Cockroaches molt. Why are some cockroaches white, where do they come from in the house? Can a white specimen bite a person

- this is always unpleasant news, because they look disgusting and can bring various diseases into your apartment. They often feed on garbage dumps and are carriers of infection and larvae. An infected cockroach in an apartment tries to find food and climbs on plates and food, leaving an infection that can then get into a person with food.

If black cockroaches in an apartment, apart from disgust, do not cause anything, then a white cockroach is able to enter into a stupor and bewilderment. The first thoughts at the sight of such a cockroach will be "what it is and how dangerous it is."

Are there albino cockroaches?

Animals and birds are rare white These animals are called albinos, their DNA lacks a gene that is responsible for the production of melanin, which is responsible for pigmentation. Albino animals are very rare, so people specifically look for such animals and buy and keep them expensive in an apartment in a cage or aviary.

With cockroaches, the situation is different, there are white cockroaches in the apartment, but the light color is for a completely different reason. Scientists conducted experiments and found no evidence that albino cockroaches are found.

Why are cockroaches white?

If you meet white pests in your apartment, do not be afraid, these are ordinary black or. Why are they white? Very simply, the chitinous shell of a cockroach is very hard and durable and does not grow with the cockroach, therefore all members of the cockroach genus are forced to molt in order to get rid of the tight shell. At home, white cockroaches are found in the first hours after molting, when the cockroach has shed its shell, it becomes very vulnerable, since the new one is very soft and white. During this period, insects try to hide away, in the apartment they try to run into dark and hard-to-reach places.

During their short life, the Prussians molt 6-8 times, after molting you can see a white cockroach running around the kitchen at home. Even the African large cockroach turns white during molting.

Where did a lot of white pests come from - since insects grow in almost identical conditions after hatching, molting occurs simultaneously, this explains the cases when dozens of white Prussians are running around the kitchen.

In rare cases, insecticides can affect the color of the cockroach. If you poisoned cockroaches folk ways with the help of bleach, then white pests that survived the persecution may subsequently come across. Once in the cockroach's body, chlorine brightens the chitinous cover and the insect turns white.

Where do home pests come from?

If there are crumbs from uneaten food and drops of spilled water or tea in the kitchen, you can predict that cockroaches will soon appear in the house. Where do white pests come from, we figured out, and where do ordinary cockroaches come from? The favorite paths of cockroaches in apartment buildings is the ventilation shaft, they calmly move along it and can get into any apartment they like. Also, cockroaches can easily crawl through small doorways, holes in the floor next to the pipeline, and even with things moved from another house.

Thus, traveling in backpacks, the Prussians were able to populate all of Europe. For cockroaches to live successfully, a warm climate or human houses, in which a comfortable temperature is constantly maintained, is enough.

Why is the white pest dangerous?

Cockroaches can cause asthma attacks, and the shell of a dead cockroach crumbles and mixes with dust and air. Microparticles of the chitinous cover can cause an asthmatic attack by entering the respiratory tract.

They can be dangerous for young children, eating the skin from the lips, eyelids, ears and elbows, thereby bringing in an infection with saliva.

How to deal with cockroaches

Now you can find many products that guarantee the destruction of insects in a few weeks. You can buy both aerosol highly toxic preparations that guarantee the death of insects in a few hours, as well as low-toxic gels and crayons, in the case of a small number of pests, you can use sticky traps from cockroaches that are completely safe for people.

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Greetings, dear readers. Today we will discuss a creature as strange as it is frightening. I'm talking about such a phenomenon as white cockroaches. If you have already met them, then you have probably heard a lot of myths and conjectures.
In this article I will try to answer all your questions and offer you only reliable information.

You will learn what a white cockroach is and why its shell has acquired such an unusual color. I will tell you whether it is worth panicking at the sight of this creature and whether it is really capable of causing tangible harm, as they say about it. We will also discuss the myth of the mutated Prusak, which will completely destroy everything edible in the house, and when the supplies run out, it will take a closer look at you. If you have heard stories about this insect or come across it personally, this article is for you - find out everything you wanted to know about the white cockroach.

