p>\n

    Willis ER, Lewis N (1957) The longevity of starved cockroaches. J Econ Entomol 50: 438\u2013440.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \nIf you exist on planet earth for more than about 15 years…\n<\/div>\n
    Continue reading “Cockroaches aren\u2019t as good at surviving as we thought”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4,16,17],"tags":[53,72,73,115,116,117,127,151],"class_list":["post-1001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biodiversity-2","category-entomology","category-evolution","tag-armageddon","tag-cockroach-survival","tag-cockroaches","tag-nuclear-apocalypse","tag-nuclear-war","tag-nuclear-winter","tag-radiation","tag-what-are-the-best-insects","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7cLza-g9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":254,"url":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/2015\/02\/27\/what-is-a-cockroach\/","url_meta":{"origin":1001,"position":0},"title":"What is a cockroach?","date":"February 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There are over 7000 different answers to this question because there are over 7000 species of cockroaches (non-eusocial cockroaches and termites). Well\u2026actually 5000 (just non-eusocial cockroaches). Or is it 9000 (non-eusocial cockroaches, termites and mantises)? Ok, so clearly there might be some complications about how many cockroaches there are. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biodiversity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/simple-cockroach-morphology-1.jpg?fit=727%2C586&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":167,"url":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/2015\/01\/23\/why-the-forest-has-no-floor\/","url_meta":{"origin":1001,"position":1},"title":"Why the forest has no floor","date":"January 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi, I\u2019m Dominic. I study biodiversity in tropical rainforests and tropical savannah of Guyana. Guyana is a little country next to Venezuela and above Brazil. Anyone spending time in these forests or savannahs would quickly become familiar with the living space of Guyana. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The immense sky\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biodiversity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/The-forest-has-no-floor.jpg?fit=726%2C545&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":655,"url":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/2015\/07\/17\/species-biological-phenomenon-or-human-construct\/","url_meta":{"origin":1001,"position":2},"title":"Species: biological phenomenon or human construct?","date":"July 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You probably think you know what a species is. Look at the zebra picture below. How many species do you see? Look at the butterflies below. How many species do you see? Look at the cockroaches below. How many species do you see? Are you correct? I will tell you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biodiversity"","img":{"alt_text":"zebra-answer2","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/zebra-answer2-1024x624.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":649,"url":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/2015\/07\/14\/the-unit-of-biodiversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1001,"position":3},"title":"The unit of biodiversity","date":"July 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Biodiversity is a simple and beautiful concept. It\u2019s exactly what it sounds like. Biodiversity equates to variety among living things. The more living things there are somewhere, the more biodiverse it is. Biodiversity is what makes coral reefs more interesting than open ocean. Among a variety of uses, biodiversity is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biodiversity"","img":{"alt_text":"biodiversity","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/biodiversity-1024x355.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":892,"url":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/2015\/08\/21\/the-puzzling-case-of-the-twisted-sisters\/","url_meta":{"origin":1001,"position":4},"title":"The puzzling case of the twisted sisters","date":"August 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In the business of making evolutionary trees you\u2019re always on the lookout for a conundrum. After-all, what\u2019s fun about solving a puzzle with only 10 pieces? Sure it\u2019s easy. It\u2019s got that going for it. But we enjoy puzzles precisely because they are hard. That\u2019s what the tree making business\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entomology"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/BH4HVH5HDHGHOHRLEZMHEZQLBH6HAHXH2ZKLAHZL5ZMHCHSLAHKLVHPH9ZPHAZ2HAH0LDH9H9ZXLHR-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1218,"url":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/2015\/12\/24\/phylogeny-of-elves-finds-that-santas-elves-are-actually-dwarves\/","url_meta":{"origin":1001,"position":5},"title":"Phylogeny of elves finds that santa's workers are actually dwarves","date":"December 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Abstract This study reconstructs the evolutionary tree of elves using 26 life history, morphological, behavioral, and magical characters. Notably, we include christmas elves, J.K. Rowling's elves, and the elves of The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. Our findings suggest that christmas elves should not be classified as elves\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Evolution"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/phylogeny-2-1024x748.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1999,"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions\/1999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scifundchallenge.org\/ecotome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}