Did you know that cockroaches are food for certain insects and animals? As unbelievable as it may sound, cockroaches play an important role in the ecosystem by being a part of a food chain to various predators. They provide a great source of protein and nutrients for the many insects, amphibians, and reptiles that hunt and eat them.
Here is a list of animals that eat cockroaches on a regular basis:
- Amphibians like toads and frogs.
- Various lizards, including leopard geckos, panther chameleons, and bearded dragons.
- Smaller mammals like mice.
- Various species of large bugs.
- Certain kinds of spiders.
All these natural predators have their way of attacking, catching, and killing cockroaches to use as food. Frogs and lizards use their sticky, long tongues to catch them and then crush them between their jaws. Some lizards can eat up to even twenty roaches at a time. Spiders use their nets for hunting smaller cockroaches.
Maybe the most fascinating is the way wasps use cockroaches. They lay their eggs within the adult cockroach. After the eggs start to hatch, they use their host as food, destroying it in the process. Can you imagine that?
Some species of ants can also attack roaches if they find them in a confined space. Even certain species of fungi can infect cockroaches, killing them slowly and over a longer period.
Animals That Eat Cockroaches
Do Spiders Eat Cockroaches?
Spider species like wolf spiders, jumping spiders, running spiders, or widow spiders can eat cockroaches. In the wild, spiders hunt and eat whatever they can catch from the environment. That includes various insects. Since cockroaches are a very spread population, easy to find everywhere, they represent easy prey for some spiders species.
On the other hand, that does not mean that some species rely on cockroaches exclusively as a food source; there are no such species. Usually, spiders hunt cockroaches by setting a spider web and waiting for the prey to get caught. If a spider is hungry enough and the cockroach is in the near area, only then may it start pursuing it.
Do Lizards Eat Cockroaches?
Cockroaches play an important role in the diet of many lizards. Some species eat cockroaches regularly. For panther chameleons, they provide a healthy meal. Bearded dragons are very popular as pets, but feeding them can be expensive, as they seem to have a really strong appetite. If you choose this pet, follow the rule of thumb while feeding them with cockroaches (choose the size of a roach that fits the span between the lizard’s eyes).
Monitor lizards to catch roaches off the trees, along with other large insects. Additionally, leopard geckos are nocturnal hunters, so roaches make perfect prey for them. If you are the owner of a gecko as a pet, keep in mind that juvenile geckos should be fed from five to ten small roaches at a time, while adult ones need even more than twenty to be fed correctly.
Do Mice Eat Cockroaches?
Mice hunt roaches in a specific way. They position the roach with their front paws until they place the roach’s head between the jaws. By biting through the cervical region, they remove the head and proceed with biting the wings and legs. Sometimes they consume only the soft contents of roaches’ stomachs. Cockroaches provide great nutrition for mice. Some research has shown that an adult German cockroach has 62% of protein and 25% fat in its body. This amount of fat is a significant source that mice use for making energy and body protection against the cold. Proteins help to build muscle tissue, and help daily activity and reproduction.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Cockroaches?
Bearded dragons are a common choice for keeping as a pet. Owners of the bearded dragon should know that the best possible feeder insect for their pet is a cockroach. Rich in minerals, vitamins, protein, and fat, they provide the perfect combination of nutrients, and at the same time, they are easily digestible. The exact amount of roaches your pet should eat depends on its size, weight, and age. Baby and juvenile bearded dragons should be given 25 – 50 roaches daily, cut in multiple portions. The size of a roach should not be bigger than the space between your pet’s eyes. As for adults, the much better choice is to give them 3 – 5 large roaches every 2 – 3 days on their protein day.
Do Chickens Eat Cockroaches?
Chickens will eat cockroaches if they are available to them. If the area where chickens are kept is not sprayed with pest chemicals, it should be perfectly safe for them to eat roaches. As cockroaches are always looking for shelter, warmth, food, and water, there is no wonder they often appear in a chicken coop. Eating roaches come naturally to these birds. While they forage, they pick up a wide range of different insects, bugs, and warm and roaches, if found there. Cockroaches are very nutritious, so there is no harm to them.