Scary mutant or common arthropod?

The appearance of insects in the house can please very few people. The usual reaction is disgust, disgust and a desire to quickly deal with intruders. And if in the case of Prusaks, woodlice or ants, we quickly recognize the enemy and immediately understand what to do and what tactics to choose, then when we meet an unfamiliar creature, we begin to panic.

Attempts to get information on the Internet bring only excitement and instill real horror - after all, the network is full of tales about a mutated white cockroach that will eat you and your family, and if it doesn’t eat it, it will bite and infect you with terrible diseases. I hasten to reassure you: nothing like this threatens us.

That is, a cockroach, of course, can reward you with helminths or salmonellosis. This is due to the peculiarities of the insect: it got into your apartment through the sewer or garbage chute, and no one knows what these little paws touched, which are now crawling over your food and dishes. But this fact also applies to ordinary Prusaks - the color of the chitinous shell does not in any way affect the insect's ability to carry diseases.

A white cockroach is no more dangerous than a black, red or any other domestic arthropod. All these insects are capable of causing discomfort and tangible harm to the owners of the house, but the light color of chitin does not in any way enhance the wrecking abilities of its owner.

Why is the cockroach white?

We will not produce tales from the crypt - first we will figure out whether cockroaches are white by themselves, why the skin of this frightening creature turned white, and then we will debunk the main myths about the nature of this phenomenon. As I said, the white cockroach is a common arthropod from the cockroach family, just a different color. And the reason for the color so unusual for a Prusak lies in the molting process.

We read on the topic: Argentine cockroach

As you probably know life cycle Prusaca consists of the larva and imago stages. So while the larva grows into an adult, it will change the chitinous cover several times. The old shell becomes cramped for the growing organism, and the insect is forced to shed it and grow a new one. And while the new skin grows back, the arthropod flaunts it - naked and white.

So it's just a maggot?

Quite right: the white cockroach is not a mutant, not an albino or the new kind... This is just a larva, usually of a Prusac, which is in the molting stage. If you take care of this issue and look carefully, you will surely find a whole mountain of chitinous skins. Such a find will confirm what was said above and calm your playing fantasy: fighting white cockroaches is no more difficult than fighting red ones.

By the way, the creature will stay light only for the first few hours after molting. During this period, his body is not protected by anything, which means that it is very vulnerable. For this reason, insects try not to protrude once again from shelters and wait for some time in a secluded safe place. That is why there are so many myths and conjectures around the Snow White Prusak: we rarely find him defenseless, since during this period he simply does not appear to our eyes. But rest assured, any of the stasiks in your house will one day turn white for a while.

Myths and gossip about the white cockroach

Around this creature, no less controversy flares up than around Bigfoot. You and I know that an insect acquires a white color in the process of molting, and that in a couple of days it will darken and turn into a familiar Prusak. And some people seriously believe that the white cockroach is none other than:

• a terrible and dangerous mutant that can greatly harm household members;
• albino insect;
• a new species of arthropods that insect scientists have not yet heard of.

None of these versions have anything to do with reality, but we will consider all of them. Who knows, maybe this knowledge will come in handy when an elderly neighbor on the verge of a heart attack asks for shelter from the most dangerous white mutants who settled in her apartment.

Myth number 1: the white cockroach appeared as a result of a terrible mutation.

What people just do not come up with in an attempt to explain an incomprehensible phenomenon. Just take a look at the list of the most popular explanations for the unusual color of the Prusak:

• They say that we supposedly live in such a polluted environment that even an insect that can survive a nuclear explosion loses its color.
• People seriously believe that the genetically modified one is so badly harmful that it becomes the reason for the lightening of the chitinous shell of the Prusaks.
• Someone believes that the cockroach's shell has turned white as a result of radioactive radiation, which means that the individual itself emits radiation.
• Some alarmists even believe that insects will soon destroy humanity and will reign on earth, and the appearance of a white cockroach is the beginning of the end (of course, this is a difficult case, but I had to come across such an opinion).

