Here’s hoping that this can alleviate your stress about roaches appearing in your home- it’s not about how clean you keep your castle. Roaches can get into the cleanest living spaces, because in most situations we unknowingly bring them in. One may have burrowed into a paper grocery bag or a curbside furniture-find, or jumped into your briefcase or clothing at work. Most cockroach infestations begin because they are brought into your residence or business. Still, that’s not to say that they don’t venture in from an adjoining building, from the neighbors house, through old sewer drains, through cracks under the door, along wire and pipe entries, or a number of other ways. But for the most part, they generally hitch a ride on some person or thing. Some specific examples:
For the most part, the single large roaches that people see in and around buildings, often referred to as “water bugs”, are oriental roaches that are usually easy to control with one or two applications of insecticide, and some exclusion measures such as tightening up and sealing areas around doors and putting sink stoppers in drains. These are most often adults that have simply found their way in from the outside, and are not signs of established colonies on the inside. On the other hand, multiple sightings of any roaches, especially German roaches, at all growth stages including nymphs is the sign of an infestation of established colonies that are reproducing. If left unattended, they can reproduce at an alarming rate.
Roaches are so adept at hiding for survival, their eggs can be carried into your house without you knowing it. Since roaches are nocturnal, you may not realize you’ve helped them start a family in your living space until there’s way more than enough of them to notice.