Is a white cockroach a mutant or some kind of new insect species?
Scientists have been arguing for a long time about the causes of the appearance of such an insect as a white cockroach. At one time, it was even considered as a manifestation of a single case of albinism in the insect world. However, information began to come about the mass accumulation of such insects, which provided food for new myths and speculation. Consider them all and try to reveal the truth, based on verified facts and reasoning logically.
Speculation about the causes of the appearance of white cockroaches
Noticing a strange cockroach with an unusual color, people are frightened, assuming that a mutant has been wound up in their house - an evil monster who will eat their supplies, things, and even themselves in the end. However, time passes, and the white cockroach does not manifest itself in any way, as if it did not exist, so the witnesses themselves begin to doubt its existence. And the assumptions made by them at one time continue to live their own lives, growing every year with ever greater details and shocking facts.
So, here are the basic assumptions associated with the appearance in the city apartments of an insect with a white color:
- This is a mutated insect that has lost its natural color under the influence of harmful ecology, which changed it at the gene level.
- This is a new type of insect unknown to science.
- White color is a manifestation of albinism, which often occurs spontaneously in different animal species.
- Coloring is absent in insects that have been in the dark for a long time.
At first glance, all these speculations are not without meaning, but there are facts that deny the possibility of their embodiment.
Facts debunking speculation about white cockroaches
So, we consider the real facts regarding the causes of the appearance of white cockroaches in the order of the rumors presented above.
Mutation
There are facts proving the simultaneous existence of two or more unusual cockroaches within the same apartment. At the same time, a mutation occurring within the same species is so rare that it would hardly be possible for several insects in one colony at once.
In addition, if environmental conditions are so pathogenic that they can change one of the oldest insects that has retained its appearance since the time of the dinosaurs, then they would first of all be reflected in a more vulnerable human body.
Unknown view
The world of insects is so well studied that to meet a previously undescribed species is as unrealistic as finding an alien in the attic of your house. And cockroaches rarely get along with their own kind. There is competition among related species, the cause of which is food and fodder land.
Studies have also shown the identity of insects of allegedly different species, with the exception of their color. If you overcome the squeamishness, then a detailed examination of the unusual cockroach, you can notice a clear resemblance to the usual occupant of the apartments - the Prusak.
Albinism gene
The albino cockroach is a myth that also did not find confirmation. Science knows insects, in the color of which there is partially no melanin, responsible for the color of their skins, however, the accurately established fact of the complete absence of pigment in cockroaches has not yet been recorded in any country in the world.
The albinism gene is often found in mammals, animals and birds. Breeders use this phenomenon to breed new decorative breeds of pets. However, no one has succeeded in getting an albino cockroach.
Hermit Cockroaches
Regarding the absence of “tanning” from reclusive cockroaches, one thing can be said - this is pure delirium, since then the color would be absent in the entire colony, and not in a single insect. If cockroaches living in the same room with a white individual are brown, then there are no reasons for the appearance of an albino, since the living conditions are the same for everyone.
The “unburned” insect eats just like the rest, running out of its shelters only at night. There is no sun at this time of day. So there is reason to believe that its brown and black coloring cockroaches owe to our luminary, absolutely not.
White cockroaches - who are they?
So what are white insects that are no, no, and are found in our apartments? To this question, scientists gave a completely explanatory answer. This is the larva of a cockroach, recently dropped its chitinous shell. During this period, the outer covers of insects are soft and almost devoid of pigment. After a very short time, sometimes several hours, they harden and find their usual color. Read more about the reproduction and life cycle of cockroaches in the article: How do cockroaches live and breed?
This answer explains the reason for the appearance of several white cockroaches within the same apartment. Since the development of larvae from the same masonry proceeds identically, which is due to similar living conditions, they will molt at the same time, thereby creating myths about the supposedly new species of cockroach-like.
Sometimes the reason for changing the color of the outer coverings of insects can be the frequent processing of the room with chemical preparations. For example, chlorine can cause such a reaction - a rather toxic substance that causes discoloration of the chitinous cover. However, such an “etched” individual can easily be calculated by its painful appearance, since the poison exerts its effect on all organs of the cockroach, eventually leading to its death.
White Cockroach Myths
The inhabitants are inclined to exaggerate the facts, therefore, on the basis of idle gossip, whole myths arose regarding unusual albinos. So, white cockroaches - what kind of insects are they? Are they dangerous, and if so, by what?
Myths regarding white cockroaches:
- White cockroach is dangerous for humans, as it is an extremely contagious insect. This is utter nonsense! The larva does not become any more dangerous because it has thrown off its skin. Moreover, insects tend to hide during this period of their life, since its soft skin makes them vulnerable to any kind of external impact.
- They are radioactive, as they arose under the influence of radiation. This myth also has no justification, since we have already found out that mutant cockroaches do not exist.
- They grow to gigantic proportions, posing a threat to residents. This fact is also not fixed.
How people react to white cockroaches, you can see in this interview:
(votes: 12, average rating: 4,50 out of 5)
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I have seen such cockroaches of varying intensity in color, from snow-white to whitish-red, which proves that they change their color over time.
P.S. The video at the end of the article is valid. )))
Once I caught such a little white one, put it in a jar, it turned brown an hour later, and I wanted to show my friend that they’d say smary, I’ve got a white cockroach here. They came, and he is brown. Moreover, he was sitting in a dark pantry in a bank, so that the version of the "tan" merges into a jerk.And recently I saw two cockroaches sitting next to one on the wall, one white, the other ordinary, black-brown. And then the ordinary began to fall down like a feather, slowly. I looked at the floor and saw that it was not a cockroach, but a shell of the white that he had thrown off. So here ... I don’t know why at 3:45 am I write comments about cockroaches on the site that I see for the first time. Just boring.
And the video is really valid, yawned a bit
As for the knowledge of the world of poppies, scientists annually register 100 new species and varieties.
I got home a white cockroach with a length of about 1 cm. I caught it in a jar and this reptile began to change color to dark after a couple of hours.
There is a photo of a white cockroach, heroically fell in Stalingrad. I can throw it off)
Current that I saw a white cockroach sachkanul thought that poisonous
I went, I mean drink some water at night. I open the closet, start to get the glass, and this nits falls on my face! To say that I'm awesome, to say nothing ...