Did you know that a cockroach has superpowers? They can crawl up ceilings, survive nuclear attacks, adapt at a very fast rate, hold breath for a very long time, and can live without their heads for up to two weeks. On top of these evidence-based powers, a new study published in the journal Plos One, reveals that cockroaches can bite 50 times its body weight and five times the relative force of a human being.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge, Friedrich-Schiller University and Institute of Sport and Motion Science, University of Stuttgart, wanted to study American cockroaches and how their jaws function. This important discovery is needed to fill in some gaps in the understanding of animal physiology.
"As insects play a dominant role in many ecosystems, understanding the amount of force that these insects can exert through their mandibles is a pivotal step in better understanding behavioural and ecological processes and enabling bioinspired engineering," lead author Tom Weihmann from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology said in a press release.
To land to their findings, researchers strapped ten American cockroaches or Periplaneta Americana to a device on their back. Their mandibles were attached to a head capsule wherein they chomped down on a sensor which measured the strength of their mandibles.
The laboratory tool used looked like ancient torture beds or guillotine-looking devices wherein the cockroaches were strapped. The roaches did not appear uncomfortable with the head capsule. In fact, two cockroaches were disqualified from the study because when they bit the sensor, it was so hard they chipped their distal teeth.
The researchers measured the force of 300 bites made by eight remaining cockroaches. Their bites displayed a wide series of mandible opening angles with forces ranging from weak, short and strong bites that lasted longer.
"Ours is the first study to measure the bite forces of ordinary insects, and we found that the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, can generate a bite force around 50 times stronger than its own body weight," Weihmann added.
The researchers are still studying how the cockroach's delicate and small head can withstand such forceful bites in its lifetime. Thus, this discovery could influence bio-inspired engineering and robotics.
