I’m pretty sure you would have seen these annoying little creatures at one point in different parts of your house. Cockroaches are the uninvited guests found in almost every household. They move slowly and fly when the need arises, but they do not jump.
Cockroaches cannot jump. They might look like they can since some are winged, but the truth is roaches can’t jump. However, there are particular species of cockroaches that jump. They are called leap roaches. Wondering if cockroaches jump? You will find out in this article.
Cockroaches are unique creatures. They are so unique that they can survive for weeks without food. Cockroaches also move very fast. You will know this if you have tried to kill a cockroach before.
READ MORE: How Long Can Cockroaches Live Without Food?
Can Cockroaches Jump?
Considering the swiftness with which cockroaches escape when they see danger coming to them, you would be forced to think cockroaches can jump. It’s pretty interesting to know that they can not jump, cockroaches crawl, and in desperate situations, they fly for a short period, but they can’t jump.
Sometimes they look like they are jumping, but they aren’t. Most cockroaches do use their wings to flip their bodies out of danger. This is what confuses people because it looks like they are jumping.
It is also interesting to know that although they have wings, not all of them can fly, and even the ones that fly, they don’t fly for a long time. Also, because of the structure of the cockroach( cockroaches have six legs), one will think that with how flexible their legs are.
It is expected that they should be able to jump. The maker had other plans for those legs. Cockroaches’ legs are not designed for jumping. So if you’re wondering if cockroaches can jump or you have come across a jumping roach, know that cockroaches cannot jump but leap roaches can.
How far can a cockroach jump?
As stated earlier, cockroaches can not precisely jump. However, they use their wings to support their legs in the quest to move faster than their pace when walking( crawling). The cockroach will use its wings to move into the air while it pushes off with its legs.
This movement gives the cockroach the ability to jump. It jumps up to 50 body legs in a single swing. However, because of its inadequacies in jumping, it doesn’t know where it lands when it sets off to jump.
The cockroach can jump 50 times its body length, about 5-6 feet. Although this action can be described as gliding or bouncing rather than jumping, we can do the cockroach a favor and call this jumping because of its efforts.
How High Can a Cockroach jump?
Because of the inability of the average cockroach to jump properly, they are only able to jump horizontally.
The height a regular cockroach can cover is not precisely known, but you should know that cockroaches glide with their wings, which is enough for them as they are not interested in jumping too high.
This form of jumping or hopping occurs when these insects sense danger. Otherwise, roaches do not jump.
Which species of cockroaches jumps?
We’ve noted that jumping is not a task that cockroaches are very great at, but it is also essential to know that this is not the case for every kind of cockroach. There is a particular species of cockroach that is known for jumping.
The species of cockroaches that jumps using its legs alone with no support from its wings is called the Leaproach, and its scientific name is Saltoblattella Montistabularis. This species was observed by some researchers in 2009.
Leap roaches have very long legs, so they are better jumpers than the average cockroach. This cockroach species also called “The jumping cockroach” is not usually classified as household pests. So you would hardly find them in your home.
READ MORE: What Do Cockroaches Hate?
What is the Anatomy of Leap Roaches?
Leap roaches can be found in a Shrubland habitat in South Africa. It can also be found at Silvermine Nature reserve on Tabletop mountain in South Africa. The leaproach has hind legs, which make up 10% of its body weight and 50% of its body length.
Their back legs are more than two times longer than their other legs. The joints of their hind legs have resilience, and this is what helps them jump very well when compared to other cockroaches. They also have large, bulging eyes; these eyes are different from those of the average cockroach.
It is believed that these eyes give them great vision, which helps them see where they are supposed to land as against other species that usually can’t know the direction to land when they jump.
Leaproach have a particular fixation point for their antennae. This helps to make it stable as it shoots through the air. Leap Roaches have almost the same features as grasshoppers. It is closely related to the German cockroach, though 70 percent of its movement is hopping and jumping. Although the Approach looks like a grasshopper, it is brown.
