Dig into the genetic adaptations of cockroaches, and find out what makes it so hard to get rid of these tenacious creatures.



In ancient Egypt, there was a spell that declared, “Be far from me, O vile cockroach.” Thousands of years later, we’re still trying to oust these insects. But from poison traps to brandished slippers, cockroaches seem to weather just about everything we throw at them. So, what makes cockroaches so hard to kill? Ameya Gondhalekar digs into the genetic wonders of this troublingly tenacious creature.

Lesson by Ameya Gondhalekar, directed by Irida Zhonga.

In order to visualize and dramatize the lives of these fascinating creatures, the artists have chosen to playfully anthropomorphize cockroaches. In real life cockroaches don’t dine like humans, go shopping for organic matter, and most unfortunately, don’t wear lederhosen (at least, to the best of our knowledge).

Support Our NonProfit Mission

Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon
Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop


Connect With Us

Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter
Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook
Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter
Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram


Keep Learning

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/whyareco...
Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/whyareco...

Animator's website: http://www.iridazhonga.com
Music & sound: https://www.philbrookes.com &   / philbrookesuk  


Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Maxwell Ramsby, Dmitry Yuryev, Denis Chon, Julian Oberhofer, Monte Carroll, Eddy, Jay M, Constantino Victor Delgado, Andrea Galvagni, Andrew Tweddle, LaurelAnn Rice, Fernando A. Endo, Helen Lee, pam morgan, sarim haq, Juan Pablo Rodriguez Morales, ANNE FINE, Gerardo Castro, Siddharth Toshniwal, MichelAnge Hortegat, Enes Kirimi, Amaury BISIAUX, Aravind C V, ND, Samyogita Hardikar, Vanessa Graulich, Vandana Gunwani, LvL042, Abdulmohsin Almadi, Andrew Brodski, AJ Lyon, Anandha Krishnan, Geoffrey Bultitude, Mi Mi, Thomas Rothert, Christopher McVay, Carlo Solaroli, Javier Aldavaz, Ivan Yeung, Brian Elieson, Grayson Garbarino, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Stefano Esposito, Nevin Spoljaric, Yvonne Feijoo, Sid Chanpuriya, Arjay Arcinue Dineros, Anoom Yasmin and Anoop Varghese.