The high fertility of cockroaches is one of the main reasons for their high survival rate. A distinctive feature of the species is that a female can mate with a male only once, and then produce offspring several times during her life. At the same time, cockroach eggs are more difficult to destroy than adult ones. They are protected by the ootheca, a membrane that is resistant to chemicals and other external factors. The death of all insects does not guarantee complete ridding of the house from parasites. If among them there were females with ooteca, then a few days after treatment of the room, nymphs may hatch from them. One solution to the problem is to re-apply the insecticide after 10-14 days. In the article, we will look at the difference between an egg and an egg, how many embryos one female produces in a lifetime, and also how to rid your home of annoying parasites.
How to detect cockroach eggs in an apartment
Finding cockroach eggs is just as bad as finding adult cockroaches. Eggs could indicate the presence of adult cockroaches, or it could mean there are oothecae containing cockroach eggs hidden in your home that may hatch and you could be dealing with a real pest problem. Cockroach eggs do not need attention from the adults, they just need a warm, dark place where they will not be disturbed. There they can develop and hatch. Everyone needs to know how to detect cockroach eggs in an apartment, because their appearance is an important sign of a cockroach infestation that will put your entire family in danger.
Features of the appearance of larvae
Quite interesting is the fact that some pests demonstrate a certain maternal instinct towards their offspring. When cockroaches hatch from the eggs of a Madagascan representative, they crawl under the mother’s abdomen and remain under her direct protection for some time. The female hisses and makes threatening lunges when potential danger approaches. However, such care is only enough for 1 day.
Classic Prussians practically do not care for their young. The offspring simply stays near the female for a few more hours, after which they scatter to secluded corners.
One of the interesting exceptions remains the species of relict cockroaches. In their case, after the “birth” of young individuals, they are looked after and provided with food. Upon reaching a certain degree of maturity, new members of society take their assigned place in the hierarchy of the colony. In this case, it is somewhat reminiscent of a termite mound with different ranks and its own complex hierarchy.
About the reproduction of cockroaches
Do cockroaches lay eggs? Yes they do. In fact, they "lay" many eggs at the same time. Like many animals, the cockroach's reproduction depends on eggs from the female and sperm from the male. Typically the female releases pheromones to attract a male, and in some species males fight over available females. But what happens after a male deposits his sperm into a female varies from species to species.
After mating, female cockroaches lay their eggs in a secure oval capsule called an ootheca. When the eggs are almost ready to hatch, the mother of most species either drops it near a food source or uses oral secretions to stick it to a suitable surface.
Curious facts
Those who like to kill cockroaches in a sudden way should be aware of the extreme resistance of such insects to physical damage. Therefore, swatting it down is not enough; you also need to either grind it thoroughly, or sprinkle it with boric acid while still half-dead and release it to its relatives.
Interesting information: thanks to a specific gene, called “knockdown” by scientists, cockroaches can imitate their own death. Smelling the smell of poison, the insect loses consciousness, falls with its paws up and stops breathing.
After lying down for a certain period, he comes to his senses and calmly continues his sabotage activities.
https://protarakanov.ru/skolko-tarakanov-vyiluplyaetsya-iz-odnogo-yaytsa.html https://tripchik.ru/tarakany/yajca-tarakanov.html
Ootheca and cockroach eggs
Cockroaches produce an egg sac called an ootheca. The ootheca serves for protection. This is a layer of protein that hardens to become a protective cover for the young. The exact number depends on what species you are dealing with.
How many eggs does a female lay at a time?
The American cockroach lays about 16 pieces in one ooteca.
The oriental cockroach lays as much as its black counterpart.
Female red cockroaches lay up to 50 eggs in one capsule.
Brown banded cockroaches will produce between 10 and 18 on any given occasion.
