There are approximately 4500 species of cockroach found in the world; the US house almost 85 of them alone. Therefore, it is not uncommon to find cockroach infestation inside your house or apartment. According to the United States Census Breau, approximately 14 million people reported infestation with cockroaches in 2020 alone.
Roaches come via and from,
- An infestation in your neighborhood.
- Sewage pipes and holes, ventilation ducts and bathroom drains.
- Door gaps, cracks and holes.
- Bringing in stuff (Furniture, Bags, Boxes, Piles of firewood).
- Green area surrounding your house.
- Electric appliances.
- Shared Garbage bins and Garage.
Despite taking all the necessary precautions, we often ask ourselves, where do roaches come from? Unfortunately, the sole reason for failure is: Keeping a blind eye on some essential prevention tips that are deemed useless.
Therefore, I have written this article to help the reader identify and overcome his individual reason for the roach infestation.
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Places from Where Roaches Come to Your House
A single entry point can not be attributed to roaches. They come to your house from every possible weak link. However, a few areas need to be invigilated to cater to the wide infestation.
Places from where roaches come to your house are,
1. Neighborhood
It is possibly the most important cause of roach infestation but is also the most ignored one. If you fail to control roach infestation in your neighborhood apartment or home, you will least likely succeed at extermination.
The roaches from your neighbors come via,
- Common sewage drains, water piplines, ventilation, garage and garbage bins.
- Electric panel is also the most important entry point.
- Door gaps, cracks and crevics.
2. Green Area Surrounding the House
Some roaches like the Wood cockroach and the Australian cockroach primarily come inside from the house’s plants. The plants provide a humid and shady environment to roaches and food in the form of rotting leaves.
Although infestation with the roaches mentioned above is not severe still can be the cause of nuisance. The roaches can sneak in via windows, door gaps, and cracks.
However, sometimes we are visited by normal bugs from the garden, and we confuse those bugs with roaches. Here is a comprehensive article on bugs that looks like cockroaches.
3. Bringing in Stuff
This is also a common reason for roach infestation and is mainly ignored. We bring groceries, bags, and cartons, not knowing they are sometimes loaded with baby roaches or eggs. Before bringing in stuff, we must at least examine the container.
4. Old Furniture
The old furniture should be deemed cockroach nest until and unless proven otherwise. Every roach prefers to nest under the furniture cover from German to Smokey Brown cockroaches. This is why we often see desquamated exoskeleton, roach droppings, and dead roaches under the furniture.
Before bringing in old furniture, you should inspect and treat it thoroughly if the need arises.
5. Used and New Electric Appliances
Electric appliances and their packings are the breeding ground of roaches. They often find it a perfect spot for egg-laying and nesting. Therefore, electric appliances like either new or old fridges and microwave ovens come preloaded with roach eggs or baby roaches.
Once the roaches reach their destination, they start multiplying fast, and soon your home turns into a roach breeding ground.
6. Sewage Lines and Drains
Sewage holes are the breeding grounds for roaches. From filth to a warm, humid climate, it has almost everything needed for roaches to flourish. Moreover, the sewage system of the whole city is usually interconnected via pipelines.
Therefore, roaches are common to infest homes via uncovered sewage and bathroom drains.
7. Deliveries from Restaurants
Restaurants are possibly the most roach-infested places on planet earth. But, unfortunately, we sometimes ignore food packing coming from a restaurant that might be infested with roaches.
I have even encountered roach eggs and nymphs inside the pizza packages brought from a renowned pizza brand; think about local for a second.
It would be best to keep all of the above entry modes of cockroaches in mind before trying to exterminate roaches to avoid reinfestation or failure.
What Attract Roaches into Your House?
Most of the roaches are accidental or lost intruders. We often provide ideal conditions for roaches to infest us. Though roaches are attracted to 3 main things, i.e., Water, Food, and Shelter, still following things play a significant role in attracting roaches into your house,
- Poor sanitation.
- High humidity.
- An uncovered sewage hole or bathroom drains.
- Smelly shoes.
- Spilled food and juices.
- Smell from open garbage cans and bins.
- Poor Lightning and ventilation.
Finding Out from Where are Roaches Coming
If you successfully find out where roaches are coming from, you have probably done half of your work to exterminate them.
Finding out the roach entry points may be tricky but is not impossible. Here are a few methods that exterminators use to find out where are roaches coming from,
1. Paying Close Attention
Paying close attention to details is sometimes all that is needed. A good observer will look for the possible entry points, including electric panels, uncovered drains, poor plumbing, door gaps, cracks in walls, etc.
2. Setting Sticky Traps
A good exterminator finds out from where roaches are coming through, setting sticky traps around multiple locations; probable entry points.
Once the roach passes through the sticky trap, it immediately catches it. Roaches trapped around specific location points towards a possible entry point.
3. Using Boric Acid or Diatomecous Dust
Once boric acid or diatomaceous earth powder is spread around possible entry points, any roach crossing it, the powder will cling to its body. A specific mark will be left on the powder, identifying where roaches are coming from.
To know more, How do exterminators get rid of roaches? Read this article.
Cockroach Hiding Places
Cockroaches are very timid creatures. They usually hide away in the day and are primarily active in the dark. Cockroaches usually hide in shady, dark, humid places that must be not easy to reach hence safe. However, roaches prefer following places to hide,
- German cockoaches love to live indoors especially food preparation area. They hide inside kitchen cabnets, microwave oven, fridge and unused utensils.
- Oriental cockroaches love to live in cool and dark places epsecially around decaying organic matter. They hide in sewer drains, basments and bathroom cabinets.
- Brown Banded cockroaches love to live and hide in warm yet dry place e.g., heat emmiting electronic appliances, shelves, cupboards etc.
- Australian cockroaches love warm, humid and moderatly dark place. They hide in sewage drains, greenhouses, wood stock, and under the bark of fallen trees.
- American cockroaches love warm and moist place and usually hide inside old boilers, piplines and ducts.
How to Keep Roaches from Coming in?
A cockroach exploits every weak link in prevention. Therefore, nothing should be taken for granted, and you should take every possible precaution to keep roaches from coming in,
Below is a list of prevention tips to keep roaches from coming in,
- Cover or seal all the entry points including drains, door gaps, crevices, ventilators, leaking pipes and sewage holes.
- Remove all the factors that attract roaches including uncovered bins, unsanitary conditions, spilled food and juices, high humidity and poor lighting.
- Inspect before bringing in groceries and boxes.
- When Buying old furniture, make sure that its roach free.
- The firewood should be inspected before bringing them to the house. it can be the of cause Wood cokroach infestation.
- Install window mesh screens because some cockroaches are extremly good flyers.
- Use natural cockroach repellents inside the house, especially the kitchen.
- You can also use IGR spray to keep baby roaches from maturing into adult bugs.
About 95 % of the US houses are infested with small roaches. Read this article to learn more.
