Cockroach eggs are often hidden in your walls, plus the roaches inside can’t be killed by pesticides or natural methods until they hatch. To kill all the cockroach eggs in your home, begin by using an Insect Growth Regulator. This will prevent the roaches in your home from laying more eggs. Then, use gel bait and poison traps to kill the adult roaches and hatchlings. This will end the entire roach infestation. If you see any roach egg cases (called oothecae), crush them to kill the baby roaches before they hatch. If you are still battling roaches after following these steps, contact a professional exterminator to help destroy the infestation.
What Do Cockroach Eggs Look Like?
Cockroach egg cases are pill-shaped and measure 5–10 millimeters long. Coloration of the egg cases ranges from dark brown to tan. The cases have a hard exterior and often have a ridge down one side. Depending on the species, the egg case (also called an ootheca) can vary in size and color. If you spot an egg case similar to this description, you have most likely found cockroach eggs.
- Roach eggs are pill-shaped cases 5–10 millimeters long.
- Cockroach eggs can be brown, reddish brown, or tan.
- American cockroach eggs have a distinctive ridge on one side.
- A single roach egg can hatch 12–48 baby roaches.
- Roaches often hide their eggs in dark places, under piles of material, or inside walls.
Cockroaches like to lay their eggs in hard-to-find places. Plus, female cockroaches use their saliva to glue the eggs into hidden crevices. So, finding and crushing all the eggs is not a viable extermination tactic. Even worse, pesticides cannot penetrate the egg case to kill the baby roaches inside. Roach eggs can be found in the dark corners of cupboards, underneath paper or boxes, and in the dark recesses of closets. In many cases, cockroaches crawl beneath baseboards and lay their eggs inside of walls.
5 Steps to Kill all the Cockroach Eggs in Your Home
To get rid of cockroach eggs, it’s essential to prevent the adult roaches from laying more eggs as you wipe out the roach population. This is truly the only solution to a roach infestation. Here’s the best way to get the job done:
Use Insect Growth Regulator
Begin by using an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) to prevent cockroaches from laying more eggs in your home. Use a can of aerosol Insect Growth Regulator to spray along the baseboards in your home. Then, treat your kitchen and bathroom cabinets. To do this, place a “point source” Insect Growth Regulator bait in each cabinet. This will expose the roaches to the growth regulator, which will stop all egg-laying activity. Repeat the spray application once weekly for 1–2 months.
- Spray this aerosol Insect Growth Regulator along all the baseboards in your home.
- Place one of these growth-regulating baits in each kitchen and bathroom cabinet.
- Respray the baseboards once weekly for 1–2 months.
- Insect Growth Regulator will prevent the roaches in your home from laying any new eggs.
Insect Growth Regulator interrupts the reproductive processes of insects, making it impossible for them to lay eggs. Since roaches travel along baseboards and commonly search for food and water in bathrooms and kitchens, this application will attack all the roaches in your home. This will halt their growth and prevent the roaches from reproducing.
Attack with Roach-Killing Gel
Insect Growth Regulator alone isn’t enough to get rid of roaches. You have to attack the adult cockroaches so they won’t survive to reproduce. To do this in your home, use an odorless gel-based bait. Dab spots of the gel around baseboards, crevices where roaches hide, as well as the corners of kitchen counters and cabinets. Roaches will be drawn to the gel, eat it, and die. Apply more gel bait weekly for 1–2 months.
- Use this roach-killing gel to kill adult and juvenile roaches.
- Dab the gel bait onto surfaces under sinks, in cabinets, and along baseboards.
- Apply fresh roach-killing gel weekly for 1–2 months.
- You must use Insect Growth Regulator and gel bait together to kill all roaches and prevent more roach eggs.
It’s essential to use both the Insect Growth Regulator and gel baits together. This way, the roaches can’t lay eggs while you poison them. If you don’t use the growth regulator, the roaches will lay eggs and your roach problem will resume later, even if you kill all the adults with roach bombs and gel baits.
Use Roach Baits
In addition to roach-killing gel, place baited roach poison stations in your cupboards and in the corners of rooms. Poison bait stations will attract juvenile and adult cockroaches to feed. It’s good to use both gel and bait, since some species of roaches may be more attracted to one poison than the other. Since most bait stations remain useful for up to three months, you do not have to worry about replacing them frequently.
- Double down on your roach-killing plan by placing these roach-killing baits in cupboards, under sinks, and in room corners.
- Roach baits work to kill roaches for up to 3 months.
- Using multiple types of poison gives you more chances to kill roaches—American cockroaches may be attracted to different poisons than German cockroaches.
- Roach-killing gels and bait stations are much safer and easier to use than roach bombs.
