Where do cockroaches come from in an apartment, and why do they appear?

Insects such as cockroaches have existed on earth for more than 300 million years, which has been proven by archaeological excavations. They are incredibly resistant to changes in climate and environmental conditions. They can survive in the cold, with little or no food, and live underwater or without oxygen for short periods of time. These insects are the most common in the world, among other types of household pests.

There are approximately 3,500 species of these insects. Most of them live outdoors and do not survive indoors. Only a small part consider houses to be their favorite habitat. It is difficult to find a place on the globe where these pests cannot be found. Due to the fact that they masterfully adapt to their environment, they are present in almost all parts of the world.

At the same time, all their ability to change makes them leaders in invulnerability. They easily get used to the type of pesticides that they were poisoned with earlier and do not react to it in the future. They can even do without a head.

In Russia there are only a few species: German, red, black. Such species mainly inhabit houses in Russia, America and Europe.

The simplest methods of fighting cockroaches

You already know where cockroaches come from. Now let’s talk about how to deal with this scourge so that they don’t end up being the “owners” of the apartment, and you are their “guest.”

First of all, you need to clean up your apartment. If cockroaches appear, it is even recommended to carry out minor repairs, but not everyone has such an opportunity, especially now in light of the latest economic turmoil associated with currency fluctuations. Therefore, as an alternative, it will be necessary to carry out general cleaning, remove deposits of old garbage and openly lying food, which will significantly speed up the neutralization of cockroaches in the apartment.

Why are there so many of them: life expectancy and reproductive characteristics

If you see a lonely running cockroach and squash it with a slipper, do not rush to celebrate your victory. You won the battle, but not the war. The appearance of a lone “guest” indicates that a whole colony of pests lives somewhere in a secluded place. And they probably managed to lay eggs, from which new insects will appear after some time. To successfully fight cockroaches, you will have to take a short course in biology.

Life cycle

Cockroaches live from four months to four years, depending on external conditions. Human factors can significantly affect life expectancy. Characteristics of the life stages of insects are given in the table.

Table - Life cycle of a cockroach

The female as a source of danger

Cockroaches reproduce sexually. Insects undergo real mating games, during which the males begin to vigorously shake their wings and even fly low to please the female. The latter chooses the most worthy “father” for her offspring. After fertilization, she lays 15-20 eggs, which are securely stored in the protective capsule ootheca. The female carries this pouch with her everywhere for two weeks. At the last stage, the female leaves the ootheca in a secluded place, where after a few days new cockroaches hatch.

Throughout her life, the female lays an average of 20 oothecae, which is equivalent to 300-400 eggs, the survival rate of which is 90-95%. In this case, a female, fertilized once, retains the male’s genetic material in her body and can continue to reproduce independently through parthenogenesis. Thus, if you want to defeat cockroaches, you need to try to destroy the females, which can be recognized by such signs.

• Size. The female is an order of magnitude larger than the male.
• Wings. In females they are small and poorly developed.
• Head. The male has two vertical stripes on his head. Females do not have such a distinctive sign.
• Color. The male is darker than the female.
• Sexual characteristic. The female does not have a genital plate in the posterior part of the body. The easiest way to recognize a fertilized female. A “sac” containing eggs will be attached to the back of the body.

Why do cockroaches appear in a clean apartment?

Even residents of perfectly clean apartments are not immune from the appearance of cockroaches; there may be several reasons for this:

• in old houses, insects that have long lived in ceilings, water supply and sewerage systems visit each apartment from time to time;
• if disinfestation is carried out in one of the apartments, cockroaches, escaping, can move to the neighbors;
• Perhaps there is a pet in the apartment, in which case cockroaches may be attracted to its food and water.

The factor of chance cannot be ruled out, for example, one of the guests could bring a cockroach.

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What are they afraid of?

Despite the vitality and adaptability of pests, there are some things that cockroaches are afraid of in an apartment. There are three factors that can make your home uncomfortable for cockroaches.

