When you think of eggs, you likely picture chicken eggs, but think of all the animals that lay eggs like those chickens. Cockroaches are egg layers but not the eggs you want to stumble upon. Cockroaches can reproduce astonishingly fast and go from a couple of cockroaches to a full-blown infestation. Let’s find ways to locate, identify, and dispose of cockroach eggs.
Meet the American Cockroach
Cockroaches may not be on many people’s favorites list, but like all living beings, they have a purpose, and without them, the food chain would collapse. Before discussing roach eggs, let’s officially meet the American cockroach.
Scientific name: Periplaneta americana
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Domain: Eukaryota
Family: Blattidae
Genus: Periplaneta
Kingdom: Animalia
Size
1.4 – 2+ inches long
Appearance
The American cockroach is the largest in the U.S., sometimes called water bugs, palmetto bugs (incorrect ID), or sewer roaches. They are reddish-brown and come equipped with a yellow band just behind their heads. The males and females both have wings and can fly. The males and females look almost identical, except the males are slightly thinner. Cockroach nymphs are grayish-brown colored and do not yet have wings.
The roach has prickly spines along its six legs and has two long antennas. The roach will molt through 13 instars before becoming an adult and is said to have the most extended life cycle of any roach species. Each time a cockroach nymph molts, it is essentially growing bigger. Bugs can’t do it the same as mammals. After all, they have hard exoskeletons that must be shed because they do not stretch or grow. Finding these casings around where you suspect a roach infestation is a sure sign that you do.
Behavior
A cockroach’s behavior is similar to most ground and arboreal insects. They have many predators to watch out for, which is one reason the crunchy critters are nocturnal. Though it isn’t wholly unusual to see one during the day, that is when roaches are typically asleep. They spend their time running from hiding spot to hiding spot, seeking out scraps of food and other roaches. Cockroaches aren’t slow. The fastest American cockroach on record was recorded at 3.4 miles per hour. They have an uncanny way of squishing their large exoskeletons into cracks and under doors to hide from predators or feet trying to step on them.
The American cockroach is very social within its species. Researchers have uncovered that the little creepers all have their own personality traits, like humans. They live in large family groups and have elaborate social structures and hierarchies. They also use chemical signaling to communicate with a large group.
Habitat
Cockroaches prefer to live near water and are very common at beaches in the warmer states. They are commonly called water bugs because they are seen at beach hotels at night as they scurry across the floors or walls.
In Louisiana, they are frequently found living near palmettos, which is why they are also called palmetto bugs. There are many things you can call these insects (not all of those things are kind), but in the end, they are roaches. Something is disturbing about a two-inch insect taking flight in your home and then suddenly disappearing. Cats are superb hunters of cockroaches. You could be like those who eat bugs as a delicacy and eat the roaches salted or chocolate-covered!
American cockroaches are the largest roaches in the U.S. Source: Canva
Diet
Cockroaches are not incredibly picky when it comes to their dining choices. They will eat the glue out of book bindings, paper, skin flakes, hair, dirty clothes, dead insects, wood, and, of course, actual edible food like bread crumbs, fruit rinds, bones from meat, and pretty much any food you can think of.
Lifespan
The average lifespan of an American cockroach is 700 days, roughly two years. A female may lay 200+ oothecae (egg cases) in that period. It takes approximately 56 days for the eggs to hatch. Each bunch of casings adds up to around 13, meaning if half of them are female roaches and each lays 200 eggs in your house, you will have a severe problem very quickly.
Cockroach Eggs
Some have seen a female American roach walking around with what looks to be her insides coming out her rear end. It is close, but not quite! It is about the size of a TicTac and reddish brown, like the mother’s exoskeleton, which is an egg. She will lay approximately 13 eggs at a time and deposit them anywhere safe, out of the way of foot and predator traffic, and in a damp and dark crevice.
The females can glue their oothecae to a wall, ceiling, cupboard, or other out-of-reach place. Cockroaches prefer to lay eggs near a food and water source, so kitchens often become their victims. As you do spring cleaning in the coming months, check for American cockroach eggs in sneaky places.
How to Keep Cockroaches Away
There are many ways to stay on top of a potential roach problem. Having a pest control company come out once monthly to spray for roaches is the most effective way of removing the little insects. Another way is to do the spraying and cleaning yourself. Roaches love messy kitchens and dumpsters overflowing with leaking trash. Keeping your kitchen tidy and free of crumbs will help deter the insects from setting up camp there.
Roaches have survived on this planet for millions of years and were around when the dinosaurs walked the earth. They survive because they are good at it, fairly indestructible, and can reproduce quickly. Be sure to stay on top of cleaning where crumbs gather and not eat in bedrooms at all.
