Seriously, do roaches have any natural predators? 
I mean, other than the occasional curious cat, I can’t think of anything that preys upon cockroaches as a source of food.
For that matter, all of the times that I’ve witnessed a cat catching a roach, it seemed to be more of the, “Look, I found something to play with, then torture and maybe kill.”
kind of predation. As opposed to actually catching and killing, then eating it kind of action.
Centipedes. I’ve lived in my place 20 years and never seen a roach. But I do see the occasional centipede that has inadvertently found its way into my living space.
As much as I hate centipedes, I allow them to roam because I know they take care of everything else that lives behind the walls.
But you need to have the right environment for them to be happy living behind your walls. I think they require a somewhat moist earthy place to bed-down. If you live in the top floor of a tall apartment building, you might not be able to count on centipedes.
And a health plan that includes podiatry.
Centipedes! Why did it have to be…centipedes!
Chickens, at least according to Bryce Courtenay and Grandpa Chook
OK, so not so much a natural predator, but fish will eat roaches. I’ve caught lots of bream, and a few bass with roaches for bait.
People also catch fish using pieces of plastic & metal as bait, but that doesn’t mean fish would actually eat them.
Um…when you catch a fish using traditional hook and line, the fish bites whatever you are using to conceal the hook, ie, the bait. I suppose on some planet a fish may bite something as an expression of solidarity with the universe, but here on Earth, fish bite things they are trying to eat. Ergo, I reason that fish will, in fact, eat roaches when such are available to be eaten.
How does a centipede catch anything?
Badgers, and other insectivores.
Geckos.
Leapin’ Lizards!
They scuttle like the wind and have venomous pincers.
Roaches. They’re cannibalistic.
I knw this because a floormate of mine once put a bunch of roaches in a jar with nothing else (our dorm was overrun with roaches). After a few days, there were fewer roaches in the jar.
This is true. A co-worker of mine raises geckos, and their main food is roaches.
He has an extreme amount of roaches in one of those laundry basket sized tupper-ware containers, and they are pretty self regulating. When they get noticeably less dense, he’ll throw in half a watermelon or similar for them to eat instead of each other.
When I was a kid I had a pet rat that we kept in a cage in the garage. Occasionally so-called “water bugs”–i.e., the large American cockroaches–would squeeze their way into Ralph’s cage. Ralph considered them extra protein.
What about birds? I think most birds will eat any insect they can find. For that matter, they are probably edible by humans (and other primates).
Holy sh-t! That wasp has quite the talent for neurosurgery!
Well said, Sir!