We read on the topic: Black cockroach who is it and where did it come from in your house

Fortunately, these children's fairy tales have nothing to do with the real state of affairs. Of course, modern ecology it is difficult to call clean, and industrial products - harmless. But it's not so bad for arthropods to mutate into bloodthirsty monsters.

Myth # 2: a white cockroach is just an albino Prusak.

Another common misconception. At first glance, the explanation is more than logical and reasonable: everyone has seen or heard of animals and albino birds. An animal is born without pigment, which is responsible for color and coloration, and its body and coat (or feathers) are light pink, almost white.
This really happens, but it was not in vain that I focused on animals and birds - I did not say a word about insects. This is because an arthropod cannot be an albino. At least modern science has not yet described a single case of albinism in insects.

Myth number 3: the white cockroach is a new species of the cockroach family, not yet known to science.

Our planet is inhabited by amazing and unique creatures - it's true. From year to year, scientists discover new types of living beings. It is said that humans have studied only a small percentage of all the inhabitants of the planet. However, this statement does not apply to cockroaches - this family has been studied up and down.

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They cause a person not only disgust, but also fear for their health, because as you know, these unpleasant-looking insects can lead to the appearance intestinal infections in severe form.

Since about the beginning of the 21st century, the number has noticeably decreased, but it was not possible to get rid of this insect in all areas.

A decrease in the population of red "monsters" has been achieved through the use of modern chemicals, some researchers put forward a theory according to which insects are negatively affected by radiation from modern gadgets.

Some people notice that white cockroaches have appeared in their home and naturally in this case the question arises - do they belong to a different species and how to deal with them?

Many of us, if we haven’t seen cockroaches live, probably have a rough idea of ​​what they look like. Insects have an elongated body, a head with antennae, their color varies from red to almost black.

Light or almost white cockroaches appear from the same insects that were present in the apartment before.

You can notice this phenomenon in the following cases:

1. At the moment of changing the old chitinous cover for a new one. The change takes place quite quickly - in about 6 hours and during this period your roommates turn into albinos. Usually this process is not noticeable to a person, since during this period they prefer to hide. But at night or with the alluring smells of bait, the family goes out for food, and at this moment you can see not one, but several white cockroaches at once.

   Simultaneous molting occurs in insects from one nest, this happens because the change of chitin occurs almost at equal intervals of time, but no more than 10 times during the entire period of life.

1. Use for the destruction of small carriers of infection chemicals - reagents... Some of the chlorine-containing components in their composition, having consumed them and survived, the cockroach becomes light. The usual color is restored after the poison leaves the body.

Are white cockroaches dangerous?

As we found out, white cockroaches in an apartment are the same insects, but only during their specific life cycle.

Therefore, the danger from them is exactly the same as from the Prussians with the usual color of the calf.

• Cockroaches are carriers of many intestinal infections and therefore, if they accumulate in the house, a person may develop dysentery, dyspeptic disorders, gastroenterocolitis. cockroaches carry bacteria on their antennae and excreted profusely along with stool. In the small intestine of the insect, the eggs of pinworms, whipworm, broad tapeworm are isolated. Traveling around the apartment, the Prussians leave them on the tables, that is, wherever their route passes.
• The glands of the animal's body emit a specific odor and elements that lead to the development of allergic reactions. A deterioration in general well-being with the appearance of insects in an apartment is observed in people suffering from bronchial asthma.

In addition to the obvious danger to health, cockroaches also cause significant damage to the external appearance of premises.

Insect colonies secrete a lot of excrement, which remains in the form of black dots on wallpaper, baseboards, furniture.

How white cockroaches appear in the apartment

White cockroaches in the apartment can be seen after the cases of meeting with ordinary insects were recorded.

