What Do Cockroach Eggs Look Like and How to Get Rid of Them?

Seeing cockroach eggs can signal an active infestation that can escalate quickly. Female roaches produce multiple egg cases, called oothecae, which contain up to 50 eggs. Cockroach control requires an understanding of their appearance, lifecycle, and preferred hiding spots. Eggs of cockroaches are often hidden in warm, dark crevices, which makes them difficult to detect early on. Keeping these eggs from hatching requires a combination of sanitation, exclusion, and targeted treatment.

Learn ways to identify and eliminate cockroach eggs before they hatch in this guide. Don’t go into panic mode, there are ways to stop a roach infestation and baby cockroaches.

What Do Cockroach Eggs Look Like?

What is ootheca and how many eggs does one have?

You may be wondering what exactly is an “ootheca”? Basically, it’s a sack-like thing containing eggs and it looks disturbing like everything else bug related, you can see its physical description in the list below. You can read about the number of eggs that a single ootheca contains in the “How many eggs do the bugs lay?” part of the article.

Physical characteristics of the ootheca:

• Colour: from white to dark brown depending on the roach species and development stage
• Size: < 1 cm
• Shape: resembles a flower seed or a bean
• Location: ootheca is hard to see, because of its size and location. The lady cockroach has a tendency to hide her offspring in small holes and cracks.

Is it a cockroach egg or rodent droppings?

Many people mistake the bug’s eggs for mice or rat dropping. The reasoning here is that indeed they are quite similar in shape, size, and colour. To make sure what kind of pest you are dealing with, carefully inspect the specimen. Rodent droppings are oval, textured and soft, while ootheca looks crunchy and is clear-cut in shape. If you decide to touch them, make sure to wear protective gloves. Both droppings and ootheca can be dangerous to your health.

Where Do Cockroaches Lay Their Eggs?

Most kinds of cockroaches prefer a moist, warm environment near food and water. That would mean that you are more likely to find roaches and their babies in your kitchen and bathroom. Cockroach eggs are often found in warm, dark, and humid locations, such as behind appliances, inside cabinets, and under sinks. You can check for roach eggs in:

• Inside cracks and crevices
• Drawers and kitchen cabinets
• Under furniture and carpets
• In bathroom cabinets
• Plumbing cabinets
• Water heater closets
• Any room that is regularly damp such as your basement or laundry room.

Read more: Where do Cockroaches Live?

Facts About Cockroach Eggs

Do all cockroaches lay eggs? Which ones do?

Not all roach types lay eggs. The ones that do are the German ones, the Oriental, Brown-banded and American cockroaches. Those types of bugs’ hatching systems are based on the “oviparous” method, which means that their young grow in eggs outside their mother’s bodies and they don’t need their mother around in order to hatch. Other cockroaches are “ovoviviparous”, which is exactly the opposite of “oviparous” – the eggs stay inside the mother where they receive the needed moisture. Today we are going to discuss the first sort.

How many eggs do cockroaches lay?

Each cockroach species has its own ootheca, which is a protective covering that differs in colour and size.

• German cockroach eggs: Light brown ootheca, about 7-9 mm long, containing up to 50 eggs.
• American cockroach eggs: Dark brown ootheca, about 8 mm long, containing around 15 eggs.
• Oriental cockroach eggs: Reddish-brown to dark brown ootheca, about 10 mm long, holding around 16 eggs.
• Brown-banded cockroach eggs: Reddish-brown ootheca, about 5 mm long, containing up to 18 eggs.

Are cockroach eggs harmful?

Cockroaches are known to carry pathogens due to the fact that they are not the “cleanest” bug you can meet. If you have any type of allergies, the roaches can trigger them. Their ootheca has the same qualities. Symptoms of allergies caused by the bugs and their eggs are coughing, nasal congestion, skin rashes, wheezing, ear infections and sinus infections.

Do roach eggs stick to surfaces?

The roaches ootheca isn’t sticky and won’t get attached to your clothes, walls or any type of surface. That makes them quite easy to clean, but the downside is that you are going to have a difficult time finding them in the first place. Cockroaches prefer to store their future children in warm, moist and dark places, such as cracks and small holes, generally tough to find spots.

While cockroaches prefer dark, humid environments close to food and water sources, they can sometimes hide in mattresses, especially if food crumbs or moisture are present. However, mattresses are not their primary choice for laying eggs.

How To Dispose Of Cockroach Eggs Safely?

To successfully get rid of the eggs, you need to get them as far away from your property as you can. Try to vacuum or carefully collect them. Once you have gathered them all, take the eggs outside and throw them in the garbage can. Make sure that the disposal area is far from your house because if the ootheca hatches, the new cockroaches may find their way back.

How to Kill Cockroach Eggs Effectively

The first task is to find the eggs of course. Methods like spraying, freezing and using a vacuum do actually kill the ootheca but won’t do you much good in a full-on infestation situation because as we mentioned earlier, roaches like to hide their eggs well.

• Baking soda and sugar trap – Mix equal parts baking soda and sugar to create a lethal bait that disrupts the roach’s digestive system.
• Boric acid – Lightly dust areas where cockroach eggs are found. Boric acid dehydrates and kills both eggs and nymphs upon contact.
• Heat treatment – Cockroach eggs cannot survive extreme heat. Steam cleaning or exposing infested items to high temperatures (above 50°C) effectively kills them.

A far more efficient way to get rid of the offspring is to apply an insect growth regulator in the locations in which you have spotted cockroach activity or just to hire a cockroach exterminator that can solve the problem once and for all.

How to Stop Cockroaches from Laying Eggs

Preventing cockroach infestations starts with stopping them from reproducing. To prevent cockroaches from lying eggs:

• Maintain cleanliness and wipe down kitchen surfaces and floors regularly;
• Store food in airtight containers and clean crumbs and spills immediately;
• Fix leaking pipes and faucets, and improve ventilation in damp areas;
• Declutter storage areas to remove hiding spots and avoid stacking cardboard boxes, which cockroaches use as shelter;

Professional Cockroach Egg Removal Services

Cockroach eggs are a sign of an ongoing infestation and require immediate action. Professional roach extermination services provide reliable long-term solutions. Fumigation is effective for severe infestations. Additionally, roach baiting systems targets cockroach colonies and disrupts reproduction.