Depending on the species, an egg case contains between 16 - 50 eggs. Eggs hatch into young cockroaches called nymphs, that are more numerous than adults.
With around 12 young in every egg case, a female and her offspring can produce 800 additional cockroaches in just a single year.
During their peaks, they can produce two oothecas a week. Each egg capsule has about sixteen eggs. But the peak is short lived. After that, American Cockroach females produce one ootheca a month.
How Long Does it Take Cockroach Eggs to Hatch? Immature cockroaches will emerge from the ootheca within 24 to 38 days.
Baking soda and sugar
You can try this method to eliminate the producers of the eggs. In a small container (or a bottle), make a mixture of equal parts baking soda and sugar. Sprinkle it at places where you've seen cockroaches. This is one of the easiest roach killers.
Boric acid is one of the best home remedies to get rid of roaches naturally. Mix equal amounts of boric acid, flour, and sugar to make a dough. Set balls of dough around the home where cockroaches can feed on it. The flour and sugar will attract the roaches while the boric acid will kill them.
While the presence of one cockroach in your home can be enough to send you into a panic, one roach doesn't necessarily mean you have a full blown infestation. Roaches are social pests, however, and reproduce quickly.
The most common places for a roach nest in the house are in kitchens or bathrooms, particularly behind refrigerators, in cracks and crevices, and under furniture. Roaches prefer a warm, humid environment, so these places should be considered first, especially if they are close to a food source and water supply.
Do baby roaches mean infestation? The presence of baby roaches does indeed indicate an infestation, one that could grow exponentially if not eliminated swiftly. For every baby roach seen, there are likely dozens, perhaps hundreds, of others hiding, not to mention a multitude of adults.
Cockroaches are omnivorous scavengers and will consume any organic food source available to them. Although they prefer sweets, meats and starches, they are also known to consume other items such as hair, books and decaying matter.
Cockroach Droppings Appearance
Cockroach feces are easy to identify. Droppings from small cockroaches resemble ground coffee or black pepper. Larger roaches leave behind dark, cylindrical droppings with blunt ends and ridges down the side.
The average cockroach lifespan is about twenty to thirty weeks given that the roach has ready access to food and water. The first stage in the life of cockroach females and males alike is the egg stage. Eggs are produced in what are called egg capsules.
Cockroaches produce a large number of feces. They can poop anywhere they go, but their droppings tend to remain close to their nesting or feeding areas. Roach droppings look like specks of pepper, coffee grounds, or dark grains of rice. The size of the feces is directly related to the size of the cockroach.
If you think you have cockroaches, do not panic. Finding roaches is not a sign that your house is dirty. Even if you clean regularly and maintain a tidy home, cockroaches can usually find food and water without much trouble. This allows them to thrive in many environments.
Seeing roach feces or droppings.
Seeing an unusual number of droppings in a specific area will also help you track where the roach shelters are. Best to cut off any water or food source near this location so prevent further infestation.
Most of the time, when someone “suddenly” sees a cockroach, it's not quite as sudden as it seems. In other words, they've probably been in the home for a while, and you seeing them is more related to luck than anything else. Maybe you moved whatever they've been hiding under for the last several weeks.
Fogging systems are great at killing roaches on contact, but foggers can actually push the majority of them further into their safer hiding places. Fogging or bombing roaches creates a long-term problem for you and your loved ones that will not go away.
If your home has 5 or fewer cockroaches, it can be identified as a light infestation. If it is between 10 to 25 roaches, it can be a moderate one. But if it exceeds 25, it can now be classified as a heavy infestation. You should know that the few roaches you see at home are not the only ones you have to deal with.
While cockroaches are one of the most common pest problems, they are also one of the most stubborn. Infestations are hard to get rid of because the insects hide in a host of areas, breed quickly, have a very high reproductive potential and may develop resistance to pesticides.
Roach Repellents
Peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oil are essential oils that effectively keep cockroaches at bay. Additionally, these insects hate the smell of crushed bay leaves and steer clear of coffee grounds. If you want to try a natural way to kill them, combine powdered sugar and boric acid.
How can I get rid of roaches fast? The best way to get rid of roaches fast is to sanitize your home, eliminate hiding spots and stagnant water, store food in airtight containers, and use glue strips, bait, boric acid, or liquid concentrates.
They're mesopredators, more than willing to hunt down and kill these resilient pests. However, cats aren't the best at preventing cockroach infestations. Even though cockroaches are high in protein, they aren't a good food source for cats due to their tough exoskeletons cockroaches.