How Do Leap Roaches Jump?
Just like grasshoppers, leap roaches hop. They possess a vast pair of back legs that helps them push themselves. These legs are twice the length of their other four legs. In fact, it is longer than its entire body.
It also possesses a femur with an adjoining segment that the legs can tuck into. This way, the legs can flex back when it jumps. The Leaproach accelerates at over 23 times gravity and reaches a speed of 22 miles per hour. Meaning they jump 24 times the length of their bodies.
What distance Can a Leaproach cover when jumping?
Unlike the average cockroach, leap roaches don’t have wings. They jump more, and so the wings are not necessary for them. Due to the anatomy of Leap Roaches, for example, their long hind legs, it is easier for them to jump.
Female Leaproaches can cover more distance when jumping when compared to male Leaproaches. Although female Leap roaches are heavier than male leap roaches, they jump the longest.
They can jump 36 times the length of their bodies while their male counterparts jump 24 times the length of their bodies. You should know that although the regular cockroaches can’t jump, they cover more distance than Leap Roaches.
The maximum forward distance that a Leaproach has ever covered in a lab setting was 48 times its body length, while an average cockroach can cover that in less than a second.
Can Cockroaches Climb?
Have you ever seen a cockroach on the ceiling of your room and wondered how they were able to get there? No, they didn’t fly there. They probably climbed. Cockroaches can climb. The anatomy of the cockroach enables it to do that effectively.
There is something that looks like a claw at the end of the six legs of some cockroaches. It is called a “Tarsus,” At the end of the tarsus is the “Pretarsus” at the cockroach’s toes.
The toes are pad-like. It allows cockroaches to climb your gas cylinders and even walk across your ceilings and walls. Cockroaches do not just mount on these high surfaces and fall off, they climb, and they stay there for a long time if not killed.
Do you ever wonder how they manage to do that? How do they manage to oppose the law of gravity? Cockroaches are usually better at climbing surfaces that are a bit rough rather than smooth surfaces, so they can easily mount a wall or ceiling rather than a glass table or polished metal.
What helps them climb and stay up comfortably on their legs is their specially adapted legs which contain barbs and claws that dig into any surface without much struggle. Cockroaches usually insert their feet into any hold they find.
Their legs are more like “climbers,” so they can move across or upside down when they reach the top of the ceiling.
READ MORE: How long do cockroaches live?
Can Cockroaches Fly?
Although most cockroaches have wings, very few of them can fly. Apart from a few like the leap roaches, most cockroaches, usually found in the house, have wings.
When cockroaches grow to the adult stage, their wings become strong, and they can then be used for flying. However, cockroaches rarely use their wings. They use it mostly when they want to escape from danger.
Can Cockroaches jump like crickets?
Cockroaches cannot jump. They might look like they’re jumping if they find themselves in danger. What looks like jumping is fleeing or running for their lives. When these insects perceive a threat, they hurl their bodies in the air, using their wings. So when we think these roaches jump, they hop or bounce out of danger.
Like other insects and animals who jump, Crickets use their legs to push their bodies in the direction they want to go. So can cockroaches jump like crickets? The answer is no. Cockroaches cannot jump like crickets. only leap roaches do the actual jump
What is the Rapid inversion Technique?
The cockroach has a technique it uses to escape danger from humans, called the Rapid inversion technique.
Whenever a cockroach senses danger, it runs across a flat surface, reaches the edge, and then swings underneath the surface without falling, and it does this within record time.
The cockroach uses its rear legs to hold the end of the surface tightly, and then it runs off. The cockroach uses this technique to run away from danger.
Conclusion.
Cockroaches cannot jump, even the species that are winged. On the other hand, Leap roaches are hardly ever found in homes. So if you have noticed a cockroach jump in your home, the chances are that the insect you just saw wasn’t a roach. It might as well be cricket. So before you take measures to get rid of these insects, be sure what you’re dealing with are actual roaches.
