Cockroaches Squeeze Through Small Spaces
WouterCockroaches have an interesting trait that makes it easier for them to squeeze through small spaces. They flatten their exoskeletons to almost half their original size and splay their legs outwards. This means they can push through tight spaces without being injured. Their flattened bodies can also move through small spaces at a rate of twenty times their body length per second, or 75 miles per hour for a 5’8″ cockroach.
The researchers were able to get the roaches to run through a slit that was one-tenth of an inch wide. While this may sound impossible, Jayaram’s research shows that these insects can still move through small spaces by using the sensory spines on their tibias.
The average cockroach measures about 1.6 inches in length and 0.11 inches in width. Because of their small size, many people assume that a roach can’t squeeze through small spaces. But this isn’t true. The American cockroach, for example, can squeeze through a one-tenth-inch space, which is about as small as three millimeters.
Cockroaches can squeeze through a small space when they are in their nymphal stage. These tiny creatures stay small for 103 days, which makes them easy to squeeze through small spaces. Female cockroaches can also fit through a small space if they are carrying eggs in their ootheca. These cockroaches deposit their egg sacs in a safe place in their abdomens, which bulges out of them when they are full.