Do Geckos Eat Cockroaches?
Large geckos often use roaches as easy prey they hunt. If you are feeding a gecko pet, make sure that you provide roaches from the pet shop. That’s how you’ll know for sure that roaches grew in a healthy environment, without any germs, parasites, or bacteria that can be harmful to your pet. Roaches are a great source of protein for your gecko. Just make sure that the roach should never larger than the size of your pet’s head.
Do Bats Eat Cockroaches?
Bats are nocturnal animals capable of eating a large number of insects, bugs, or pests while hunting. They are significant predators to night-hunting insects, including roaches. There are more than 40 species of bats in the U.S., eating only insects. A single brown bat, not bigger than a human thumb, can eat up to 8 grams of insects every night, meaning the size of a grape. They play an important role in the ecosystem, keeping the insect number in balance. These bats find insects by echolocation, then trap in the wings and take them into the mouth. It’s a constant chase that you can see as an out-of-control flight in the late evening.
Do Scorpions Eat Cockroaches?
A scorpion feed on various insects, such as crickets, spiders, bugs, ants, and roaches. Scorpions do not see well, so their hunt is based on prays’ movement. They hunt and eat at night, so roaches are just the perfect prey. After catching a roach with the claws, it stings it repeatedly, and the roach is dead within seconds. Then they chew the food, crushing it into tiny pieces. To make the ingestion possible, they add liquidizing fluid to the food, digest it, and leave the dry parts. If there is water available, a scorpion can live for several months without any food.
Do Tarantulas Eat Cockroaches?
Tarantulas eat roaches. In the wild, tarantulas prefer to hunt roaches than other insects as they are very nutritious. A study conducted at the University of Cambridge proved that a medium-sized tarantula is not interested in other pray when roaches are around. An interesting fact is that they show this type of behavior when their time to molt is close. Roaches are ideal food, rich in vitamins, minerals, and fat.
If you keep a tarantula as a pet, pay attention to the source of roaches you feed your tarantula with. Always choose the one from the pet shop, or you can consider growing your population for feeding purposes, but never choose the one you find at home, as they can carry dangerous bacteria and germs. Argentinian wood roach, orange-spotted species is the perfect choice for tarantulas. They provide almost all the needed nutrients.
Do Chameleons Eat Cockroaches?
Chameleons eat roaches regularly. Crickets and roaches should be at the top of the list if you keep a chameleon as a pet. In the wild, they eat roaches a lot, as they provide a great load of vitamins and minerals, ensuring proper nutrition. This is essential for baby chameleons during the time of the most intense development. Dubia roaches are the number one choice for chameleons kept at home.
Do Frogs Eat Cockroaches?
Roaches are not a part of a common diet for frogs, as they are not as available as crickets, but if a frog manages to capture one – it won’t miss it! High in proteins, vitamins, and other nutrients, roaches are a valuable food. Discoid and Dubia roaches should be your top choice if you keep a frog as a pet. Make sure they are not too large for your pet, pick smaller ones, as they have softer bodies and are much easier to swallow and digest. Latteralis species are a great choice when it comes to size, but they are very fast and may be hard for your frog to catch. Never feed your pet with a dead roach; always provide them a chance to hunt, as it would do in the wild.
Do Turtles Eat Cockroaches?
Both terrestrial and semi-terrestrial turtles eat roaches with pleasure. Eastern box turtles forage on the margins of stones and logs, trying to find hidden insects or worms. When they find a cockroach, they easily snap it up and cut it into smaller pieces with their front legs if needed. Aquatic species also eat roaches if they find them in water. Roaches are a great source of valuable nutrients, essential for the normal functioning of many reptiles, which makes them a great choice for turtles as well. Protein load is essential for the growth and development of younger turtles.
Can Hedgehogs Eat Cockroaches?
