The warmer months are their chief breeding season, however, so it pays to understand their life cycle. “When the weather gets cool, the cockroaches are much less active,” says Smith. “They almost go dormant, even though they don't necessarily die out.”
When alert overnight, cockroaches will begin their endless hunt for food. They will eat just about everything and can navigate your dark kitchen to seek out any crumbs they can find. Research has shown that nighttime cockroach activity happens primarily during the hours just before midnight.
Thus, sleeping with the light on can keep cockroaches away from your bedroom. When you leave your lights on, the cockroaches will not even try to come out. Predators are also attracted by the light and will begin to actively hunt down the cockroaches when it's bright in the room.
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.
Cockroaches are nocturnal by nature, meaning they come out at night when most humans are sound asleep looking for food and mating opportunities.
Because of this, cockroaches will not bite active humans, but sleeping humans is another matter. Cockroaches emerge from their indoor hiding spots at night to seek out food, and while doing so, they sometimes crawl over sleeping humans.
The most obvious sign you have a roach problem is actually seeing one. The best time to spot roaches is during the night since they are nocturnal insects. You'll typically see them scatter after you enter a room and turn on a light.
Keep a Cold Home
Turning up the AC may not look good on your energy bill but at least your house will be cockroach-free. There's a reason why we see roaches in the summer, and they vanish during the winter – cockroaches hate the cold. Always turn up the AC.
Smells that roaches hate: a quickfire summary
Oregano, rosemary, mint, eucalyptus, lemongrass and catnip are great herby options. Citrus oils work brilliantly too.
Breadcrumbs or baby food can be effective lures to draw cockroaches out of their nests and into your traps. You can also use peanut butter – and dipping pieces of bread in beer has also been shown to be an especially enticing lure for cockroaches.
As long as the temperature indoors is above 50 degrees, roaches can remain active year-round, although they are more prevalent in the spring and summer months.
You don't have to call an exterminator immediately, but take proactive steps to diagnose the scale of the issue: search for possible hiding areas and look for any signs of infestation (roach droppings, eggs, skin casks). Once you see 2 roaches, you have an infestation—contact an exterminator as soon as possible.
Females have an estimated adult lifespan of 180 days, while males have an adult lifespan of about 160 days. Cockroaches are one of the oldest living insects on the planet. Their life cycle plays an important role in their ability to survive and populate the earth.
Cockroaches are attracted to food and water sources. Dirty dishes, crumbs, food spills, leftovers, garbage, and pet food will all draw cockroaches in. Roaches are excellent at scuttling into and over tiny spaces, especially holes in pipes, cracks and crevices in your home, and tears in screens.
Inside furniture – When the infestation is big enough, some cockroaches will eventually infiltrate furniture, sliding in-between cushions and under pillows.
Then, spray generously on walls, counters and other surfaces where you've seen cockroach activity. This should be enough to deter roaches, at least for a time. As an alternative to peppermint oil spray, you can also wet cotton balls with peppermint oil and water and place them in cupboards, along walls or in closets.
Pine-Sol and Fabuloso are strong, all-purpose household cleaners. Similar to bleach, these products kill roaches on contact. Some homeowners suggest spraying Pine-Sol around the outside of your house to keep cockroaches away.
Boric acid can quickly kick a roach infestation to the curb. It's extremely toxic and can kill multiple generations of roaches. Mix a combination of equal parts of boric acid, sugar and water to make a dough. Roll that dough into balls or cylinders and place them where roaches will find them.
Dusts – A few insecticides used for cockroach control are applied as dusts or powders. Most familiar to householders are boric acid and diatomaceous earth. For controlling cockroaches, boric acid tends to be more effective. Roaches succumb to boric acid after crawling over treated surfaces.
Roaches are social pests, however, and reproduce quickly. If you spot one, odds are there are a few others lurking nearby, in dark corners or cracks and crevices and they could be fast on their way to a full blown infestation.
Unfortunately, cockroaches are not loners. If you see one, there are likely many more that you can't see. Cockroaches are nocturnal creatures, so you'll most likely spot them late at night, especially if you walk into your kitchen and turn on the light.
Their nests can often be found near plumbing fixtures in bathrooms and kitchens, in cupboard cracks or under drawers, inside appliances or underneath the fridge. You may also notice cockroach droppings around the nest's location or your nose will help you sniff it out — most have a strong, foul odour.