At What Time Of Year Do Foul-Smelling Oriental Cockroaches Invade Homes In Large Numbers?

While Oriental cockroaches primarily live outside, they will enter homes when the weather outside becomes inhospitable to their survival or their population outside gets so large that the pests run out of room in their outdoor harborage sites. However, there is one time of the year that you are likely to experience an influx of invading Oriental cockroaches in your home, and that is during the fall season.

Like the American cockroach, the Oriental cockroach is large in size at 1 ¼ inches, but is extremely dark in color, appearing to be almost black, and shiny. Thankfully, they are rather sluggish when they move and are unable to climb vertical surfaces like the more common indoor cockroach pest, the German cockroach. Oriental cockroaches have a uniquely unpleasant odor caused by the chemicals they secrete to communicate with each other. This notoriously musty odor is a dead giveaway that a home is infested with Oriental cockroaches. The smell is especially noticeable when larger populations of the pests are in residence.

Oriental cockroaches can live both outdoors and indoors, and are mostly found in areas that are dark, damp, and cool. As long as they can find an area with enough moisture, they can easily survive and breed successfully inside a home. Because of this, they are usually found on the lowest floor of a building, such as in cellars, basements, crawlspaces, and garages. The influx of Oriental cockroaches in the fall is due to the seasonal cycle, during which only one generation of cockroaches is produced during the same time period every year. It is around midsummer when the largest number of adults are present and fully grown, ready to mate to produce the year’s new generation of cockroaches. Most of these adult cockroaches die by late summer, with nymphs taking their place and making up most of the population. When the weather turns cold in the fall, these nymphs usually migrate indoors, causing an influx of Oriental cockroach infestations.

Do you find more Oriental cockroaches in your home during the fall?