Dubia roaches are a great treat for hedgehogs. They are also known as orange-spotted roaches. In the wild, hedgehogs will eat a cockroach as a delicious treat, full of fat, protein, fiber, and calcium. This roach species have smaller wings, but cannot fly, which makes them easy prey for hedgehogs. If you are keeping a hedgehog as a pet in your home, try to feed it with Dubia cockroach three times a week. Always make sure you know the origin of the food you give to your pet, so you are sure that there are no parasites or germs that can cause harm to a hedgehog. Purchase Dubias from a pet shop is the safest way to go.
Do Centipedes Eat Cockroaches?
It may sound strange, but centipedes eat ants, bed bugs, moths, and cockroaches! Centipedes have poor vision, but they can explore the area around them with their antennae. Once they locate suitable prey, they use their speed to quickly attack, bite and inject their prey with strong venom. The venom paralyzes the prey, making it much easier to handle. They have a tiny pair of claws located in the frontal segment of the body, and they use it to bite and inject venom. Small mandibles (teeth) help them chew and eat the prey. They are considered beneficial for pest control and are why you should not kill them if you run on them inside your home.
Do Ducks Eat Cockroaches?
Ducks are omnivores, which means they eat everything, from bugs, to plants, and even meat.If you keep and feed ducks, never keep them from eating insects! You would be ruining their treats! Roaches provide a high protein intake, which cannot be bad for ducks. They will eat anything you give them. If they choose insects, such as roaches, it’s probably by accident if they were in the living area.
Do Iguanas Eat Cockroaches?
The green iguana, along with all its’ sub-species, is mostly herbivore. They eat leaves, fruits, flowers, and leaves. In the wild, that is their choice. But, being kept as a pet, they have no choice but to eat what you as owner serve them. So pay attention to providing them with various foods, as that’s the only way to provide them with good nutrition.
Under certain circumstances, iguanas can eat a few insects, and roaches as well, but that’s not something they need. You should not feed them roaches if you keep them as a pet. They struggle with the digestion of protein and meat, which can have harmful effects on the liver and kidneys.
Do Raccoons Eat Cockroaches?
What raccoons choose to eat has a lot to do with food accessibility. Preferred food is the one they can find near water, such as frogs, snails, and crayfish. They hunt insects, and roaches as well if they manage to find them. Eggs, vegetables, fruits, and even dead animals can become food for raccoons.
They hunt alone, except during the mating season when they can gather in smaller groups. Raccoons are active during the night, so nocturnal insects like roaches can easily become prey. During the summer, they eat enormous amounts of food, which is saved in fat to keep them warm during the winter season.
Do Snakes Eat Cockroaches?
Some species of snakes include insects in their diet, and cockroaches as well. The rough green snake mostly eats insects and likes to hunt flying or crawling insects in trees and shrubs. One small species, called the brown snake, consumes roaches from time to time.
Can Betta Fish Eat Cockroaches?
Bettas eat mostly living food in the wild, and insects are their favorites. While kept as a pet, they will consume almost any bug you can find; just make sure it’s not poisonous or sprayed with different chemicals. A betta fish can eat anything that can fit its’ mouth! Roaches are full of protein needed for healthy development. Just make sure that the roaches that you sometimes decide to give to your pet are tiny enough so the fish can eat them.
Do Ferrets Eat Cockroaches?
Ferrets are carnivores, which means they need animal protein for a healthy, normal diet and development. They regularly eat insects as well, it’s a part of their feeding pattern. Eating a cockroach is just normal behavior for a ferret. If you keep a ferret as a pet, don’t let it eat roaches you may find at home. Roaches are pests, and they may be affected by parasites or germs, which can lead your ferret to different illnesses. But if you provide a cockroach as a treat once in a while, that’s completely fine.
Do Foxes Eat Roaches?
