--- title: Cockroach Killing: Why It's So Hard to Exterminate Them description: Their exoskeletons helps them withstand tremendous force canonical: https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-10T19:56:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:17.458Z article:section: Science og:title: Here's Why It's So Hard to Kill a Cockroach og:description: Their exoskeletons helps them withstand tremendous force og:url: https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Why It's So Hard to Kill a Cockroach twitter:description: Their exoskeletons helps them withstand tremendous force twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's Why It's So Hard to Kill a Cockroach > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=bfdf7326-1a9f-43eb-a6e4-53ea4fb8a3e1&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Robotic Cockroaches to Help Save Lives in Disasters [Watch (HLS stream): Robotic Cockroaches to Help Save Lives in Disasters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Pkyw8xrp.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2013-09-13. North Carolina researchers think robotic roaches could be trained to help find people after natural disasters._  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 10, 2016 7:56 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 10, 2016 7:56 PM UTC Cockroaches: disgusting to most people, fascinating to scientists—at least those [interested in the creature’s durability](http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/engineers-want-know-why-it-s-so-hard-squash-roach). For [a new study](http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/02/04/1514591113) published this week in the _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_, University of California, Berkeley researchers set out to learn exactly what allows cockroaches to navigate cracks and crevices that are a fraction of their height. Integrative biologist Robert Full and Ph.D student Kaushik Jayaram filmed roaches entering tight spaces and observed what happened to the insects when various weights up to a 100 grams were placed on their bodies, [_Science_ reports](http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/engineers-want-know-why-it-s-so-hard-squash-roach). The answer lies in cockroaches’ exoskeletons, which are made up of a series of overlapping plates—connected by a stretchy membrane—that are firm enough to offer protection yet flexible enough to compress and shift energy to its legs. Special spines help cockroaches maintain traction even when it splays it legs to squeeze by. In the study, these maneuvers helped cockroaches withstand compression forces of about 300 times their body weight when crawling through cracks; in other instances, they withstood 900 times their body weight. Researchers’ interest in cockroaches’ toughness has to do with more than just understanding their reputation for survival, however. Their ability to withstand great force is something scientists hope to recreate with robots. “Cockroach exoskeletons provided inspiration for a soft, legged search-and-rescue robot that may penetrate rubble generated by tornados, earthquakes, or explosions,” the authors write. \[[_Science_](http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/engineers-want-know-why-it-s-so-hard-squash-roach)\] ## Transcript This is not everybody's idea of a good time. We are raised with a phobia against insects. The cockroaches are our friend. Dr. Alper Bozkurt has a soft spot for Madagascar hissing cockroaches. He's an assistant professor in Computer and Electrical Engineering at NC State University and he's working to turn these insects into cyborgs. We implant electrodes to their antenna and we send tiny pulses, very very small pulses, to their antenna. As it walks, the insect feels the pulses, believes they're obstacles, and moves to avoid them. It took a few tries but Bozkurt and his assistant found a cockroach that walked the line. As the assistant moves the joystick, the roach responds, moving around this U- shaped track. This kind of research isn't just interesting to watch. It could mark the start of a new era in search and rescue after disasters. Our ultimate goal is to use these insects, especially cockroaches, in the rubble after natural disasters like earthquakes to find victims. These remote- controlled cockroaches could find their way through cramped, dark spaces, carrying tiny microphones and listening for survivors. Bozkurt and other scientists still have to work out the bugs, but these cockroaches, someday, could save your life. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/"},"headline":"Here's Why It's So Hard to Kill a Cockroach","datePublished":"2016-02-10T19:56:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:17.458Z","description":"Their exoskeletons helps them withstand tremendous force","url":"https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/","name":"Here's Why It's So Hard to Kill a Cockroach"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Robotic Cockroaches to Help Save Lives in Disasters","description":"North Carolina researchers think robotic roaches could be trained to help find people after natural disasters.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Pkyw8xrp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-09-13T15:02:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Pkyw8xrp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4215962/kill-a-cockroach/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```