Cockroaches can eat anything! Whether it is your food’s leftover crumbs, waste in the kitchen, or even your fabric in the cupboard for the last few days.
And that is scary that these pesky insects invade the home and can ruin your furniture, food items, and even your clothes.
You might be surprised that these disgusting cockroaches can even eat each other if starving!
So, you might wonder if your home has spiders and cockroaches and if cockroaches may eat spiders to make it easier for you to avoid at least one pest in your house.
And if possible, are cockroaches enough to get you rid of spiders in your home?
Don’t worry! You will get all of your answers here.
Let’s get started:
What Do Cockroaches Eat?
So, before answering whether cockroaches will eat spiders in your home, you should know what a typical cockroach eats.
There are 4500 species of cockroaches, and only 30 of them are associated with human households and hence considered home pests.
A typical cockroach’s diet depends on its species type.
For instance, commonly found cockroaches that roam around the kitchen in your household are either Oriental, German, or American.
These are the cockroaches that can eat anything.
That means they can eat from the leftover meat in your dustbin or food crumbs to fabric in your cupboard to even each other (if they are starving enough).
However, a typical cockroach can survive for several weeks without food.
Further, some cockroaches are even omnivores that feed upon decaying plant matter.
Wood cockroaches are prime examples of that.
On the other hand, the most common cockroach species (German and American cockroaches) are the ones that have a diet of anything.
They eat anything in your household and carry various diseases, posing a health risk to humans.
And it is why you must eliminate them if they invade your home.
According to American Lung Association, “cockroaches can worsen asthma and cause allergic reactions in sensitive people.”
So, overall, commonly found cockroaches are the ones who are also omnivores (which means they can eat decaying plant matter or dead leaves) and scavengers.
It is why these pesky insects must get rid of them as soon as possible.
Can A Cockroach Kill A Spider?
Cockroaches are not predators.
And therefore, till now, there is no evidence that cockroaches eat spiders.
However, it is essential to note that cockroaches can feed upon the carcasses of dead spiders as they can eat anything.
Also, as cockroaches are known to eat other cockroaches, you can find these pesky insects eating the dead bodies of other roaches in your house.
Do Cockroaches And Spiders Both Scavenge Food Debris?
Cockroaches and spiders both have evolved throughout time.
Nowadays, spiders eat other tiny organisms by trapping them, while cockroaches can eat food debris or garbage.
Cockroaches mainly depend upon spilled food or garbage to thrive, but they can also extend their diet to rotten fruit or decaying vegetables.
Further, if they find any dead organisms, they can also feed upon them, whether it is any other cockroach or something else.
Hence, cockroaches and spiders are both scavengers to different extents.
Do Cockroaches Eat Spiders: The True Facts About These Pests
You already know that cockroaches do not eat spiders, nor are they known to kill them.
Cockroaches are insects that can eat anything, whether food debris, garbage, dead organisms, or anything else.
Therefore, if there are dead house spiders in your room, they will also eat them.
Let’s have a closer look at the diet of these both pests:
A Spider’s Diet
A spider’s diet is primarily dependent upon a variety of tiny creatures.
Spiders can eat other minor bugs, spiders, and invertebrates, such as millipedes.
However, giant spiders like tarantulas may even hunt and kill smaller vertebrates like lizards and birds.
The variety of spiders’ diets helps them survive easily in conditions where any food type is scarce.
Spiders also need water to thrive; therefore, they can drink water from your kitchen. Apart from this, spiders can also drink nectar from flowers.
A Spider’s Habitat
Spiders are found in every corner of the world, whether in forests or deserts.
Like cockroaches, spiders also prefer to live in dark and hidden places. If you want to find a spider in your home, check them in the corners.
Spiders are also found in burrows underground, tree trunks, and homes.
Spiders are everywhere, from window sills to ceiling corners to the darkest corner of your house.
Therefore, it becomes hard to escape from them.
It is recommended to keep your home clean so that these spiders cannot build their habitat in your home.
However, most spiders are gifted with fantastic eyesight but see everything upside down.
And these jumping spiders are known to build webs from where they catch bugs and insects to feed upon.
The female spider lives with the male partner and lays her eggs in a sac that the female spider builds and protects throughout.
The male partner also helps in protecting the eggs until they hatch.
Even some species of spiders eat cockroaches, but yellow sac spiders have had no reports of killing cockroaches. Maybe they are small and cannot capture giant cockroaches.
A Cockroach’s Diet
A typical cockroach’s diet varies heavily.
Although they can eat like anything mainly, they feed upon leftover food, garbage, and food spills or crumbs.
Cockroaches are insects they can eat, even other dead cockroaches if they are starving.
It also relates to the fact that cockroaches do not eat live spiders as they are not predators.
However, they will surely eat any dead organisms as cockroaches are omnivores too.
Moreover, cockroaches are a big nuisance if they infest the home as they breed faster and can damage your household’s various things, such as furniture and clothes.
Once they create a colony in your home, cockroaches can become a significant issue related to your health.
Also, cockroaches carry various diseases, which can be problematic to sensitive people.