Foxes have a diverse diet, as they belong to omnivores. They are great hunters, pursuing smaller animals like birds, frogs, rabbits, rodents, and so on. They can also consume berries and fruit. If they choose to eat roaches, it’s simply because they are hungry! All animals seek a way to evolve if food is not available; that would be why a fox would hunt for roaches or insects. Environmental conditions dictate the food for the animals, and if they need energy, they will start eating almost anything they can catch.
Do Squirrels Eat Cockroaches?
Squirrels can eat pretty much everything. They prefer food like walnuts, warm, bugs, but if they are hungry enough, a cockroach can become their meal. But they would rather eat berries, apples, bananas, or vegetables. They will eat a roach only if there is not much choice of food around.
Related: What Attracts Cockroaches | Common Factors and Prevention Tips
Pets That Eat Cockroaches
Do Cats Eat Cockroaches?
Cats do eat roaches sometimes, mostly while exploring their hunting instincts and playing. They can catch roaches and eat it in the end. Although cats are not feeding on insects, sometimes the exception can happen.
Eating one roach probably won’t harm your cat, but you should be careful. Almost every home has one or two roaches somewhere, and your cat can ingest it, but this should not be the rule. Pests can carry dangerous microorganisms that can put your cat in danger. Since roaches are larger than other insects, a cat is much more likely to spot them. That’s how the playing starts; they catch it, play with it, bite it and mostly accidentally swallow it.
Can Dogs Eat Cockroaches?
In their natural environment, roaches are not toxic, but at home, they might be carrying around diseases, chemical pesticides, and other harmful ingredients that can seriously harm your pet. If your dog eats a cockroach, that’s mostly during play. Dogs do not feed on roaches and insects, but it can happen once in a while. If you spot your dog swallowing a roach, there is not much you can do, so just follow how your dog reacts. If there is any change in the behavior or sign of sickness, you should go to the vet.
Do Rats Eat Cockroaches?
Occasionally, rats can eat roaches. It’s not their feeding pattern, but this can happen. If they encounter a roach and decide to hunt it, it’s not a heavy task for them, as they are very quick and capable hunters. The attack usually happens in seconds, and the roach has two possibilities – either it manages to escape, or it gets eaten within seconds. Roaches provide excellent nutritive components to rodents. A German roach has 62% protein and 25% fat in its’ body. Protein is important for building tissue and energy for the daily activity of rodents. Living where the garbage is, rats encounter roaches on a daily basis.
Do Hamsters Eat Roaches?
Wild hamsters eat small insects, including crickets, and mealworms, it’s a usual part of their diet. Hamsters are not likely to eat roaches. While keeping them as pets, feed them with vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. If your pet hamster eats a roach, it can only happen if roaches are inside its’ food or somehow get inside the hamster’s cage. If you see your pet eating a roach, it probably won’t cause anything, but follow your pet’s activity. If something strange starts to happen, consider going to the vet. Cockroaches can be affected by harmful germs and bacteria.
Do Gerbils Eat Cockroaches?
Wild gerbils eat a wide range of different foods. As they live in a very dry, desert climate, they are evolved to eat anything they find on the way, as long as it’s small enough. Grasses, plant roots, seeds, fruit, and also insects are part of gerbils’ normal diet. Insects are particularly important, as they are a great source of valuable nutrients, such as protein, fat, minerals, and vitamins. All of these are essential components they need for survival and growth. Insects that they usually consume are worms, flies, and crickets. If a cockroach is small enough, it can become a tasty treat of a gerbil.
If you are the owner of a gerbil, try to enrich your pet’s diet by adding occasional insects. Dubia roaches as well are perfect for a treat.
Do Guinea Pigs Eat Cockroaches?
Guinea pigs are not going to eat a cockroach. The insect is too big, and despite the strong teeth, a cockroach has a hard external skeleton on which a guinea pig could choke. Their metabolism allows them to eat smaller bugs that they can digest.
Guinea pigs are herbivores, which means they mostly eat plants. Hay or grass is much more interesting to them than insects. They need fiber-rich sources to meet their daily required nutrition and provide energy. Insects are a good source of protein and fat, which makes them not important for guinea pigs, as these types of nutrients are not essential for them.
