Spotted a few roaches in your home lately? Because roaches travel in groups, it can be a pain to rid your home or office of a roach infestation. Read on to learn about roaches, their life cycle and behavior, and how to keep them away.
What is the Average Lifespan of a Cockroach?
The average lifespan of a cockroach is anywhere from 20 to 30 weeks long. This is reliant on if the cockroaches have regular and easy access to food and water. Just like every living thing, the cockroach has an entire life cycle it follows. Continue reading to learn about all the different phases of the lifespan of a roach.
Life Cycle of a Roach
The cockroach life cycle is comprised of three developmental phases, the egg, nymph and the adult stage.
A Cockroach’s Birth
For most roach species, the young grow in eggs outside of the female’s body. The female carries her eggs around in a sac attached to her abdomen; when the eggs are ready to hatch, the females either drop the sac, hide the sac, or carry the eggs while they’re hatching and care for their young after birth.
For a few species, the eggs grow inside the mother’s body, but develop in the same way they would if they were outside the body. There is one species of roach that develops its young inside the female’s body, similar to most mammals.
The number of young a roach can produce in a year varies — while the American cockroach only produces about 800 young a year, a German cockroach can produce 300,000!
How a Cockroach Develops
A newly born roach is colored white and is called a nymph. A nymph will soon turn brown and its exoskeleton will harden, resembling an adult roach without wings. The nymph sheds several times, progressively developing into an adult — this process takes a few weeks, or for some species, up to two years. A roach’s lifespan also depends on its species; some live only a few months, while some live for more than two years.
A Roach’s Behavior
Cockroaches are most common in tropical areas, as they prefer warm, dark, humid places. They eat most things, including paper, clothing, dead bugs and even wood.
Cockroaches tend to live in groups that collectively make a decision about where to live. If a space is too small for the whole group, they will divide into equal groups and find smaller places to live. Research has shown that cockroaches have a “follow the herd” group mindset, as they are about to influence each other in order to make decisions.
Keep Roaches Away with Defense Pest Control
Need help getting rid of roaches in your home? Stop roaches before they multiply with the help of Defense Pest Control in Mesa, AZ. Our expert exterminators can identify the roach species that you’re dealing with, and determine the best way to keep roaches out of your home. Contact Defense Pest Control today to schedule an inspection.
Defense Pest Control offers cockroach control and pest control services to clients in Mesa, Chandler, Queen Creek, Gilbert, San Tan Valley, Maricopa, Gold Canyon and Florence, AZ.