cockroach that lives after decapitation

[ScottHaneda]

There are these Orkin commercials on TV that claim a cockroach can live a week after having its head chopped off. I can only find reference to this on the internet tha they can actually live several weeks without a head. These are snips printed in a list of other unusual facts, and I suspect could be myths that make their way around the internet. Can someone point me to a site that proves or disproves this, as well as explains how this can be.

[Ale]

Sounds bogus to me, I don`t think cockroaches are well endowed on the brain department, so the lose of whatever trace of brain they have wouldn´t bother much; however, last time I checked other important anathomical contraptions populate the critters head, such as sensory antennae, eyes and it´s little disgusting mouth; the last bears importance because a cockroach withou mouth coulnd´t eat, thus the poor bug would starve and dehidrate pretty quickly.

[pravnik]

Cockroaches have nerves in a lot of different places around the body that go directly to the muscle and bypass any central nervous system; little hairs on its body are wired directly to the legs to trigger an escape response when air pressure from an oncoming newspaper is coming. So I suppose if you chop it’s head off it’s possible it could keep running around for a few days.

[sharkkiller69]

I can’t remember the source, but I have heard that a cockroach will live for over a week without its head, until it thirsts to death.

[xash]

Guinness Records says:

Home

[quote]

3. It can live for a month without a head!
   [/qupte]

http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/noflash/roaches/pg000097.html

A cockroach can live a week without its head. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can’t drink water and dies of thirst.

BRAIN: The cockroach brain is spread throughout its body. The head holds a bit of a nervous system, while the rest of the brain is scattered along the ventral (belly-side) part of its body. So, now you understand that if you cut off the head of a roach, it will still live for as long as one week; eventually dying from starvation or thirst.

[xash]

Also, from http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/1998/pestroach.html

Along the side of a cockroach’s body are tiny holes called spiracles. Oxygen enters the cockroach through these holes and follows the tiny breathing tubes called tracheae to all of the cockroach’s body parts.

While a large portion of our nervous system is contained in our heads, cockroaches have only a portion in their heads, most of it is spread throughout their bodies. Along each leg there are clumps of nervous system. That means that a cockroach without a head can still function! It will live until it starves to death or dies of thirst, which can take up to a week.

[kuraijo]

If you’re talking in the absence of predator,s I suppose it might be able to.

But honestly I don’t really care. When I kill cockroaches I don’t aim to chop off their heads.