They can get into a dwelling from neighbors, with household appliances brought home, things taken from relatives, that is, there are a lot of ways of their migration.

Moving around cockroaches leave a special chemical trace, persistent for a long period, being guided by it, following one individual, a very large family can visit. If the conditions for their life are favorable, then they will settle in the apartment for a long time.

That's why the best way to prevent small pests from multiplying is the observance of several conditions:

• cleanliness of the apartment- the smallest crumbs from food, garbage in a large number, uncleaned products - ideal dinner table for insects;
• poor condition of plumbing or high humidity in the apartment. A drop of water for a cockroach is both food and liquid; on such a diet, it is able to live without any problems for several days. Therefore, you must always close the taps, prevent leaks and running pipes;
• numerous cracks in the apartment create suitable conditions for life and movement of cockroaches between apartments.

How to get rid of white cockroaches

Whites are just like ordinary ones - with poisons, traps, folk methods.

If the color has changed after using the reagents, and the insects themselves have not suffered a little, then the chemical must be replaced.

Perhaps the product already used had expired, or this family has mutated and acquired resistance, and in cockroaches this happens very quickly.

Before using the selected tool, you need to follow the most simple tips to help make insect control fast and effective.

1. Necessary shut off all water, carefully wipe up spilled liquids, remove wet plants away from the main habitats of cockroaches in the apartment.
2. Before using the funds, advise put all products in tight bags, if possible in hermetically sealed containers and refrigerator.
3. Rubbish needs to be taken out, and rinse the bucket thoroughly.
4. spring-cleaning with moving all the lockers and flushing the floors, it is especially necessary - without leaving the food and water to the cockroaches, you will provoke them to use the poison left behind or to fall into a trap, where they will be attracted by the enticing smell.

It is advisable to carry out processing simultaneously with other residents of the house - this will ensure desired result in a short period of time.

A condition for the complete destruction of cockroaches will be the use of chemicals or traps for several days after you no longer notice the Prussians.

This is necessary so that the cockroaches that emerged from the clutch of eggs are also destroyed. Using any means, you need to carefully read the instructions, since some poisons are used only in the absence of a person and pets.

Cockroaches have never been a cuddly cuddly insect. Seeing the Prusak in the apartment, the owners are horrified and begin to carry out extermination measures. But meeting with white cockroaches causes not only surprise, but also panic. What are these insects: a new species or mutants?

White cockroaches have the same structure as the red-headed individuals familiar to us. They have three pairs of grippy legs that allow you to climb on any surface. Males and females with wings and whiskers that help them navigate in space grow up to 1.5 cm. Light insects do not form a separate species, so the question of their origin is not idle.

White is most commonly associated with the life cycle. Outside, the cockroach is covered with a dense chitinous cover that protects the body from damage. The insect gradually grows, but the chitin remains the same size and the "clothes" becomes small. The Prusak begins to molt when it sheds the old cover.

Until it forms a chitinous cover, the body remains white. A defenseless and soft insect is in this period in secluded corners, trying to hide from prying eyes. It takes time for the formation of chitin, and if the owners see a cockroach undergoing molting, then they are perplexed by its color. Prusak sheds 5-7 times in his life.

Pale individuals are usually deprived of wings, since within 5-6 molts they go through the larval stage, and only at the last transformation, the wings of a white cockroach are visible, since this is already an adult. Not all Prussians survive to the last stage, so it is not so often that you can see a white cockroach with wings crawling. But in our photo there is such a cockroach.

Another reason for the appearance of colored individuals is their etching with bleach. Eating into the chitinous cover, it lightens its color and the cockroach becomes white or spotted.

Coloration of a nymph or larva

The larvae emerging from the eggs look transparent due to the thin integument. You can see the inner content of them. Chitinous membranes containing light brown pigments will take several days to form. Then the small cockroach will take on its characteristic color.

