Why Do Cockroaches Come Out at Night?

If you have cockroaches in your home, it is unlikely that you see them out and about during the day, unless you have a severe infestation. Cockroaches are more apt to roam around at night in the cover of darkness. When you turn on the light in a room, you may notice them scattering for cover. Have you ever stopped to wonder, though, why cockroaches prefer the cover of night?

Safety

Just because you don’t see cockroaches during the day does not mean you do not have an infestation of them in your house. However, seeing cockroaches during the day indicates a large infestation issue that needs a professional cockroach exterminator to deal with it.  Roaches will only emerge during the day if they are desperate to forage for food. If the cockroach population is so large that there is not enough food to go around, they will come out during the daytime hours.

Roaches prefer to stay hidden during the day or when the lights turn on for safety reasons. They are clever pests who realize they can hide in the dark. If they emerge during the day or when the light is on, it makes them susceptible to threats, particularly from humans. They stay hidden in dark dens during the day to ensure their safety.

Opportunity

At night, when the lights go out and everyone crawls snug into their beds, cockroaches come out in search of food. If you think about it, it is the most brilliant time of the day. Perhaps you do not feel like cleaning up the kitchen after dinner so you assume it can wait until the next day. Maybe you have leftover food that scrapes into the trash.

Either way, the nighttime hours provide cockroaches with a significant food source. They can forage for food scraps thrown into the trash and they can eat from dirty dishes. If you have a pet and you leave bowls of food and water down overnight, that is yet another reason for them to emerge when the lights go out.

Prevention

Do not skip out on washing dishes, even for just a night. Wash pots, pans, dishes, and silverware, and drinkware. Wash dishes as soon as you are done using them and then immediately clean the sink and surrounding area afterward. Go the extra mile and dry any moisture out of the sink, too.

Make sure you clean off your counter and the top of the stove after you are done cooking, too. Even the smallest crumb is a source of food for a cockroach. You should also sweep and vacuum your floors to remove any stray crumbs that may have fallen to the floor.

Pick up pet food bowls and clean them out as soon as your pet is done eating. Do not leave them down throughout the day or even overnight. Clean the area around the pet food bowls to remove excess food and water that may have spilled out of the bowl.

Place open packages of food in sealed containers. You should also remove trash immediately. Tie up trash bags and place them outside in a trash bin with a locking lid. Your trash is a treasure for cockroaches, filled with food that they can use to sustain themselves and the rest of the population.

Removal

Most importantly, you need to call a pest control professional. An exterminator can assist you in removing cockroaches from your home quickly and effectively. Look for signs of cockroaches in your home, such as seeing them scatter away when you turn on the lights. As soon as you see signs of an infestation, you need to hire a professional for help.

Where Do Roaches Go During the Day?

Since cockroaches dislike light, it is not easy to spot them during the day. They will often disappear to dark zones in your home including the undersides of appliances like stoves and refrigerators, under sinks or other installations, inside light switches, near plumbing, and behind wall panelling or doorjambs. They will also hide in the inside of bookcases, your furniture, fabric, folds, drapes, paper bags, old newspapers, pet food bags, and in brooms or mops. Cockroach hiding places are nearly endless, provided they are dark and distributed evenly.

That is why is advisable not to clutter or dump clothes, cardboard, or furniture all over your house; they make up for perfect hiding places for cockroaches. Decluttering your home will help keep them away.

What Does It Mean If You see Cockroaches in the Day?

Since cockroaches are nocturnal animals, you will probably see signs of cockroaches before seeing an actual cockroach scurrying around your kitchen surfaces. Getting to know how to spot them is a sure way of protecting you and your family from the dangers of a cockroach infestation.

In case you spot a cockroach during the day, it means you have a serious cockroach problem, and it might be a good idea to address it. Cockroach sighting during the day means the nest has grown large enough to force some cockroaches out of it, offering limited options for them to hide.

Problems Caused by Cockroaches

In addition to being unsightly insects, cockroaches can be a health hazard. When an infestation occurs, the presence of cockroaches in large numbers often increases the dangers that are normally presented by these insects.

Health-related problems

Since they are drawn to human food, cockroaches can cause food contamination. Cockroaches are known to defecate and regurgitate on the food that they eat. Apart from being disgusting, regurgitation and defecation help spread the parasites that are living inside them. Some of the health risks presented due to this action are bacterial infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium that is particularly found in cockroaches and can be transmitted to humans. The Salmonella bacteria can also be spread by cockroaches that cause diseases ranging from food poisoning to typhoid.

Another health risk presented by cockroaches is allergic reactions. Cockroaches are one of the most common causes of allergens, and studies have found that about 20 to 60 percent of urban residents are presented by cockroach allergens. Some of the symptoms include asthma, redness, and itching. Call The Exterminators for professional pest control Toronto services: 647-496-2211.

Article Updated: November 1st, 2018