If cockroaches we see living in our kitchens, bathrooms, and the sewers are such hardy creatures, why don’t we see large populations of them in gardens and woods where there’s plenty of moisture and food?
In: Biology
Predators. There aren’t lots of other animals trying to eat them in your house. The main tool humans have to kill bugs in their home is poison, which is coincidentally something cockroaches are pretty good at surviving. Also, cockroaches are not a native species in most areas, and can’t easily survive big temperature shifts like you get outdoors. Your house is going to be a pretty stable temperature year round, which is perfect for a cockroach.
They’re hiding, in houses you’ll mostly see cockroaches when you turn on the lights because they try and be in the darkness.
In the woods they’re in the underbrush, hiding from predators. They’re out there though, just harder to have the massive colonies you see in houses because food sources in the wild move and a big colony attracts predators.
If you ever camp in a jungle, you’ll be surprised at the number of them that you find crawling along your tent, then you’ll buy a hammock for jungle camping.
I understand that cockroaches are very vulnerable to cold. They thrive in our houses because we keep them warm. They wouldn’t do well outside in winter.
Cockroaches are hardy, fast animals that can move fast and get in the nooks and crannies of our houses. Plenty of refuge, food, easy access, and very importantly stable temperatures and weather.
In nature – they’re fast-moving meals, and house cockroaches can get big and therefore big targets. Birds, reptiles and stuff that see them will be thankful for the meal.
Just as an anecdote, in my land (Portugal) like 50+ years about, people would be buying little tortoises to keep at home because they’d dispatch roaches and stuff.
Yea, surviving does not equal thriving. Cockroaches can survive very extremes environments but it does mean they can thrive and reproduce in large quantities
I just learned about this earlier this year!
The short of it is the common cockroach we see (the German cockroach) is not found in the wild and has completely evolved/adapted to live where humans are. There are other species that *do* live in the wild (such as the Asian cockroach) but branched off ~2,100 years ago.
Another random fun fact: the German cockroach got its name not because it originated in Germany (it did not, though specimens were collected there) but because the scientist who identified it is from Sweden who was at war with Prussia (Germany) at the time during the Seven Years War.
[You can read more about the history/research at Smithsonian Mag](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dna-reveals-how-german-cockroaches-came-to-dominate-the-world-180984396/).
They *do* live outside, in Florida. They’re called Palmetto bugs and they’re more solitary than their indoor, colonizing cousins. They’re basically giant (2-inch +) roaches that fly. ~~Sometimes~~ often they get indoors, which gets cats excited and makes humans freak out.
I think in the Great Outdoors, regular cockroaches wouldn’t have enough food sources (they’re pretty reliant on humans’ garbage and waste for food) there would be too many predators they couldn’t escape from, and also colonies would be exterminated by winter temperatures everywhere except the world’s hot and humid places.
Predators, not suitable conditions for them to live in, you don’t see them but they are there and your house basically meets every condition for them
Their reputation for hardiness is greatly exaggerated. Yes, they are more resistant to radiation than humans, but not insanely so, and game over, they’ll die at under 45°. We could bundle up and turn off our heaters for two days in a mild winter and none would be left in the US outside of the Gulf Coast, Florida, and Southern California.
Because you are looking for them outside during the day.
Clearly you are not a camper. Roaches have a lot of places to hide outside during the day, and forage for food at night when it is safe. They will crawl right into your tent if you don’t zip it up tight.
Sometimes at night, an entire tree will be covered in roaches. It sounds and looks like the tree is moving.
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