If small, translucent insects appeared in the apartment, it means that an addition took place in the cockroach family and their ranks were replenished with young nymphs. They quickly become sexually mature and continue to procreate new generations. The ooteca (capsule), which the female wears on her belly, contains 20-30 eggs.

White cockroach habitats

Domestic Prusaks become vulnerable during the molting period, because without a chitinous cover they are defenseless. It takes an insect from several hours to several days to grow overgrown with a new, hard "shell". For this period, he finds a secluded place that will help to wait out the unfavorable period.

There are many places like this at home. Prusak can hide:

• under the sink or bath;
• in the crevices of kitchen cabinets;
• in ventilation ducts.

They need places close to a power source. During this period, they need more food to build a new shell. And at night, a white individual can be found at the trash can or on the table. Any place where there is something to profit from.

White cockroaches in the apartment are found during cleaning, among mountains of debris and dust. In the corners, the hostess can see a nest where white-black individuals of all ages and colors live. In the nest, the remains of the chitinous covers of the Prusaks that have survived molting are visible, as well as black excrement.

The white color makes the Prusaks well visible, it is difficult for them to disguise themselves. And evolution made sure that the molting process proceeds as quickly as possible. Sometimes a few hours are enough for a chitinous membrane to appear. Therefore, not everyone succeeds in contemplating a white individual.

Are white insects harmful?

If white cockroaches appear in the apartment, this does not mean the end of the world or epidemics. The danger they carry is comparable to that of a common red barbel. They carry more infections on their bodies, since there are small villi on integuments devoid of chitin. Helminth eggs, fungal spores, bacteria, protozoa adhere to them.

Most often, they become carriers of intestinal viral infections. Having been in a trash can or sewer and having run over the food on the table, cockroaches can infect a person:

• dysentery amoeba;
• pathogenic cocci;
• salmonellosis;
• helminthiasis.

This is an incomplete list of diseases, but it already raises concerns about the health of the inhabitants of the apartment. In addition, the Prussians are a source of allergies. The chitin thrown off by cockroaches is gradually crushed and turned into dust, which spreads through the air. The presence of chitin particles in the inhaled air leads to asthma attacks, contact dermatitis, conjunctivitis, urticaria and other allergic manifestations.

Sometimes there are individuals with a white spot or stripe on the back. Perhaps part of the chitinous cover has become discolored for some reason. Another option is a mutation that affected the color of the insect's body.

Myths and truths about the white cockroach

Fantastic myths and legends are born around white cockroaches. Where did these mutants come from and how to get rid of them: housewives ask the question. Some seriously believe that the white individual:

• belongs to the number of dangerous mutants, tenacious and indestructible;
• refers to albinos that are found in the animal kingdom;
• a new, not yet studied species of insect.

But none of these assumptions have a scientific basis. Mutations are possible, but extremely rare. Albino cockroaches do not exist in nature, and the new species is called "Prusak in the molting stage."

Cockroaches are white - that's a fact. And this fact is not frightening. The normal life cycle forces the insect to change its chitinous cover. And at this time he is defenseless and not dangerous. And you can get rid of it in the same ways that have already been tested on red Prusaks.

The answer to the question of why cockroaches are white lies in their physiology. All cockroaches pass the period of "discoloration" up to 10 times in their life. In the process of molting, they shed their chitinous membrane, under which there is a new cover. At first, the insect looks translucent, then it acquires a light color. In a few hours, the cockroach takes on its usual brownish color.

During the molting period, insects are not very active, the white cockroach at home prefers to hide in crevices, so it does not happen often to see it. Usually, a whole generation from one clutch changes the shell at the same time. This explains the cases when, when the light is suddenly turned on in the kitchen or bathroom, many whitish creatures scatter in all directions.

There are other reasons for the appearance of albinos:

• the use of chlorine insecticides;
• increased radiation;
• genetic mutations.