1. Strong odors. Cockroaches cannot tolerate chemical odors. That's why they run away from the house during renovations. If you paint, for example, a radiator with oil paint, pests will not want to stay in the room.
2. Temperature changes. This factor can be used in the cold season, when the heating season begins. Ventilate the apartment daily for 15-30 minutes. Pests will not like frosty air.
3. Bright light. Keep the curtains open during daylight hours. Screw bright light bulbs into chandeliers and sconces.

How do cockroaches appear in an apartment?

There are many answers to the question of where cockroaches come from in an apartment. Especially considering the ability of these insects to penetrate even the most inconspicuous cracks, as well as to move easily and quite quickly in any direction. You can pick up a cockroach even on the street and bring it home on your clothes, although this option, if possible, is only in the warm season.

From neighbors

In at least half of the cases, cockroaches appear in an apartment due to the fault of neighbors. There are two options. Or in the next apartment the insects feel very at ease, actively reproduce, and the colony has grown so much that there is no longer enough food for everyone. As a result, cockroaches crawl into adjacent rooms. Or cockroaches are poisoned in a neighboring apartment - escaping from danger, the pests end up with those who live behind the wall or on the floor above/below.

Through the garbage chute

When trying to find out where cockroaches come from, don’t forget about the garbage disposal. This is an excellent place for insects - a good shelter, where there is moisture and there is food. But with an increase in the number of cockroaches, they begin to inhabit new premises. This explains the penetration into the apartments.

When moving

Another common reason for the appearance of cockroaches in an apartment is that they moved along with the new residents’ belongings from their old place of residence. Nests can be in cabinets, folds of upholstered furniture, and household appliances. And individual individuals can end up anywhere, for example, in boxes with dishes or things, in a heap of clothes. So even in a new building it is not always possible to hide from the persistent, mustachioed tenants.

Along with the purchase

If cockroaches suddenly began to appear in the apartment, perhaps one or two pregnant individuals were recently brought with purchases. An insect can get into a bag with both food and belongings. But the first option is more likely. Especially if the purchases were made at a market or in a stall where sanitary and hygienic standards are not strictly observed.

When purchasing used household appliances

Cockroaches often infest electrical appliances. The back wall of a microwave or refrigerator, the inside of a coffee machine or toaster, even a laptop or system unit can become a haven for mustachioed pests. Accordingly, when purchasing used household appliances, you may unexpectedly receive one, or even a dozen or two cockroaches as a gift.

When purchasing equipment

Know the enemy by sight: common types

Surely, having noticed a pest running around the apartment, no one will have the desire to look at what a cockroach looks like. There will be no possibility, since the insect will run away at the speed of light as soon as it senses danger. A table that contains information about the types of cockroaches will help you recognize your enemy by sight.

Table - Types of cockroaches in the apartment

Penetration from neighbors

This is the most difficult case. There are two options. Cockroaches are fleeing because the neighbors have unsanitary conditions and the insects have become crowded. Another option is that neighbors are constantly getting rid of parasites that are looking for shelter in other places.

When neighbors don't want to kill pests in their homes, they can be forced to do so through legal action. First you need to obtain a document that confirms the unsanitary conditions in the neighboring apartment.

Such a document is issued by the management company or the sanitary housing inspection. If neighbors are trying to get rid of insect pests, you need to agree to take action at the same time. It will be more efficient.

Insects can crawl through cracks in the floor/ceiling, cracks in walls, loose baseboards, and through sockets. They move around the entrance, live in attics and basements.

Crayons and powders

The most affordable are special crayons and powders against cockroaches.

They are convenient to apply, but almost impossible to treat hard-to-reach areas. It is also not possible to treat the entire room. Both crayons and powders can be used indoors and are harmless to people and animals. But, if there are a lot of cockroaches in the house, these remedies may be ineffective. They can be used as a prophylaxis after treatment with stronger drugs. The following products have proven themselves to be effective:

• "Mashenka";
• "Tornado"
• "Super Fas";
• "Clean house";
• "Phenaxik".

