All of a sudden we’re finding these big dark bugs in our basement. I thought they were black beetles but after looking on the Internet, I think they’re cockroaches! Isn’t it kind of late in the season for cockroaches to appear? D. W., Roslindale, MA

If your pests are indeed cockroaches, they’re probably oriental cockroaches. Oriental cockroaches are primarily outdoor cockroaches that sometimes migrate indoors during cool weather. They normally scavenge on garbage and decaying plant and animal materials and can be found around building foundations. You’ll find them in damp areas under porches or decks, under leaves, in rotting wood or mulch, under splash blocks, in compost piles, storm drains, sewers, etc., etc. In our area, these roaches can’t survive a cold winter unprotected so they move into buildings or find places outside where they can hunker down until spring.

Don’t Look For Them in the Kitchen

These cockroaches are not your typical “kitchen cockroaches” hiding in cupboards. Inside, they are almost always found on the lowest level in cool, damp, dark places such as basements, crawlspaces, laundry rooms, or near sinks, drains, or leaky pipes (see Oriental Cockroaches Can Become Indoor Pests). If they find a place that is damp enough and has a food source, oriental cockroaches can survive and breed indoors.

Oriental cockroaches are fairly large roaches (just over 1 inch) and adults are mostly shiny black, although nymphs are reddish-brown. They move sluggishly and they don’t fly. The male has functionless wings and the female has only wing buds. More good news: they’re not able to climb walls like other roaches.

Treat Them Outside to Keep Them Outside

Give Colonial Pest a call. We can treat your basement to get rid of your winter guests. Ask us about our Preventative Maintenance Program and its seasonal barrier treatments (see Our Package Plan Keeps Pests Away Year Round). Treating around your foundation can eliminate oriental cockroaches and other perimeter pests that can move inside. Sealing cracks and openings around the foundation and around basement level doors and windows, and cleaning up cockroach hiding places outside can also reduce their numbers. For more, see this blog: Control Oriental Cockroaches Outside First!

Photo Credit : jacinta lluch valero | CC BY-SA 2.0