In all other respects, these are our old familiar Prussians, they also run around the products, spreading the infection, and love apartments where they rarely clean up. Running around the house, cockroaches leave secretions, the smell of which is almost invisible to humans. If your nose does not sense danger, that does not mean that it does not exist. Enzymes can cause allergic reactions, exacerbation of asthma. The same consequences are caused by the shell and excrement discarded during molting. In rare cases, a cockroach can bite a sleeping person and introduce an infection into the bloodstream.

How cockroaches get into the apartment

Another common way is to move the colony together with furniture, household appliances and other items. It is advisable not to buy anything from families where the house is dirty and messy. When purchasing goods in a store, there is also no guarantee that cockroaches have not crawled there, especially if there is a food department or cafe nearby. Several individuals can enter the TV box, hide there. Insects reproduce quickly, and after a while you can meet white young growth that has recently thrown off the chitinous cover.

If possible, do not bring new items into the house until you have treated them with insecticide. In winter, you can leave things outside, at -10⁰ the insects will die very quickly. When shopping, remember that in good stores you will pay more, but the probability of purchasing goods with a bonus in the form of cockroaches there is close to zero.

How to avoid insects in your home

The best dwelling for a cockroach is an apartment or a house where the owners neglect to clean, leave unwashed dishes overnight, dirt and crumbs all around. At night, not only your insects will come running for a feast, but also those that live in neighboring apartments. Most likely, they will not want to leave such a hospitable place, and they will settle here forever. The second condition is water. A leaking faucet in the bathroom or in the kitchen, liquid spilled on the floor will replace pests not only drinking, but also food.

Red and white cockroaches will not just appear in the apartment, they need appropriate conditions. In order not to engage in the extermination of insects, it is better to create an environment for them that is unsuitable for life. The rules are simple, even an inexperienced hostess can follow them.

Cockroaches will not live in a home where:

• cleanliness and order reign;
• all products are hermetically sealed;
• there are no leaking taps, drops of liquid on the floor or on pipes;
• all gaps are firmly sealed with putty or glue.

There are also folk remedies prevention of the appearance of cockroaches in the house. Insects do not like the smell of some plants. Make small bouquets of elderberry or wormwood and place them in the favorite habitat of the Prussians. For these purposes, it is also suitable Bay leaf and eucalyptus.

How to get rid of cockroaches

It is useless to engage in the destruction of insects in a cluttered apartment. They already have something to eat, insects can bypass the trap or poisoned bait. Before the decisive battle, carry out the following activities:

• do a general cleaning;
• repair gaps in baseboards, floors and walls;
• take out the trash and rinse the waste bin well;
• turn off the water and wipe all drops on building structures and furniture;
• wash and wipe the dishes;
• Put all food in airtight containers.

V apartment building it is better to negotiate with neighbors and carry out work on the destruction of insects in one day. In this case, the pests will not be able to wait out in other rooms and will leave the building. The best option will contact the management company and invite a specialized team that will carry out the professional treatment of apartments, and an entrance, and chambers of garbage chutes.

There are many ways to kill pests. When buying any drug, carefully read the instructions. Act strictly according to the manufacturer's recommendations, then you will effectively destroy the colony and not endanger family members and pets.

Choose the method that best suits your conditions:

• insecticidal gels and aerosols;
• special crayons;
• a powder of equal parts flour and alabaster scattered along the baseboards;
• traps.

You can set up a safe, no-chemical trap yourself. Take a high capacity with smooth surface, grease the inner edges liberally vegetable oil... Place a fragrant bait, such as cheese, on the bottom. Cockroaches will not be able to get out along the slippery walls, you will only have to drown them in the sewers every day.

After the activities, sweep away the dead and immobilized insects. You can use a vacuum cleaner, only after work, change and burn the filter so that the surviving individuals do not get out. If insects appear in a heated dacha, in frosty weather, drain the water from the pipes in the bathroom and in the radiators, turn off the heating and leave the house for a few days. The cold will do all the work for you.