In northern climates the onset of winter often brings wistful sadness for the days of summer. But there are positive things to remember when the leaves turn to gold and fall in the gutters. The flies, mosquitoes, and wood ticks of summer are dead. But when it comes to cockroaches, the winter blues are amplified as the disease spreading vermin move indoors.
Cockroaches breed and proliferate in the summer months when temperatures are high and humid conditions prevail. In autumn, there is a massive roach die off among some species as temperatures dip below 50°F. For example, most wood roach adults die and the nymphs enter a state of dormancy in the fall. When temperatures rise again in spring, the nymphs mature into adults, and immediately begin breeding to continue their life cycle.
The peskiest, and most despised roaches, have other tricks up their wings. German cockroaches, which are about half-inch in length, proliferate within the interior walls of apartments and other buildings where it is warmer than 50°. They can live the entire winter reproducing and developing in the rafters and sheet rock of your home.
As the hardiest of roaches, Oriental cockroaches have similar winter game plans. These pests need water to survive and so they overwinter winter in sewers, floor drains, crawl spaces, and in basements.
The hated American roach cannot survive when temperatures dip to 15°F. The bugs do overwinter, however, by hibernating in wood piles or decaying trees. They will also move indoors when chilly winds blow.
Roaches have been around for 300 million years, so a little cold snap is not going to kill them off. The bugs can dramatically slow their respiration when it’s freezing, going into a temporary coma. And if you live in Southern California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, or any other sunshine state, you can forget about Mother Nature killing your roaches. You need to place some cockroach bait stations around your home whatever the weather for proper prevention.
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