Why do I see dead roaches after spraying?

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asked Nov 19, 2023 in Other-Home/Garden by ChekMedia (2,480 points)
Why do I see dead roaches after spraying?

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answered Sep 21 by Jamie (60,350 points)
Seeing dead roaches after spraying is a good thing and means that the roach spray is working to kill off the roaches.

It's also normal for the roaches to not die right away with some roach sprays and it can take awhile for them to die off.

In some cases you may see more roaches come out when you spray for roaches as other roaches may try to eat the dead roaches.

The reason killing a cockroach attracts more is because cockroaches release a substance called oleic acid when squished or crushed and it leads to more cockroaches as they are attracted to that scent.

Cockroaches will eat each other if there is not enough food available for them to eat.

The white stuff inside a cockroach is fat bodies which is similar to the fat stored in humans.

The fat bodies in the cockroach allow the cockroach to store energy after their nutrients have been broken down.

The reason you shouldn't squish a cockroach is because of disease transmission and the scent the squished cockroach can release which leads to other cockroaches seeking out the scent.

Cockroaches also are know carries of several pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli that can contaminate surfaces they touch and squishing the cockroach can spread the pathogens to the surfaces and increase the risk of transmitting those diseases to humans.

Killing a cockroach does attract more cockroaches if you kill the cockroach with force such as by squishing the cockroach because when you squish the cockroach it releases a pheromone which is a smell that the other cockroaches can detect.

The other roaches pick up the smell of the pheromones and reach the food source.

The male roaches discharge pheromones during the mating season to attract females.

So, when you kill a roach by crushing it under your shoes, it's glands bust and all the guts, fats, and, most importantly, the pheromones splatter out.

Smells that keep roaches away include bleach, Lysol and peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oil.

Cockroaches are not afraid of much but if they see humans they will try to scurry away or if they see an animal they will usually scurry away too.

Contrary to popular belief, cockroaches are not afraid of light.

Although most species do prefer darkness, some are actually attracted to light and can be found gathering near windows or on television screens at night.

However, this reaction is much more influenced by their fear of humans than their distaste for light.

Peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oil are essential oils that effectively keep cockroaches at bay.

Additionally, these insects hate the smell of crushed bay leaves and steer clear of coffee grounds.

The best way to get rid of roaches overnight is to set off roach foggers in the home and then leave the home for the night.

The roach fogger will kill the roaches overnight while you're away from your home and then when you return the  next day you can clean the dead roaches up.

You can also place out sticky traps to catch and kill roaches and also use duct tape to make sticky traps or use some Borax which kills roaches.

Borax is a readily-available laundry product that's excellent for killing roaches.

For best results, combine equal parts borax and white table sugar.

Dust the mixture any place you've seen roach activity.

When the roaches consume the borax, it will dehydrate them and kill them rapidly.   

You can also hire an exterminator to get rid of the roaches for you too.

To find a cockroach nest look behind things in your home such as behind refrigerators, in kitchen cabinets, crawl spaces, in corners and other compact places.

The common telltale signs of a cockroach nest include mounds of cast skins, egg cases, dark spots or smears and live or dead cockroaches.

Egg cases of cockroaches can even be found on the underside of your furniture.

The cleaner that cockroaches hate the most is bleach as well as Lysol cleaner.

The smell of the Lysol and Bleach will repel and keep cockroaches away and also keep your home clean and disinfected with prevents roaches in your home.

For roach deterrents, cockroaches dislike the smell of cinnamon, bay leaves, garlic, peppermint, and coffee grounds.

If you want a strong-smelling disinfectant, choose vinegar or bleach.

The best scent-based deterrents are essential oils, such as eucalyptus or tea tree oil.

Roaches are attracted to urine as they like the smell and also the fact that urine contains water which the roaches are also attracted too.

Cockroaches are attracted to anything that they can feed on.

Urine has a strong, pungent smell, and about 91 to 96 percent is water, which can attract cockroaches and other pests.

They can attract germs through urine and later contaminate your food.

Vinegar can attract roaches but the vinegar does not actually kill the roaches or repel the roaches.

Using vinegar can keep your home clean though to prevent roaches.

The color of light that roaches hate the most is red light.

Although roaches hate other light colors which include yellow light, green light, blue light and sometimes white light.

To lure or get a cockroach out of hiding and catch then take some sticky traps and place some food onto the sticky traps.

The cockroaches will then come out of hiding and walk onto the sticky trap and get stuck.

Give the roach what it wants – food and moisture.

Put some roach bait on the food or place the food on a sticky cockroach paper.

Spread a mixture of minced onion and boric dust.

Spread a mixture of sugar and borax.

Cockroaches can and do sometimes crawl on you at night and may even crawl in your ear.

Also cockroaches like to go around during the night, which coincidentally is when people sleep.

So by virtue of just lying there motionless, we become likely victims.

Cockroaches also like small, warm, humid places.

The problem is that once the roach crawls inside the ear, it's likely to get stuck.

Cockroaches do die in freezing temperatures.

Cockroaches can only survive temperatures above 15 F degrees before they die after being exposed to the 15 F or 0 F degrees for a prolonged period of time.

If you've tried other methods and still have a roach infestation then moving somewhere else for the entire winter and shutting the heat off to the home can kill the roaches.

If you have a house that has cockroaches in it you can shut the heat off and also the water and then allow the house to remain at freezing temperatures for a few months.

It takes prolonged cold temperatures to kill the cockroaches but it can work.

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