When moving

Penetration of cockroaches is possible when moving from an old apartment to a new one. This way you can take over the old tenants along with your belongings.

It is enough to take the eggs of parasites, not adults. Insects love to settle in the folds of upholstered furniture and mattresses. There are a lot of them in wooden cabinets, boxes, and books.

When moving, it is difficult to maintain cleanliness. And patient parasites can survive long journeys in poor conditions. For food they will find something inedible, but suitable to satisfy their hunger.

A little more about the reasons for the appearance of cockroaches in an apartment

Insects move from apartment to apartment, squeezing into the thinnest cracks and overcoming various obstacles. There are practically no barriers for these parasites.

Why do parasites migrate? The answer is simple: there is a catastrophic lack of space for new offspring, and the population decides to move to another space.

This is interesting:

Cockroaches appeared on Russian soil in 1812 during the war with Napoleon. It is to the French soldiers that we owe this not so pleasant acquaintance.

Also, the cause of the appearance of parasites in an apartment can be:

• Neighbors and their measures to remove pests from their homes. During disinsection, parasites escape and look for new conditions to preserve the population. Therefore, just a couple of cockroaches that survived and escaped, for example, into the ventilation, can bring you a lot of trouble in the future.
• Parasites from supermarkets or stores. Another reason for the appearance of cockroaches can be a banal trip to the store. By placing the bag on the floor, the Prussians may well crawl into it and travel straight to your house. Thus, completely unaware, you can bring not only purchases, but also a “surprise” in the form of cockroaches.

Of course, this rarely happens and only in cases where the store openly neglects the rules of sanitary standards, nevertheless, such a reason does exist. Therefore, be careful!

• Cockroaches can also be brought from long trips or bad hotels. Similar to the previous case, with things from a train or travel you can accidentally bring a parasite with you into your home.

This is interesting:

Whiskers are vital for a cockroach! With the help of their whiskers, cockroaches communicate with their relatives and receive information about the world around them. Also, cockroach antennae are very sensitive to various kinds of odors. By losing at least one whisker, not to mention both, the insect is unable to fully orient itself in space, which becomes a real tragedy for it.

Where did the “Prussians” come from in Russia?

There is no mention of domestic pests in medieval Russian chronicles. Historians date the first negative statements about them to the middle of the 18th century and are associated with the Seven Years' War in Europe, in which Russian troops also participated. Then, in 1757, Austria, France, Russia and Saxony united against Prussia and England. Russian soldiers fought in the Prussian lands with varying success and, at the end of the war, went home. And once they were in their homeland, they were surprised to discover that their carts, duffel bags, as well as the collars and pockets of their uniforms were simply swarming with some kind of red insects. The soldiers did not think that they were attracted there by the remains of meat and bread crumbs. “Prussians,” as the Russians called them, very soon multiplied throughout all villages and cities and they could be seen not only in peasant huts and inns, but also in the mansions of noble landowners. Previously unknown insects that do not bite humans and fear them like fire were initially perceived as harbingers of profit. They were even used as a medicine - they were added to vodka, in the belief that it would then become useful for colds. The peasants came up with a sign associated with them - if the “Prussians” run away from the house en masse, it means a fire will happen soon. Whether this is true or not is unknown. But very soon it became clear that the same food that people eat is also needed by new insects, and the Russians began to seriously think about how to now rid their homes, taverns and inns of these small parasites.

What to do if you can’t kill cockroaches?

The answer to this question is extremely simple - contact professionals who will treat the apartment with specialized means . The drugs are harmless to both people and animals. But it is impossible to find such substances in stores or they are not on sale at all.

It is especially difficult to fight cockroaches using traditional means if you live in an old house - they will definitely have a “dysfunctional” apartment, from which the insects go to look for new places.

