Key takeaways
- Odours: Look out for any unusual musty or mildewy smells similar to a pet’s “frito feet,” which can signal a cockroach presence.
- Smears and Stains: Watch out for mysterious brown stains or dark smears, especially in high-moisture areas of your home, which may be cockroach droppings.
- Solid Droppings: You might spot small, dark droppings that resemble coffee grounds or black pepper, often mistaken for mouse droppings.
- Shedded Skin: Discovering shed exoskeletons near nesting areas suggests an ongoing infestation, as cockroaches moult.
- Cockroach Eggs: Small, oval-shaped egg cases, or oothecae, often in hidden or undisturbed spots may indicate a thriving cockroach population.
- Damage from Chewing: Notice chew marks on food packaging, cardboard, and other materials as cockroaches search for food.
- Nesting Areas: Identify protective spaces, often behind appliances or furniture, which make good nests for cockroaches.
- Cockroach Sightings: Seeing a few cockroaches around can often mean there’s a larger infestation, especially if accompanied by signs like odour and droppings.
These small, beetle- or ant-like insects are more likely to leave signs of their presence rather than being seen in the flesh themselves. With six legs, two antennae, and three body parts, showing up in a range of colours, and with wings, too, it’s not surprising that people don’t always recognise a cockroach when they see one. Instead, we have to rely on signs of cockroach infestation. So, what are the most common signs of cockroach infestation in your Sydney home? Let’s find out more.
Odours
One of the first subtle signs of cockroach infestation might be an odour around your North Shore home. After all, cockroaches use scent to communicate with each other. This is a smell we can notice, even if it may be subtle at first. You might mistake the smell of cockroaches as a dog’s “frito feet”, for example. However, as time passes, this scent typically evolves into a more pungent, musty, or mildewy odour, even becoming oily with extreme infestations. Whether subtle or musty, look out for other signs to accompany the odour.
Smears and stains
If you’ve noticed a strange new scent that you can’t attribute to anything else, the next sign to watch out for is mysterious brown stains in your Northern Beaches home. In high-moisture rooms, these may appear as dark smears. You could mistake these marks for food stains or rust, but if these liquified droppings appear on your skirting boards or walls, accompanied by the scent we mentioned, there’s no mistaking it – you most likely have a cockroach infestation.
Solid droppings
In less humid areas of your Sydney home, this cockroach excrement will show up as small droppings, which are, again, hard to spot. You could mistake signs of cockroach infestation droppings for coffee grounds or black pepper, although some roach droppings instead look more cylindrical. People sometimes mistake cockroach droppings for mouse droppings, but these instead look more like grains of rice.
Shedded skin
Droppings aren’t the only debris cockroaches might leave in your North Shore home. Cockroaches are insects that moult, shedding their nymphal skin anywhere from 5 to 8 times as they grow into their adult form. You typically find these discarded exoskeleton signs of cockroach infestation near the place where they’re nesting. You could easily mistake this shed exoskeleton for dead cockroaches, but they’re simply just empty shells.
Cockroach eggs
When cockroaches are thriving inside your Northern Beaches home, you’ll find small, oval-shaped capsules called oothecae, containing egg clusters of up to 50. Cockroaches prefer undisturbed, safe areas, such as along your skirting boards, dark corners, behind furniture, or in other cracks and crevices.
Damage from chewing
Cockroaches aren’t fussy – a cockroach chooses a place with easily accessible food sources. So, you’ll most likely see chew marks on food boxes in your cupboard. However, signs of cockroach infestation could also appear on a variety of other materials, such as cardboard boxes, newspapers, and even your curtains.
Nesting areas
Unlike birds, mice, or ants, cockroaches don’t gather materials to make their nests. Instead, a cockroach nest is simply an area where many cockroaches gather together. So, a typical cockroach nest is a place where you see more and more cockroaches gathering. A protected space is typically found behind the fridge, oven, or other large appliances that are not often moved out. Even furniture, such as a sofa, or an underground area like your basement, is likely a possible cockroach nesting place.
How do you spot a cockroach nest? Usually, you see more and more cockroaches in one of these protected areas over time. You may also just find their shed exoskeletons or discarded egg cases. These egg cases can vary based on the specific cockroach species, but most are deep brown or red, with a smooth, shiny appearance, and typically under 10 mm. Capsules that appear to be split are already hatched, while large, plump-looking capsules could be about to hatch.
Cockroach sightings and typical cockroaches in Australia
Sometimes people see one or two cockroaches in their North Shore home and simply think that there’s no problem yet, that one or two cockroaches aren’t a big deal. If people haven’t seen a cockroach before, they also might mistake them for a more benign insect, like a beetle! And, of course, cockroaches are also good at hiding underneath furniture.
Unlike most beetles, cockroaches have large heads with comparatively shorter leg lengths. Beetles also don’t produce odours, chewing damage, or shed exoskeletons. So, if you see small insects with these accompanying signs, you’re most likely dealing with some type of cockroach.
There are five main common cockroaches in Australia. The smallest are brown-banded cockroaches and German cockroaches, measuring 11-16 mm. German cockroaches can be light brown or tan, with two dark brown lines running along the edge of their body. Oriental cockroaches are 20-25 mm, while the more common Australian and American cockroaches are from 23-35 mm, and up to 53 mm.
If you have a problem with cockroaches or any other type of insect and need natural pest control you can trust, contact Everest Pest Control. Our team of fully licensed professional pest exterminators will use safe, effective pest control methods to keep you, your family, and your pets safe at every step. You’re in safe hands with the proper pest control methods for every property and the most effective methods for every pest.