When placing your bait stations and roach-killing gel, keep them out of reach of pets and small children. Avoid applying Insect Growth Regulator, poison gel, or roach-killing baits directly onto food preparation surfaces or near eating utensils. However, it’s fine to put a poison bait station in the back of your cupboard.
Crush Egg Cases
Whenever you see a roach egg case in your home, crush it and throw away the remains. If the case has not yet hatched, crushing it will kill any roaches inside. So, it’s always a good idea to destroy the eggs where you find them. Do not expect to find all the eggs yourself—roaches can hide their eggs in walls, fabric, paper, cardboard, or wood.
- Crush any roach eggs that you find.
- Roach eggs are extremely difficult to find.
- Pesticides and roach bombs will not kill the eggs.
- Repeated use of IGR and roach baits will end a roach infestation in 1–2 months.
Unfortunately, sprays and roach bombs do not kill roach eggs. Roach bombing a home will kill the adult roaches, but then the eggs will hatch and your infestation will resume. That’s why it’s essential to use Insect Growth Regulator to stop the roaches from laying new eggs. Then, use pesticide for 1–2 months to kill all the existing roaches as they hatch. This system will end an infestation and rid your home of roaches.
Call an Exterminator
If the roaches in your home somehow survive a 1–2-month IGR and poison bait treatment, then it’s time to call in a professional exterminator. Depending on the type of cockroach infesting your home, a professional exterminator may be able to use products and pesticides that are not available to consumers. They will be able to help kill cockroaches and destroy their egg capsules.
- If roaches are still infesting your home after following the previous steps, work with a professional exterminator to kill the roaches.
- Killing all the adult roaches and juveniles will prevent any future roach eggs in your home.
- Use an exterminator with good reviews and proof of results.
Choose a well-reviewed and reputable exterminator. Then, work with them to create an extermination plan for your home. By stopping the entire cockroach infestation, you will kill all the cockroach eggs.
What Kills Roaches and Their Eggs Naturally?
Diatomaceous earth is the best natural roach killer. Dust food-grade diatomaceous earth onto a surface, such as on the shelves of a cabinet. As the roaches walk across the diatomaceous earth, they will become dehydrated and die. Diatomaceous earth is much safer and more effective than poisonous boric acid, which rarely kills roaches. It is also a better choice than using vinegar to kill roaches.
- Food-grade diatomaceous earth is a safe and natural product that can kill hatched roaches as they crawl through the powder.
- No natural remedy kills roach eggs.
- It is essential to stop roaches from laying eggs with Insect Growth Regulator, so you can kill all the hatched roaches with natural or pesticidal products.
There is no effective natural method to kill roach eggs. Until roach eggs hatch, they won’t be harmed by diatomaceous earth, boric acid, or vinegar. Additionally, pesticides and roach bombs won’t kill roach eggs. Since roach eggs are so hard to find and kill, it’s not worth targeting them. Instead, stop the roach reproductive cycle with IGR, followed by natural or pesticidal methods that kill all the roaches in your home.
How Many Roaches are in a Roach Egg?
The number of cockroaches that will hatch from an egg case depends on the species of roach. American cockroaches produce 12 roaches per egg, on average. German cockroach egg cases can contain as many as 48 offspring. Cockroaches lay eggs quickly. An American cockroach can lay over 60 egg cases per year. In some cases, a single female cockroach can produce 800 roach hatchlings in one year.
Does Killing a Cockroach Spread Eggs?
You won’t spread eggs or release baby roaches by killing an adult cockroach. Although some species of roach carry their eggs with them, killing the roach is still the best course of action. Then, you can crush the roach and the egg case at the same time. Most roaches lay their eggs in a hidden place, then leave them. So you don’t have to worry that killing roaches will make the infestation worse.
What Temperature Kills Cockroach Eggs?
Cockroach eggs can be killed by high temperatures over 150℉ (66℃) and freezing temperatures below 0℉ (-18℃) However, the egg cases require prolonged exposure to heat or cold to be killed. Since roach eggs are often hidden in walls, crawlspaces, and other insulated areas it is usually not possible to use heat or cold as a tool to kill roach eggs.
What to Do if You Find Cockroach Eggs
If you find cockroach eggs in your home, you have a roach infestation. Kill all the roaches in your home with these steps:
- Spray Insect Growth Regulator on your baseboards and inside cabinets.
- Apply gel roach-killer bait to crevices, cabinets, and under sinks.
- Place poison roach baits on kitchen counters, in the corner of rooms, and near crevices where roaches hide.
- Crush any egg cases you find, to kill the roaches inside.
- If you still have roaches after 1–2 months of growth regulator and poison bait treatment, call an exterminator.
This system is the best way to kill roaches in your home. If you see roach eggs, it’s essential to act fast to stop roaches from breeding, multiplying, and taking over.