Ootecae are very small: less than a centimeter in length. When they are first formed they may be white in color, but as they age they darken and harden. Many species of cockroaches produce dark brown or reddish-brown oothecae. Some of these egg shells have ridges. These are the oothecae produced by brown and German cockroaches. Other capsules are swollen and lack ridges. This is the offspring of American and Oriental cockroaches.
Insect egg sizes
The size and color of the eggs will help you determine what type of cockroaches you are dealing with in your home. All capsules with larval eggs basically have the same shape: elongated, reminiscent of tablets. Differences in color and size depending on the type of cockroach. To understand this issue, it is better to study it in the photo.
- Black cockroach - about 8 mm in length. The color is dark brown.
- Oriental cockroach - approximately 8 to 10 mm. Medium to dark reddish brown.
- German cockroach - approximately 6 to 9 mm. Usually shades of brown.
- Brown-striped cockroach - about 5 mm. Light brown with a little red.
Formation of new masonry
A cockroach can mate with a male only once during its entire life. She stores the resulting seed material and uses it for the rest of her life. The female lives from 5 to 7.5 months. Then she continues the process of reproduction on her own and is able to produce offspring 4 – 9 times. The eggs are formed in the abdomen, which also receives the “building material”: a sticky secretion. As the clutch forms, the ootheca grows in size and “extends” more and more beyond the female’s abdomen. Ultimately, the cockroach looks as if a short shiny yellow-brown block with rounded edges was stuck into the rear tip of the insect's abdomen.
Further, some differences are observed in oviparous species. Black cockroaches get rid of their burden immediately after the formation of a full clutch. For another two months, their offspring mature, being completely defenseless.
Reproduction
Interesting!
Prussians take advantage of this circumstance and eat eggs and newly hatched larvae.
The Prussians themselves behave differently. They have a better developed maternal instinct. The female cockroach runs around with the eggs until the clutch matures. The larvae hatch 30–80 days after the final formation of the capsule.
The rate of development of a new generation of insects depends on the ambient temperature. But the Prussians are also distinguished by a high reproduction rate. Their larval maturation time is 14 – 35 days. The optimal temperature for the development of larvae is +30°C. Air humidity is also important. Dry food is contraindicated for cockroaches.
How are they born?
The larval development phase ranges from 35 to 75 days. The cockroach prefers to breed where it is warm and humid. At temperatures close to zero, the development of the embryo stops. In this case, the appearance of offspring is postponed to a later date - when optimal conditions for full formation arise.
Embryos gradually increase in volume as they feed on all the necessary substances inside the egg. When the larva becomes uncomfortable, it makes a hole in the egg and, gnawing through the ootheca shell, finds itself outside. This birth technology is observed in females who separate the capsule. If the “incubator” matures inside the body of a pregnant individual, then the larvae independently leave the insect’s body.
The time period for the appearance of offspring varies from half an hour to 3-4 hours. At first, the insects are white and translucent. But over time, the outer cover of young cockroaches hardens and at the same time changes color to a dark color.
What do cockroach eggs look like?
In practice, you will never see this, because they are securely hidden in a capsule, from which a small cockroach will then emerge.
Cockroach eggs are a real mobile nursery
Prussians are the most common type of cockroaches. They are about a centimeter long and have a light brown capsule, about 3 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. Females of most other species briefly carry the newly extruded egg "case" for a short time, give birth to it, and then hide it or "glue it" in a hidden, protected location. The nymphs hatch a few weeks later. The mother of the red cockroaches, however, is very protective of her offspring, and carries an ootheca with eggs protruding from her abdomen for two to three weeks until all the babies hatch. She is viviparous.
The Prussian egg capsule has a series of indentations on each side. Each depression outlines an egg compartment inside, which develops into a developing nymph. Each capsule can contain from 30 to 48 developing nymphs. If you open the capsule, you will see 15-24 nymphs lined up in both the top and bottom half. Eventually, the fully developed nymphs open their protective cover and seek shelter in your kitchen!
How many eggs does a cockroach lay?