If insects haunt both you and your neighbors, then this is an excellent reason to cooperate in order to rid ourselves of this scourge together. In addition, there is a high probability that after professional treatment they may leave the entrance forever. Plus you also save a lot of money, since group processing is much cheaper. A simple example - to process an area of ​​55 m2 (this is an average two-room apartment), you will have to shell out about 2 thousand rubles . If your neighbors have the same problems as you, then the cost will be almost halved.

Everything takes about an hour, and after that you are unlikely to see cockroaches in your apartment for a year.

Life stages of a white cockroach

The life cycle of white cockroaches begins with a nymph (larva) once these individuals have “successfully” hatched from the egg.

The nymphal stage is the second phase of the cockroach life cycle. This stage of cockroach development is precisely identified by its unusual white color.

All nymphs go through a well-known process of shedding their skin called molting. As all cockroaches develop, they go through periods known as instars. At this time, feeding is accompanied by the loss of old skin. 1 female German cockroach can produce about 400,000 cockroaches per year.

Once cockroaches shed their skin, they turn into milk cockroaches for a couple of hours or days, depending on their species. At this stage they are very vulnerable due to their soft skin.

The color of these cockroaches can be cream, white or light brown, depending on how much time has passed since they moulted. Once their skin hardens, it returns to its typical reddish or dark brown color. The number of molts depends on the type of cockroaches and the conditions in which they are found.

Cockroaches are very sensitive to drying out and predation after molting, so during this period cockroaches remain hidden from light and moving air. The new shell is not rigid enough for the muscles to move quickly at this point, making it difficult to run and hide when being chased by predators. These factors, combined with the possible disruption of their biological clock, is a natural reason for cockroaches to stay out of sight while they are white.

What happens to the white cockroach next? How does he continue to live? The exoskeleton will begin to harden and return to normal coloring over the next few minutes, and life will soon return to normal. Some types of cockroaches can completely transform within a few hours. At this point, the cockroach, now dressed in new armor, is ready to go in search of food, water and shelter. If this is their last molt, then small apartment cockroaches have reached adulthood.

What to do if cockroaches live in an apartment building?

If cockroaches crawl into your apartment, this does not mean that they live with your closest neighbors. Pests can be found throughout the entire house at the same time and use the entire communication system of the building to move around. In such a situation, both you and your neighbors find themselves on an equal footing. What to do if you encounter such a problem?

When cockroaches appear in an apartment building, it is necessary to treat all common areas of the building with the help of SES. If you have a management company, you need to contact the control room and report the appearance of insects. Now even individual complaints can be effective, but it is still advisable to apply collectively. After receiving your application, the management company will check the house for the presence of arthropods and carry out all the necessary work to destroy them.

If there are no special conditions in your agreement with the management company, the treatment of the house will be carried out at the expense of utilities, that is, no additional contributions will be required from you.

The management company, if necessary, carries out disinfestation only in the common areas of the house - basements, elevator shafts, attics, garbage collection chambers, staircases, entrances, etc. In apartments, pest control for cockroaches is always organized and paid for by the homeowners.

Forewarned is forearmed. What to do to prevent cockroaches from infesting

Recommended measures to prevent re-infection of an apartment:

• check window blocks, door frames, there may be narrow gaps through which insects crawl;
• install a fine mesh mesh over the ventilation hole;

use simple products (crayons, gel), they are applied in areas where the likelihood of cockroaches is higher; periodically use strong-smelling substances (essential oils, ammonia); fill cracks next to pipes, on the floor.

The powder will stop “uninvited guests”

Where do cockroaches come from?

Have you encountered cockroaches in your home? Yes No

If the appearance of pests on the site is not something surprising, then animals in the house are sometimes surprising. Moreover, when cockroaches enter the upper floors or commercial premises that are not associated with food.

Accidental hit

Cockroaches in the apartment.

Several individuals, eggs or young larvae may enter a home by accident. There are enough ways to appear:

• on the fur of pets that have returned from the street;
• in parcels that followed for a long time and changed several places and countries of deployment;
• from other people who came, arrived or handed over things, furniture, anything;
• when purchasing equipment that was used by people and was not completely cleaned or stored incorrectly.

