Whilst warm temperatures and humid conditions help the cockroach to rapidly increase and flourish, have you ever wondered where they go to during the winter months when sightings are less?
The cockroach is a resilient creature which requires humidity to survive. However they have found ways to avoid exposure to the cold months with the help of our nice warm homes. Mass amounts of cockroaches will die off during the autumn however, depending on the species, others will remain active during the entire winter.
The German brown cockroach is a cockroach which thrives in human habitations. They enjoy living in our homes which provide year round heat. Therefore the German cockroach can be active all year particularly if our homes remain heated to above 50 degrees during the winter months. German cockroaches will therefore continue to nest and breed in the interior of walls and other hiding places. They live for around 14 to 28 weeks and during the winter months their life cycle simply slows down. So this particular cockroach will continue to reproduce and develop throughout the year regardless of the seasons if our homes remain warm.
The American cockroach prefers to live and reproduce in damp areas with lots of organic matter. They are most active at night and enjoy living in humidity and high temperatures, thriving in city sewers. They are sometimes referred to as a sewer roach. However as temperatures start to fall and dip below 50 degrees at night, the American cockroach becomes dormant and some will die off.
Brown Banded Cockroaches
The Brown Banded cockroaches enjoy living in human habitations. They have a white band on their brown bodies so are easily identifiable. This cockroach, like the German cockroach, has no need to hibernate whilst it enjoys our all-year-round heated homes. Therefore while it remains indoors in our warm homes, it remains active. It the Brown Banded cockroach is exposed to a sudden and extreme drop in temperature (sub-freezing) it will become dormant and die within a week of exposure.
The Oriental cockroach is a species which also enjoys living in human habitations but will often venture outside to source food. Most of the adults of these species die off in the late summer but the young of that generation will remain active. In fact the Oriental Cockroach is a cockroach species which can tolerate lower temperatures and they use the colder months to reproduce. They will nest in walls for protection and warmth.