Although cockroaches may be easy to recognize once you’ve spotted them, most homeowners don’t realize they’ve got an infestation until it’s spiraled out of control.
Not only are cockroaches most active at night, but they also prefer to hide in dark, secluded areas of your home, and it can be months before you spot a live roach. The key to detecting a cockroach infestation early on is understanding the other signs of a cockroach infestation, including:
Here’s what homeowners should know about the five major signs of an infestation, the dangers that cockroaches can bring to your home, and what to do if you think you’re spotting signs of a roach infestation.
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5 Major Signs of a Cockroach Infestation
While it’s always a good idea to keep your eyes peeled for live roaches, here are a couple of other key indicators that you’ve got a roach problem on your hands.
Roach Droppings
Cockroach droppings are one of the most obvious signs of cockroaches in your home. From book bindings to your favorite cereal, cockroaches will eat just about anything they can get their spiny hands on. As a result, they tend to leave droppings behind in various places.
What do roach droppings look like specifically? They may resemble coffee grounds, black pepper, or small dark specks, depending on the size and species of the roach. Smaller roaches, like German cockroaches, leave droppings that look like ground pepper or coffee grounds, while larger species like American cockroaches produce cylindrical droppings with ridges along the sides.
You may find roach droppings on walls, around baseboards, inside cabinets, behind appliances, or in areas where there’s a lot of roach activity.
Smear Marks
Along with actual droppings, roaches tend to leave cockroach smear marks behind. You’ll often find these dark, irregular streaks smeared across surfaces in areas where cockroaches are spending a lot of time.
Roach smear marks on walls, and roach marks on walls near baseboards are particularly common, especially in humid environments where cockroaches thrive. These marks are created when roaches crawl through water or their own droppings and then travel across surfaces, leaving behind dark stains.
Egg Capsules
When they reproduce, cockroaches lay and hold their eggs in egg capsules, also called oothecae, which can hold up to thirty roach eggs at a time. Once the eggs have hatched, cockroaches don’t need the egg capsules anymore, and these oothecae get discarded throughout your home.
Most capsules are only around ⅓ inch long and have a ridged, purse-like appearance. They can be tan, brown, reddish-brown, or even black in color, depending on the species. Common hiding spots for oothecae include behind furniture, inside pantries, beneath sinks, and in other dark, protected areas.
Discarded Skin
As cockroach nymphs grow into mature adult roaches, they’ll discard their skin up to eight times in the process through a process called molting. If you’ve got a cockroach infestation, it’s not unusual to find piles of discarded and shed skin lying in places where there’s high cockroach activity.
These translucent, shell-like casings look similar to the cockroach itself and can vary in size depending on the roach’s growth stage.
Musty Odor
Do cockroaches have an odor? Absolutely. Do roaches have an odor that’s noticeable? In larger infestations, yes. You may not notice a cockroach odor in minor or early cockroach infestations, but as a roach infestation becomes more severe, many homeowners report smelling a musty odor that seems to linger around their house.
This unpleasant odor may smell damp, oily, and somewhat sweet or musky. It comes from the pheromones left behind in cockroach droppings, their secretions, and dead roaches. The more roaches present, the stronger the smell becomes. In severe infestations, this cockroach odor can even affect the taste of food left out in infested areas.
Are Cockroaches Dangerous?
Unfortunately, cockroaches (whether the infestation is small or large) are far from harmless. These pests can be dangerous to you or your family in a variety of different ways:
- Cockroaches may carry harmful pathogens and bacteria, like streptococcus, salmonellosis, or staphylococcus.
- An enzyme in a roach’s discarded skin, droppings, and saliva can worsen asthma symptoms or trigger allergic reactions in a lot of people.
- Severe infestations may even cause property damage, as roaches chew through food packaging, books, and even leather.
Besides the health risks, cockroaches are one of the trickiest pests to eliminate. Because they reproduce quickly and hide well, it’s often difficult for homeowners to eliminate the entire infestation.
Not to mention, these critters are more resilient than they might seem. Cockroaches can become resistant to pesticides and survive for up to a week after decapitation. They’re not always easy to kill with DIY techniques or home remedies.
Do Cockroaches Bite?
While cockroach bites are relatively rare, yes, they can occur in severe infestations when food sources become scarce.
Cockroach bites typically appear as red, raised bumps that are slightly larger than mosquito bites. They may occur on the hands, feet, fingernails, eyelids, or mouth area (anywhere food residue might be present on the skin). The bites can become inflamed, swell, and may develop into a rash if you have an allergic reaction. Unlike bed bug bites that often appear in lines, cockroach bites are usually isolated and random.
However, most skin reactions attributed to cockroaches aren’t actually bites. They’re likely allergic reactions to cockroach allergens present in their droppings, shed skin, and saliva.
What to Do if You’re Spotting Signs of a Cockroach Infestation
Now that you know how to tell if you have roaches, what’s the next step? Whether you spot one or all of the cockroach signs we’ve listed above, there’s only one thing to do: contact the roach professionals at Action Pest Control.
Our expert technicians can perform a comprehensive cockroach inspection of your home to confirm the presence of roaches, identify the species, locate harborage areas, and determine the extent of the infestation.
Our cockroach control services are designed specifically for the species common to Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois homes, including German cockroaches, American cockroaches, and Oriental cockroaches.
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If you think you’ve got roaches in your home, it’s time to take action before the infestation grows. We’re proud to serve homeowners throughout Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois with fast, effective pest control solutions that protect your family and your home.
Call Action Pest Control today at 877-420-0849 or fill out a contact form here to schedule a professional cockroach inspection of your home.
