So if you have ever wondered whether cockroaches can survive nukes then you came to the right place. There is a common misconception that even the biggest of cockroaches can survive reach of a nuclear bomb. Nowadays we are about to talk about this and prove the rumor wrong. Can Cockroaches Survive Nukes? That is the question that plagues mankind. I mean, try as we might, we can’t keep them from taking over our homes — or even the White House! But does that spell doom for our species in the event of a nuclear blast? A nuclear bomb is a frightening thing. And it may seem like only the largest and most terrifying insects (like the praying mantis or, if you watched one too many sci-fi cartoons as a kid, Godzilla) could survive something that catastrophic. But can cockroaches survive nukes? Nukes (atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs) are a fact of life (at least they were). In the bygone era of the Cold War, it was assumed that in the event of nuclear war, a subsequent nuclear winter would follow – and humans would be unable to survive. But that isn’t exactly true…because it turns out roaches can survive nuclear holocausts. Cockroaches can certainly outlive humans; could they also survive a nuclear blast? Considering the survival capabilities of cockroaches, it does make one wonder if our cities would become nothing more than a cockroach heaven after a large-scale nuclear strike. Fortunately, cockroaches do not have the technology to launch nukes, so we should not need to be worried that these bugs have acquired the ability to destroy Earth quite yet – though someday I feel as though it may happen.

Can cockroaches survive nukes

Cockroaches are scary.

Realistically, cockroaches are the stuff of nightmares. We all know they’re scary, dirty, gross, quick little critters that are hard to get rid of and can carry disease.

These freaky animals continue to crawl around and scurry across our floors after we’ve squashed them—even the good ones like Periplaneta americana (the American cockroach) that have wings and love making babies. Ew!

The German Cockroach is so invasive that it has taken over most of Western Europe, having spread from its native region in Southern Asia by crawling into people’s bags and sharing rides with them. It even followed human explorers on their quest for new lands to conquer—and then totally conquered those lands itself.

Roaches are already pretty resistant to radiation.

Cockroaches are already some of nature’s most resilient critters. Some species can survive a month without food, and even decapitation (up to two weeks, by some estimates). They can endure up to 10 times the radiation that would kill a human, which allows them to thrive in Chernobyl, and they’ve also been known to withstand the vacuum of outer space.

While other insects might be able to partly resist nuclear holocaust, cockroaches are likely the only ones that would be able to truly survive it.

Roaches might clean up after nukes, although not necessarily because they’re the only things left alive.

As it turns out, cockroaches wouldn’t be the only scavengers after a nuclear war. Nuclear-apocalypse fiction often depicts post-nuclear societies where humans must fend for themselves against roving packs of radioactive mutants, but in the real world, scavenging animals that survived the blast would most likely come back first to feed on those who didn’t.

Afterwards…it’s unclear exactly how a nuclear bomb would impact various ecosystems. In one study from 1995, physicist Jim Lovelock hypothesizes that animals and plants could return to irradiated areas as quickly as two months after an attack—that is, assuming they’re relatively unaffected by radiation poisoning and have enough food elsewhere. As long as an ecosystem can support life—including scavengers to clean up bodies and other decaying matter—it will recover quickly.

But if there isn’t enough food outside of the contaminated zones or food supplies are destroyed or rendered unusable (say by fallout or climate change), then resources within the contaminated zone could attract wildlife back faster than they otherwise would—even if their survival chances are pretty slim. So while “The Day After” gives us a good picture of what might happen if humans were wiped off the face of the earth by nuclear war? It doesn’t tell us much about what happens when we’re not around to clean up our own messes in a worst-case scenario like global thermonuclear warfare. While roaches might rule post-nuclear earth for awhile, it wouldn’t be because they were more resilient than other animal species; it’d just be because we did such a terrible job cleaning up after ourselves that even bugs can do better.

But roaches aren’t immortal. They just have long life spans.

But roaches aren’t immortal. They just have long life spans. Roaches are susceptible to natural predators, diseases, starvation and even each other. A cockroach can die from simply being stepped on or having its shell crushed while molting. And they can be poisoned by the very things they eat, including bait traps and sprays containing insecticide chemicals like boric acid or pyrethroids.

Depending on what kind of nuke you have, cockroaches might survive it.

If you have a nuke, you’re in luck! Cockroaches might survive it.