Do Cockroaches Like the Cold?
Here’s what you need to know about this insect’s temperature preferences
Highlights
Cockroaches are cold-blooded insects.
They will seek out warm, humid places—including your home.
Cockroaches are resilient and will find ways to survive.
If you’ve had a cockroach sighting at home, you’re probably not feeling too hospitable toward them. So you might not care to be the gracious host and ask, “Do cockroaches like the cold?” or “What do cockroaches like to eat?” But the answers to these questions can support your mission to get rid of roaches for good. Let’s take a look at cockroach temperature preferences to better understand these pests.
What Temperature Do Cockroaches Like?
Cockroaches do not like the cold. They are cold-blooded insects, meaning they can’t create their own body heat. Instead, they must rely on external temperatures to help them regulate their internal temperatures.
But that doesn’t mean these critters love it when the temperature soars either. In fact, they can’t stand the heat, either. Cockroaches, like many humans, prefer temperate weather, within a range of 77℉ahrenheit to 86℉ahrenheit, to be exact. If it’s a bit humid, even better.
Now that you know the ideal temperature range for cockroaches, you should also know that they’ll go to great lengths to seek out warm spots—and your home seems as good a place as any for them to settle down and start a family.
Where Do Cockroaches Go During the Winter?
In general, cockroaches like hot, humid spots near a food source. They like to camp out near your kitchen or bathroom, if they’ve already made their way into your house.
During cold-weather seasons, cockroaches enter a type of hibernation known as diapause, during which they do not grow or breed. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods yet. If cockroaches are able to find a warm place—like your home—they’ll stay active all winter long.
However, if cockroaches are unable to find a warm place with food, they will stop growing and breeding until things warm up again. That’s why it’s essential to seal off openings and other methods of entry to your home to ward off a roach infestation.
How Different Types of Cockroaches Respond to Cold Weather
Cockroaches are nothing if not resilient. Some can even fly, although they’re not graceful or good at it. Even when the weather isn’t ideal, they’ll try to find a way to get by. Here’s what some varieties do during the cold season:
American Cockroach
These insects will move indoors where it’s warm, though they can tough it out living among wood piles or dead trees if they are forced to stay outside. However, they can’t survive when the temperature goes lower than -15℉ahrenheit.
German Cockroach
Even if you live in America, chances are the cockroach you’ve spotted in your home is a German cockroach. Being proactive against this species is key because once they’re inside your home, feeling warm and well-fed, they are very difficult to evict.
Oriental Cockroach
This species can handle colder weather than its brethren, but it’s likely because they tend to live indoors in the first place. Many of the adults will die off in the last days of summer; the survivors are the ones who were able to stick around since last fall.
This type of cockroach is attracted to your home’s damp, humid spots, like drains and basements because they need a water source for survival. Unlike the other species that cease procreating in the cold, these will reproduce once during the winter.
Brown-Banded Cockroach
Though not as widespread as the German cockroach, you’ll likely find the brown-banded roach in warm homes, especially kitchens, where they like to congregate near appliances that generate heat while in operation. If they can remain alive indoors, they’ll survive all winter.
When to Call an Exterminator to Remove Roaches
Whether the weather is hot or cold outside your house, if you’ve spotted roaches or signs of them in your home, it’s time to hire a local insect exterminator. Cockroaches are known to trigger allergic reactions, plus they can spread bacteria and disease to your household members.
While there are DIY removal methods and natural roach repellents you can use to get rid of them, nothing eradicates a roach infestation as quickly and safely as a professional exterminator. Your local exterminator company will be able to not only treat the infestation at hand, but also give you tips on how to prevent future returns of this nasty houseguest.