Do Rabbits Eat Cockroaches?
Rabbits are strictly herbivores. Plants provide them with all the nutrients they need to develop and live. Only rarely will a rabbit eat a bug. Rabbits need greenery and fiber to survive. A cockroach is a source of protein they simply don’t need.
The rabbits also have no predatory instinct. You can never see a rabbit hunt. Only if a plant that rabbits are eating has a bug on it, and accidentally a bug could be eaten.
Insects That Eat Cockroaches
Do Praying Mantis Eat Cockroaches?
Praying mantis is carnivores. This meat-eating insect eats other insects and smaller animals. They are fierce predators, and surprisingly, they can even catch smaller birds. Adult ones can kill smaller reptiles.
Mantis predominantly eats spiders, butterflies, crickets, and sometimes other praying mantis. They are tough predators, catching live prey very easily. They get close to prey and strike quickly. Mantis even use camouflage while hunting. They can kill and eat roaches if they find them, it’s a natural thing for these insects.
Do Ants Eat Cockroaches?
Depending on the species, some ants can eat roaches. If a roach enters its path, they start attacking, and they always overpower its numbers. They will eat a dead roach if they find it, as well. The smell can attract them to a dead roach or other dead insects.
They won’t attack a roach as a part of their hunt, it’s not like that. But if they, for example, fight for dominance in a living area, ants can act the way that would keep roaches away. But this is only common to a few species, such as red fire ants that show such behavior. These species are very territorial. Once they find water, food, and shelter, they become very protective of the territory. Both omnivores share the same needs, so a fight for staying in the living area can occur. In this type of war, roaches don’t fight back.
Do Crickets Eat Cockroaches?
Crickets, like roaches, belong to omnivores which means they can eat everything. They normally live in a green area, with plenty of grass aside. It’s pretty uncommon for cricket to eat a roach, although they can use them as prey. Their nutrition depends on the availability of the food around them. The preferred choice is grass, barley, fruits, corn, and vegetables. They also eat smaller insects.
Do Grasshoppers Eat Cockroaches?
Grasshoppers aren’t very selective when it comes to food, but they favor green leaves. When grass and plants are scarce in their living area, they have no problem eating fungi, moss, and even some rotting insects or spiders. But they are mostly herbivores. They won’t hurt other insects as prey. Usually, they use the protein if they find a dead insect body, so roaches can be eaten that way.
Do Wasps Eat Cockroaches?
Maybe one of the fascinating stories is how wasps use cockroaches. When a female wasp finds a roach, she stings it first to inject the venom. The roach is stupefied this way and is not able to escape. It’s not paralyzed, but it shows no struggle. Next, the wasp grabs a roach by its’ antennae and leads it to the nest. In the nest, it uses a roach to lay eggs on its’ belly. As the eggs hatch, the larvae start eating roaches alive, and the roach is unable to move. How amazing does that sound?
Birds That Eat Cockroaches
Do Pigeons Eat Cockroaches?
Birds need, like any other animals, a balanced diet in which carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals are included. Pigeons eat a variety of seeds, grains, fruits, berries, and only occasionally insects such as earthworms. Pigeons would not eat roaches.
Do Crows Eat Cockroaches?
Crows are omnivores, so there is not much choice when food is in question. They can eat smaller animals, reptiles, amphibians, and eggs. They even feed on carrion. Insects can also be a part of their diet, cockroaches as well, but this is very rare. Seeds, nuts, fruits, worms, and sometimes even other birds can be their choice. Crow often feeds on the garbage that humans throw. Any animals that they can manage to catch and swallow can be their meal.
Can Starlings Eat Cockroaches?
Some species of starlings eat roaches! They also eat various foods, including worms, snails, insects, as well as fruit, and plants. The starlings belong to omnivores, so they eat almost everything, both plants, and animals. They search for food by looking through the soil, pushing rocks, stones, and soil out of the way. As juveniles, they depend on the parent bird that they usually chase on the ground. Starlings can show aggressive behavior fighting over food.
