Cockroaches are infamous for their tenacity, and are often cited as the most likely survivors of a nuclear war. Some even claim that they can live without their heads. It turns out that these armchair exterminators (and their professional brethren) are right. Headless roaches are capable of living for weeks.
Cockroaches do in fact have brains. And they use them. It’s just that cockroaches don’t really need them that much.
In addition to brains, they have nerve tissues that control reflexes throughout their bodies, and these are distributed within each body segment. If a cockroach loses its head and brain, the nerve tissues (known as nerve tissue agglomerations) continue doing their job, providing the strange headless creature a fairly normal life. It can stand, react to touch, and move around. Cockroaches do in fact have brains. And they use them. It’s just that cockroaches don’t really need them that much.
In addition to brains, they have nerve tissues that control reflexes throughout their bodies, and these are distributed within each body segment. If a cockroach loses its head and brain, the nerve tissues (known as nerve tissue agglomerations) continue doing their job, providing the strange headless creature a fairly normal life. It can stand, react to touch, and move around.
A headless cockroach isn’t going to die from bleeding and it’s not going to die from being unable to breathe. It’s also not going to die from the relatively minor event (for it) of losing its brain.
But it is going to die from being unable to eat. And well before that, it’s going to die from thirst. A headless cockroach has no mouth to drink with and will be dead from dehydration in less than a week.
Credit : Cockroach Facts
Picture Credit : Google