From neighbors

Cockroaches are actively exploring new territories.

Often cockroaches are simply looking for new places to live and moving away from their neighbors. This may be due to the fact that they have already proliferated enough and are looking for new territories. But sometimes neighbors who have animals begin to actively fight them, and they are simply looking for a safe place.

Those who live near food stores, warehouses, public catering establishments and all places where pests often live also suffer from such neighbors. Often, managers do not pay attention to the infection at first, but begin to fight at the stages of mass infection.

From the cellar or sewer

Cockroaches move along communications.

Residents of the first floors know firsthand what cellar cockroaches are. Often they get to the second and third. Some types of cockroaches actively move from sewers and garbage disposals. There is plenty of space for them, plenty of food and water.

And it won’t be difficult for them to get into the apartment itself. They are nimble, lively, fast, and easily move into the smallest crevices.

When changing your place of residence

When people move on their own, they often take their animals with them. Even a small clutch of eggs, an ootheca that moves on things, will be a threat to the future of the new home.

They often live in boxes that sit for a long time, on bookshelves and in shoes. Even in bags, they may not be detected for a long time, and then get out.

On one's own

Cockroaches are often domesticated on their own.

Often cockroaches enter people's homes because they want to. Most of them cannot fly, but they climb through ventilation, open doors and nets.

The thing is that although they are one of the most unpretentious and well-adapted creatures, they need enough water and a place to lay their offspring. And in a person’s home there are the best conditions for this.

Reproduction as the basis of survivability

Cockroaches reproduce at high speed, and this is the basis of their survivability in such extreme conditions as human homes, where people constantly fight with them. The ability to reproduce quickly is based on a whole complex of adaptive reactions of these insects.

1. A female cockroach, once fertilized, then no longer needs the services of a male. Throughout her life she constantly lays eggs. And the better the food in the house, the faster the cockroaches appear. This ability to constantly reproduce after fertilization is characteristic of many insects. For example, a female ant, once fertilized, establishes an anthill and lays eggs throughout her life, maintaining the number of workers in the anthill. When cockroaches settle, reproduction plays a major role for them in establishing themselves in a new territory. The fact is that one pregnant cockroach that comes into an apartment can become the founder of an entire population of these insects.

2. These seemingly primitive insects have pronounced sexual selection. Cockroaches not only engage in fights over females, but also court them beautifully. For example, the large and winged Mexican cockroaches do not fly, but dance, using their wings in the same way as a peacock uses its tail. Prussians are not so lyrical, but sexual selection is also characteristic of them. Their sexual relations are not promiscuous

Females choose males, who try in every possible way to attract the attention of future mothers. It is sexual selection that makes these insects such tenacious invaders of our homes.

3. These small creatures are characterized by caring for their offspring. This does not mean that little cockroaches spend their entire childhood under the vigilant supervision of their mothers and fathers. Caring begins with the packaging of the eggs and where they are placed.

Have you ever noticed what cockroach eggs look like? They are densely packed, in several rows, in a special chitinous case called ootheca. In this case, the space between the eggs is filled with frozen foamy protein material

Thanks to this packaging, each cub is reliably protected from desiccation, low temperatures and even from exposure to pesticides.

Caring for the offspring is also manifested in how long the females carry the ootheca. In some species, the ootheca is located at the end of the abdomen until the time comes for the small cockroaches to hatch. The Prussians have this strategy. Other species shed their ootheca long before the time comes for new offspring to be born. This is what black cockroaches usually do.

4. Caring for offspring is also reflected in where cockroaches lay eggs. Each newly hatched cockroach should be somewhere warm and humid enough. Moreover, cockroach larvae must immediately have access to food and water. This means that caring mothers give birth, that is, they deposit their oothecae, primarily in the kitchen.

So, no matter how many cockroaches initially come to you, they will soon be found in the kitchen, in the bathroom, under the baseboards and - get ready for this - in the computer, scanner, etc.