Can You Eat Cockroaches?
As unbelievable as it may seem, you can eat cockroaches! Just not the ones you find around your home. In many countries of the world, roaches are included in cuisine. They are a valuable source of protein, vitamins, minerals, and fat.
On the other hand, roaches that people find as pests at home are dangerous. They may contain dangerous bacteria, germs, parasites, and eating a roach in that situation can lead to many health problems, such as poisoning from chemicals, diarrhea, salmonella, and many other intestinal problems.
Is Cockroach Poisonous to Eat?
When served as a dish in the area around the globe where culture includes roaches in the menu, of course not! But if you eat a pest roach, you can get serious poisoning. They carry around chemicals, bacteria, and even the fact that roach contaminated food inside your home can be harmful enough for you to get food poisoning! So be aware of the fact that roaches inside your home are not just an unpleasant view; they can be very dangerous as well.
Is It Healthy to Eat Cockroaches?
There is scientific proof that eating roaches are healthy, as they are so rich in protein. It’s like eating meat, but with much less fat. Roaches are considered a yummy dish in Asian cuisine. They should be cooked properly to make sure that all the bacteria and unwanted germs are killed and can’t harm you. In Western society, eating insects is considered disgusting, but that’s not the case all around the globe. They are a healthy source of protein, so there is nothing wrong with eating them if prepared properly.
What Happens if You Eat a Cockroach?
Negative effects may happen if you eat a roach that has bacteria or parasites on it, so you can catch food poisoning, diarrhea, stomach ache, and even vomiting. Make sure that if you decide to try roaches, try them as well-prepared, cooked meals.
Can Eating a Cockroach Make You Sick?
It can make you sick in so many ways. If not prepared and cooked properly and taken from a home where they are pests carrying around microorganisms that cause diseases, you can get serious health problems. Diarrhea, vomiting, food poisoning, and salmonella are only a few intestinal problems of the wide range you can get.
Can You Die from Eating a Cockroach?
It is highly unlikely to die because you ate a roach. You can get health problems, intestinal pain, diarrhea, and even some allergies, but it’s a small amount to die from it. It is more probable to die of choking while eating, but this can happen with any other food. It’s an accident that rarely happens.
How Many Cockroaches Do You Eat in Your Sleep?
If you have a serious pest infestation in your home, there is a high risk for you to swallow a roach during the night! Some studies say that people eat around 7 bugs in a year while sleeping. In a place full of roaches, it could easily be one of them! They are nocturnal, so the perfect time for them to explore your home is during the night, while you are sleeping.
What Happens if You Eat Cockroach Poop?
Usually, people that eat cockroach poop are completely unaware of it! In homes where cockroach infestation exists, there is a big chance that food is contaminated during nocturnal cockroach activity. If you ingest contaminated food, you can get food poisoning, different bacteria, and serious problems. That’s why if you spot a roach inside your kitchen, it’s time for you to react!
What Happens if You Eat Cockroach Eggs?
Roaches are dirty pests that can transmit various diseases. So it depends on the situation. If your food at home is contaminated with roach eggs and you eat it, you can get anything, from vomiting to diarrhea and allergic reaction. Even asthma can be triggered this way.
What Will Happen if You Eat Food with Cockroach?
Cockroaches can contaminate food with their poop, saliva, waste and transmit bacteria that cause food poisoning, diarrhea, and Staphylococcus infections. If you see that your food is contaminated and you have roaches, you need to start a serious pest-elimination process to keep your environment healthy. Sanitation is the first step you need to go for.
Did Tyler the Creator Eat a Cockroach?
Rapper Tyler the Creator made a video for his song “Yonkers” where he lets the giant cockroach crawl his arm, pretends to eat it, and throws up. It is fiction, he didn’t eat it, but the video is interesting to watch.
Did Chip Gaines Eat a Cockroach?
