The claim sounds like an urban legend, but entomologists have tested it and confirmed it: a cockroach really can survive for days, and often more than a week, after its head is removed. For a mammal, ...

Losing a head is instantly fatal for a mammal, yet a cockroach can carry on for a remarkably long stretch without one. A decapitated roach may stand, walk, and react to a touch for many days, and ...