If you’re afraid of insects and spiders, then there can be something pretty frightening about seeing one escape. You go to capture the spider or squash the ant, only to find that it runs away and you can’t find it anymore. Lots of thoughts likely go through your head when this happens, but one of the most common is “hopefully it will die on its own.”
There’s this idea that the pests inside of your property will eventually die away as long as they don’t have access to food sources. This is a mistake for a variety of reasons, which we’ll get to in a moment, but one question is – how long CAN pests survive without food? If you clean up your home entirely, how long until your pests will pass away?
Survival Times of Common Home Pests Without Food
Different pests have varying abilities to survive without a food source. Here’s a breakdown of how long some of the most common household pests can last without food:
- Cockroaches – Cockroaches can survive up to a month without food, and about a week without water.
- Ants – Most ant species can survive a few weeks without food, depending on the colony’s resources. However, queens can live for months without direct feeding if the worker ants sustain them.
- Bed Bugs – Bed bugs can survive for 20 to 400 days without feeding, depending on temperature and humidity levels. Their ability to go dormant makes them particularly difficult to eliminate.
- Rodents (Mice and Rats) – Mice can live for 2 to 4 days without food, while rats can last up to a week.
- Spiders – Many spiders can survive for weeks to months without food, especially if they have access to water. Some species enter a low-activity state when food is scarce.
- Termites – Worker termites need constant access to cellulose (wood materials) and can survive only a few days without it. However, the colony itself can persist if the queen is protected and fed.
- Fleas – Adult fleas can survive about 1 to 2 weeks without a blood meal, but larvae and pupae stages can remain dormant for extended periods until a host becomes available.
- Silverfish – Silverfish can survive several months without food but require moisture to avoid dehydration. They often feed on paper, starches, and fabric in homes.
Depending on the pest, you can expect it to survive about a week to a few months even without access to any food. That’s quite a long time.
But there’s an additional problem.
What Does a Pest Need to Eat?
The bigger problem is that it is extraordinarily difficult to truly prevent a pest from accessing food or water. For example, while cockroaches only need food once a month, they require very little food to survive and can eat things that are not food. One crumb on the ground, and you’ve fed the cockroach. Spiders can also feed on pests so small, you may not be able to see them with your naked eye. Ants travel and share, so one ant can go find food even outside of the property and bring it back for other ants.
Overall, starving out pests not only takes time, but it may not be possible at all given how easy it is for them to find resources. Your pests will find food in your home, unless your home is completely empty and no one lives there.
You can make it slightly harder for pests to survive by sealing food properly, eliminating moisture sources, and disposing of waste. They’ll still be able to find food, but it will be less abundant, making it harder for them to breed and spread. But you will still need pest control if you want to truly protect your property from these unwanted pests. If you’re looking for pest control in Staten Island, or anywhere in NYC, reach out to Fillmore Pest today.