Seeing baby roaches can be worse than seeing big roaches because it usually indicates a breeding population. Adult roaches might be solitary invaders, but baby roaches suggest that there are adults reproducing somewhere in your home. This means you are likely dealing with a larger, more established
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.
Baby cockroaches, or nymphs, are the juvenile stage of a cockroach's life cycle. Spotting them often signals a nearby nest, as cockroach eggs hatch into dozens of these small pests.
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.
Their ability to hide in small spaces and multiply quickly makes them harder to eradicate. Big roaches, such as palmetto bugs, while more intimidating due to their size, are not necessarily more dangerous. However, their presence can still cause significant distress.
Small cockroaches are 1/4” to 1/2” long and generally hide in the daytime. After dark, cockroaches come out to mate and forage for food. Roaches are notoriously difficult to control because they reproduce so quickly.
Some strong scents, such as lavender and mint, have been known to repel cockroaches.
Seeing baby roaches can be worse than seeing big roaches because it usually indicates a breeding population. Adult roaches might be solitary invaders, but baby roaches suggest that there are adults reproducing somewhere in your home. This means you are likely dealing with a larger, more established infestation.
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.
You must first remove their food and water resources to control a future cockroach infestation. Even if the nymphs or adults are removed, more can follow. Cockroach nymphs can survive off the smallest drops of food or water.
If you see one, there are likely many more that you can't see. However that's not always the case. Some homeowners don't see a group of roaches but only a single one, and there could be reasons behind it. You might have brought the pest in when you were bringing piles of firewood inside your house, or some such thing.
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.
Use bait stations: Place roach bait stations where you have seen roaches, such as under sinks or behind appliances. Use sticky traps: Place sticky traps in areas where you have seen roaches to capture them. Sticky traps also make ideal monitoring boards if you think you might have a pest issue.
Follow-up visits are necessary to ensure that all of the roaches are gone as well as any eggs they left behind. Once the infestation is completely taken care of, we recommend preventative treatments every 30 to 60 days to ensure the infestation does not return.
Most cockroaches hide in dark, secluded areas by day. They can be found behind furniture and appliances, as well as under refrigerators and stoves and in cupboards or cabinets. They are capable of flattening themselves in order to fit into crevices between floorboards and walls.
To detect roaches hiding in your walls, look for irregular smears near their hiding spots, a potent musty odor, dark droppings, and chewed packaging. Use a flashlight at night to see roaches scatter, indicating infestation.
Cockroaches are very resourceful insects that can enter your home in a number of different ways, including: Crawling inside through small holes and cracks in the building. Hitching a ride on bags, backpacks, suitcases and other containers. Finding openings around doors and windows.
Easy points of entry.
Loose window seals, gaps under doors, tears in screens, holes around dryer vents, and other access points can give roaches a clear path into your home.
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.
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.
Leaving the light on doesn't deter cockroaches effectively because they can navigate in low-light conditions. While they're mostly active at night, they may still come out in search of food or water. During the day, cockroaches hide in dark areas not directly exposed to light.
Cockroaches are blessed with an amazing sense of smell. This is what they use when seeking food and mate but at the same time, this is also their weakness. A cockroach's sense of smell can be used to get rid of them.