Aerosols for cockroaches

If folk remedies are powerless, use special medications.

One of the most popular forms of release is aerosols. The most famous means of fighting insects is Dichlorvos. However, its disadvantage is that it has a very strong odor. Modern products do not have such a pronounced aroma or may even have a rather subtle and pleasant smell. Before treating a room with any aerosol, you must remove all indoor plants and pets, and after spraying, close the door and cover the gap between the door leaf and the floor with a cloth. After a day, the room can be opened. After this, be sure to carry out wet cleaning. Effective aerosols are:

• "Raptor";
• "Dichlorvos";
• "Regent";
• "Raid"
• "Combat"
• "Get"

How to get rid of cockroaches: folk remedies

If cockroaches do settle in your home, you should under no circumstances let the situation take its course. These insects will quickly spread not only throughout the apartment, but throughout the entire house. Meanwhile, mold, pathogenic bacteria and viruses accumulate on their paws. They can cause allergies and lead to asthma. In addition, there are many cases where cockroaches got into the ears.

Photo: Pixabay

Since these insects quickly adapt to toxic substances, specialists are forced to constantly develop new ways to combat them. First, you should try folk remedies - they are more gentle compared to chemicals and can be used in apartments with pets. Many of them are no less effective than modern insecticides. The only downside is that you will have to wait longer for results.

Favorable environment for reproduction

Cockroaches can get anywhere. They will not reproduce in unsuitable conditions. Reasons for the increase in population in the apartment:

Water in accessible places. They extract the main source of life activity with enviable tenacity. Provided there are no leaking taps or puddles in the bathroom or sink, they will find moisture in flower pots. It is recommended to water indoor plants early in the morning, when insects are hidden from view.

• Uncleaned power sources. These insects eat whatever they can find (organic). They will reach into the bread bin, trash cans, find husks and pieces of paper, not to mention food left on tables and a dirty stove.
• Indoor air temperature. A person cannot live in the cold. He heats his room. Insects also love warmth.

If the first and second points can be observed, then in the third a person is powerless. To freeze an insect out means to freeze yourself out. All that remains is to look for them and apply methods to combat them.

How to fight on your own

Cockroaches can sometimes be destroyed on your own. To do this, use gels, aerosols, trap tablets and various types of poison that dissolve in water.

Gels contain poison, bait and a fatty substance that gives the product a liquid state and prevents it from drying out. Some gels have ingredients added that cause rejection in pets.

Cockroaches go to the bait, eat the insecticidal gel and carry the poison away on their paws. When an infected cockroach dies, others eat it. This is how the poison spreads throughout the colony. Cockroaches begin to die within 1-2 days after treating the apartment with gel. Manufacturers say that in general the gels last up to two months.

If one gel doesn't work, you can try another. But you need to look at the composition so that the main active ingredient does not match. This may be chlorpyrifos, hydramethylnon, fipronil, lambda-cyhalothrin and others. Sometimes there are two or even three insecticides in the gel.

The gel is considered to have helped if, two months after it has stopped working, cockroaches no longer appear.

A simple and cheap remedy for cockroaches is a gel that is applied to baseboards. These are offers on Yandex Market

Boric acid may also work. It is relatively safe for humans, but for insects it is a strong poison. If a cockroach eats it, it becomes paralyzed and then suffocates.

There are two options for using boric acid:

1. Use it on baseboards, edges of ventilation shafts, pipe joints and any other surfaces where cockroaches can run. This is ineffective, since boric acid itself is tasteless, and there is little chance that cockroaches will eat it just like that.
2. Mix 50 grams of boric acid with raw yolk and make balls. Place them as bait in cockroach habitats. You can also add flour, powdered sugar, vanillin and starch. Cockroaches react to smell: the more aromatic the ball is, the more likely the insects will eat it.

Before using any poison, you need to clean the room: cockroaches should not have a choice of what to eat today.

Boric acid is inexpensive and can be found in any pharmacy. These are the offers on "Apteka-ru"