Do cockroaches bite?

Cockroaches can eat meat and plants which makes them omnivores. But they are not predators. Having said that, it is possible for a cockroach to resort to biting you if you have an infestation, limited food supply and you have crumbs on your fingers or your mouth that attracts them to feed. Cockroaches have a very keen sense of smell and will seek out food anywhere and everywhere.

Cockroaches have been recorded as insects that feed on the flesh of living and dead human beings. When they bite living humans they go for finger nails, toe nails, eye lashes and the calluses on your hands and feet. Their bites have also been recorded as irritants that can lesions and swellings at the bite sites. They may also bite your mouth or face.

What to expect from a cockroach bite

The cockroach has biting and chewing mouth parts which is why they can bite you.  They feel for the food with their labrum and use the mandibles to bite and cut in their food and chew.  A cockroach is able to not only chew on hard food stuff like sugar particles but it is also able to lap up liquids and consume softer food.

Cockroaches will bite at night. They are nocturnal creatures and will avoid human contact as much as possible but in case they don’t find food available they will resort to biting you.

How to treat cockroach bites

It is very easy to get a full blown infestation of cockroaches because they reproduce fast and are hard to die off. Once you have an infestation the chances of a cockroach bite become higher. The force of a cockroach bite is typically 50 times more powerful than its body weight and they worsen when you itch and itch you will.

They can be treated using home remedies. First begin by washing the site to remove any bacteria left behind by the pests. You can use tea bags and lemon juice to treat the site and disinfect it. This is because you are likely to itch hard and break skin making the bite site an open wound. If you near an aloe vera plant you can split the leaf and extract the gel and apply on the wound. This heals and also cleans the bite site.

The good news is that cockroach bites are not poisonous. They may leave red welts and may be inflamed and irritated but they will not cause any adverse reactions.