How long do cockroaches live? The lifespan of a cockroach is usually one year, and during the life of any female, she can produce 200 to 300 offspring or 6 generations per year. The number of eggs a single cockroach can produce will vary from species to species. Potentially, and under optimal conditions, a single female Goose and her offspring could produce 300,000 babies per year. This means that if you're not careful, a relatively small infestation can quickly develop into a much more serious problem that must be dealt with quickly.
How many cockroaches will hatch from one egg?
If you are trying to control cockroaches, you should also ask how to kill the parasite's offspring. Why? Because one “egg” can turn into 50 young cockroaches if you don’t stop them right away. Fear not, there is a proper way to deal with them to prevent them from hatching. It's important to know how to do it right so you don't waste all your efforts. Black and red members of the community should not continue to hatch.
Cockroach eggs can protect offspring from insecticides
Swellings with eggs cannot be removed with insecticides. When there is a massive cockroach infestation, you will see both hatched and unhatched egg capsules among the carcasses, shed skins, and other debris. The egg capsule before poisoning appears full and plump, while the hatch may appear split, bruised or wrinkled.
You can see why German cockroaches are so successful. They have more nymphs per egg than any other species, and the female gives birth to 4-8 clutches in her lifetime. The strong outer shell of the egg storage capsule is resistant to insecticides, so new whiskered insects can hatch within days or weeks of pest control. You should make sure that you or your pest control contractor schedules follow-up maintenance to kill any nymphs that appear during this time.
Preventive measures
As preventive measures against the spread of cockroaches in the home, it is recommended to use the following recommendations:
- Maintain perfect cleanliness in the kitchen and in the apartment as a whole. There should be no crumbs on the tables and floors, and greasy deposits on the walls. The trash can should be taken out in a timely manner, without putting it off until tomorrow.
Where to find cockroach eggs?
How and where to find these eggs? Where are these safe places? Finding eggs of the pest is not easy: they do not move and do not come out at night, like adult parasites. You cannot predict their behavior and you cannot kill them by squashing them.
To be honest, it is impossible to determine the exact location. Do you know what happens in their mind when they decide and determine that they have found the safest place? We can only make some assumptions.
We already know where they like to hide and what kind of environment they prefer. We also know about common places where we can find them hiding. We also know about common places where a lot of eggs are often found. Using these bits of information increases the chances of our efforts.
These pests usually like to hide in dark, nooks and crannies, so common places like closets and behind baseboards (where the wall meets the floor) are good places for them to hide their egg sacs.
The "safe areas" in which cockroaches prefer to lay eggs are the same for all species.
There are several standard places and their characteristics:
- Isolated
- Dark
- Quiet
- With high humidity environment
- Closed from most predators, including humans and pets
These characteristics of the places where the masonry is hidden will somewhat narrow your search.
You must do a thorough search to find the future descendants of your enemy in the house.
Some of the most common places to find them include:
- in the cracks and crevices
- in the hole around the pipes
- within the walls
- in closets
- behind the instruments
- under the baseboard
- in electronics
- in furniture
- in the bathrooms
- in technology
- in paper (newspapers, books, magazines)
- in closets
- in the basket
- on the ceilings
- in the bathrooms
If you happen to see a female carrying her egg sac, killing her could end her contribution to the population - if you pull out the ootheca and throw it away. Leaving a dead body on the floor or counter is the worst thing you can do. You might as well hang a sign above your door that says, “Cockroaches Welcome!”
How to prevent pests from breeding
How to destroy cockroaches and their eggs? And again, we first need to understand what species we are dealing with. To identify them quickly, the best way to catch them for identification is with a bunch of sticky traps. Use odorless sticky traps and place them where you frequently see pests. Once you've caught a few, you can identify them.
The right way to deal with eggs: insect growth regulators.
They are effective in preventing hatching. If you use the right substances, they will become sterile. This means that the cockroaches will not hatch to repeat the entire reproduction cycle again.
Alternatively, you can use a contact pesticide.