He did eat it. In 2015, at a show in Kansas City, he told the audience that he would eat a fake one but soon ate a real dead one when offered $50.
Nationalities That Eat Cockroaches
Do Chinese People Eat Cockroaches?
People in East Asia, especially the Chinese, tend to eat roaches. Even if those roaches are dirty and live in unsanitary conditions, they will still prepare, cook them well, and serve as a dish. It’s just a part of their cuisine and culture.
They even have farms that grow and prepare roaches in hygienic conditions that are even safer to use as food. High protein intake, minerals, and vitamins are provided by eating roaches, and Chinese people use them in many dishes. You can get crispy ones fried in oil, or you can even find canned roaches in China!
Do Asians Eat Cockroaches?
While Western people tend to see roaches as disgusting, dirty pests and the idea of eating them is never even a thought, Asian people and cultures include roaches in their cuisine. They can be eaten in so many ways – toasted, fried, boiled. Sometimes you can eat them as a main dish, or they are just an addition to vegetables or rice meals. It is popular in many countries in Asia.
Do Japanese Eat Cockroach?
Many people think that eating insects in Japan comes from poverty and not from a choice. That is not true! The “grossness” of eating insects is a barrier that stands in our minds, that stops people from eating them. They are healthy sources of valuable nutrients. Of course, it is not the first food choice in Japan, but people do not think eating insects is disgusting there. A few dishes include roaches and are very popular; among them is roach sushi, which tastes like greasy chicken.
Do Thai People Eat Cockroaches?
If you visit a market in Thailand, you will see bins full of various insects! The most popular species are bamboo worms, crickets, silkworms, and grasshoppers, but you can also find roaches, spiders, and scorpions. The insects are usually deep-fried in a wok and served with some soy sauce. You can buy them prepared like that in the streets. It’s considered “fast food”, something you can grab and eat while walking. It’s also pretty cheap, so many travelers try this type of food while visiting Thailand. If mixed with vegetables, fried roaches become a perfectly balanced meal.
Do the People of Vietnam Eat Cockroaches?
Various bugs, insects, and mealworms are popular in Vietnamese cuisine. Insects like centipedes, crickets, scorpions, silkworms, and grasshoppers are mostly available to find, and some lizards too. Roaches are not so much. These insects are usually deep-fried and combined with vegetables, sauces, pepper, and strong seasoning to make delicious meals.
Do They Eat Cockroaches in Tanzania?
Typical Tanzanian food includes rice, grilled meat, fish, and lots of spices. Edible insects can be a part of the cuisine, but mainly the longhorn grasshopper. It is a widely known insect in this area and one of the most appreciated by societies around Lake Victoria. Roaches are not considered edible insects in Tanzania.
Do Koreans Eat Cockroaches?
When it comes to South Korea, roaches are considered pests that nobody wants to eat. Edible insects in this country are very limited, maybe you can find a silkworm in a cocoon somewhere, and that’s all. It is not a dish you may order in a restaurant; only a canned version is available in some supermarkets.
Summary
Cockroaches are pests, but they are also an important part of the ecosystem. They are a great source of nutrients for many animals, including other insects. Roaches provide protein, fat, minerals, and vitamins essential for the development of many other species. So they are not just harmful, but they can be! You should never feed roaches found at home to your pet, as it turns out that bacteria, germs, and parasites on roaches’ bodies can lead to many diseases.
Always make sure you’ve bought them from a pet shop. Health issues are also very important for people dealing with a roach infestation. Contaminated food can lead to food poisoning, vomiting, diarrhea, and many other intestinal problems. There are some cultures and countries that include roaches in the regular menu! Some Asian countries use insects as a normal part of their cuisine, which can be interesting for tourists to try.
Related: 8 Proven Home Remedies for Cockroaches | Effective and Natural Solutions
List of Sources
Hahn, J., Ascerno, M. (2019). Cockroaches. University of Minesota.
Least Toxic Cockroach Control. University of Nebraska.
Chapter 5: Cockroaches. World Health Organization.
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