A Roach’s Habitat
Cockroaches are found everywhere in the world.
However, the cockroach species that are mostly known to invade homes are the ones that are likely to stay around the area where they can find food and water.
These places in your home can be your kitchen, bathroom, gaps between walls, crevices, furniture, and many more.
It is why expert recommends filling up all the crevices and repairing all the cracks, as it is the first step towards eliminating cockroaches from home.
Cockroaches prefer to stay away from light as they love dark, humid, damp spaces such as sewers, drains, and the darkest corner of your home.
It is why you are more likely to find a cockroach roaming in your kitchen at night, as they love to hunt food in the dark.
What Kinds Of Spiders Eat Cockroaches?
Even though cockroaches do not live spiders as they are not predators, you might be surprised to know that some spiders prey on cockroaches.
Some spiders have stronger jaws that can make them crunch through the exoskeleton of the cockroaches.
However, some other spiders use the power of their web to capture the cockroach and then inject a venomous toxin that paralyzes the cockroach.
Spiders such as the American house spider, the running spider, the wolf spider, the huntsman spider, the jumping spider, the brown recluse spider, and the widow spiders all eat cockroaches.
Therefore, spiders, as mentioned earlier, can make cockroaches their food source.
Also, cockroaches and spiders are both commonly found insects; therefore, it becomes more convenient to make one insect the source of food for the two other insects.
Do House Spiders Eat Cockroaches?
As mentioned before, some species of spiders eat cockroaches, and house spiders are one of them.
However, house spider is a broad category that covers up to 10 or more different species, such as:
- Sac spider
- Brown recluse spiders
- Huntsman spiders
- Daddy long leg
- Long-bodied cellar spider
- Jumping spider
- Wolf spider
- Hobo spider
The most common species of house spiders are the American house spiders; however, it is mostly harmless to humans and relies on prey bugs for its food.
However, catching roaches in the web becomes tough for this tiny spider as larger cockroach varieties, such as American ones, can easily break out of their thin webs.
Can Spiders Solve Cockroach Issues?
As of now, you know that some spiders eat cockroaches, and if it is possible for spiders to solve the cockroach issue in your home.
Well, the answer is no!
Even though there might be many spiders crawling around your home, they will not be able to eat them as fast as you’d like.
Further, not all spiders can catch cockroaches and kill them to feed upon them.
If you are trying to get rid of cockroach issues in your home, I suggest reading our expert guide on Getting Rid Of Cockroach Infestation here.
Do Spiders Eat Cockroach Eggs?
Spiders can surely consume eggs of many different types of insects and arachnids.
Therefore, the eggs of cockroaches are one of the favorite items for some spiders to feed upon.
Some spiders can even build their nests above the cockroach colony to access the cockroach eggs easily.
Does Cockroach Spray Kill Spiders?
The roach sprays that kill cockroaches may also work on spiders.
It is because the active ingredient in the roach spray is a neurotoxin that kills these insects by attacking their central nervous system.
Therefore, the agent should work against spiders too.
However, if you are using any toxin spray to kill cockroaches or spiders, you should keep them away from your children.
Also, using these sprays is not recommended in the kitchen or around your food items.
If you are concerned about knowing the natural ways to repel cockroaches, there are various ways.
You can read various guides on natural repellents for cockroaches.
What Should You Do If You Have Cockroaches And Spiders In Your Home?
Whether you have cockroaches or spiders, both are insects and should not be inside your home.
Even if some spiders can eat cockroaches, making you hope that they will be able to solve the cockroach issue, you should still get rid of them as soon as possible.
Cockroaches are harmful to your health as they carry various diseases.
To get the pest control and get rid of all types of insects in your home, you can take the help of a professional exterminator.
However, if the problem is small enough, then you can solve this problem by yourself too.
FAQs
The natural predators of cockroaches are beetles, some species of spiders, and some other arachnids.
Cockroaches are insects known to eat anything. They can feed on almost anything derived from something once a living organism, such as plants and animals.
Further, cockroaches can also eat the cast-off skins of other dead cockroaches if they are starving.
Many products available in the market are known to repel cockroaches.
However, some repellents are peppermint, cedarwood, and cypress.
Apart from this, you can also read this guide to know how to get rid of cockroach infestation if you are facing it.
There are many kinds of common house spiders though, such as the American House Spider, known for its very sticky web, sufficient enough for more giant insects to trap.
Do spiders care about the species of cockroaches?
Even though most cockroaches look identical but the five most common cockroaches that are found indoors are:
- American cockroach
- German cockroach
- Oriental cockroach
- Brown-banded cockroach
- Smokey brown cockroach
Spiders eat roaches, and whether it is wolf spiders or any other spiders that eat roaches often do not care which type of cockroach is there if they will feed upon them.
The type and frequency of spiders eat cockroaches depend on the location.
Conclusion
Cockroaches do not eat live spiders as they are not predators, however, some spiders may eat cockroaches.
However, having cockroaches or spiders in your home is not a good idea; therefore, you should get rid of them as soon as possible.
You can take the help of our online guide on getting rid of a roach infestation, or you can also take help professional by an exterminator.