Use Baits and Traps: Place cockroach baits and sticky traps near high-activity areas to target nymphs and adults. Call the Experts: Persistent infestations often require professional pest control services. Our team can eliminate baby cockroaches and prevent their return.
Why? Because roaches go through several life stages, seeing nymphs likely means that adult roaches have already settled in, mated, and produced egg cases (known as oothecae). Each egg case can hold anywhere from 16 to 50 eggs, depending on the species. Keep this in mind as you consider the level of infestation.
Food Sources: Crumbs, spills, or improperly stored food can attract roaches. Moisture: Roaches are drawn to damp areas, so leaky pipes or high humidity can contribute to infestations. Entry Points: Gaps, cracks, and openings in walls or around windows and doors can allow roaches to enter.
Cockroaches are repelled by the smells of peppermint, eucalyptus, lavender, citronella, and cedarwood oils.
Know your kitchen and bathroom roaches
These roaches are commonly found in areas that offer a warm, humid environment with plenty of moisture and access to food. If you see baby roaches, especially behind appliances or in dark corners, it's a sign of a German cockroach infestation.
Generally, the presence of discarded skins and feces are indicative of a nest, with other telltale features including a large number of dead roaches, egg cases, dark spots, and smears. Egg cases are usually brown and less than a quarter of an inch long. Each case can house 40 or more baby roaches.
Cockroaches can squeeze into the smallest spaces and multiply quickly, especially German roaches, producing hundreds of offspring in a year. One roach can mean an infestation is growing; it can also mean you have a full-blown infestation, especially if you notice them frequently or see all life stages.
What causes roaches in houses and apartments? What attracts roaches to a clean house primarily consists of their basic needs: food, water, and shelter, although they are usually brought into houses and apartments on other items, such as luggage or clothing.
Cockroaches are not likely to bite living humans, except perhaps in cases of extreme infestations where cockroach population are large, especially when food becomes limited. In most situations, cockroaches would not bite humans if there are other food sources such as in garbage cans or exposed food.
Citrus is one of the scents cockroaches are most known to hate, notably lemon and orange. Keeping a dish of lemon juice on your kitchen counter can deter these pests, as well as placing lemon peels around the home to discourage cockroaches from coming out of hiding.
American cockroach
Their egg capsules are roughly ⅓” long and are dark reddish or blackish brown in color. Each ootheca holds about 16 eggs.
Boric acid: Used correctly, boric acid is one of the most effective roach killers. It's odorless, has low toxicity to pets, and since it isn't repellent to roaches, they will not seek to avoid it, crawling through it repeatedly until it kills them.
Some strong scents, such as lavender and mint, have been known to repel cockroaches.
Poor sanitation, improper food storage, and water leaks provide ample resources for these pests to thrive. Even small crumbs or spills can attract cockroaches and support their populations.
The idea that roaches only infest filthy homes is a myth. While poor sanitation can contribute to infestations, even spotless homes can attract cockroaches under the right conditions. Environmental factors, such as humidity and nearby landscaping, play a significant role in attracting these resilient pests.
Diatomaceous earth is a natural insecticide made of powered fossilized algae, or diatoms. Diatomaceous earth quickly and suddenly dehydrates roaches so they die. Simply sprinkle it where you notice roach activity, then clean the area the next day. This method may take several applications.
The presence of baby cockroaches usually indicates there is a nest nearby. Once a nest is established in or near your home, the odds are likely that you either have a full blown infestation already or one is in the process of starting.
There's no instant or overnight solution for a cockroach infestation, but there is one fix that's more effective than all the others: calling a pest control specialist. Because cockroaches are so difficult to kill and infestations are tough to control, it's best to rely on the pros to get rid of them.
Roach nest, unlike birds' nests, isn't a physical structure but rather a hidden congregation point for roaches, typically in dark, moist areas close to food and water sources. To find a roach nest, look for signs like droppings that look like coffee grounds, oval-shaped egg casings, and increased night-time activity.