Roaches are troublesome and stubborn insects as they are a source of spreading numerous diseases, so killing them is preferred, but what happens if you kill a pregnant cockroach?
In this blog, I have explained an honest and reliable answer to this question, so if you are thinking of killing a pregnant woman or have killed them, this blog is for you.
Roaches also get pregnant and reproduce; they can cause a rapid increase in population. In this way, this forces one to think about killing a pregnant roach.
I have a great interest in roaches and always search for compelling information about them; Moreover, I verify the information so you will not be disappointed.
What Happens If You Kill a Pregnant Cockroach?
A pregnant roach contains an egg capsule attached to its body consisting of a number of baby roaches inside, so killing a pregnant roach will result in the death of developing eggs. Moreover, it greatly depends on the method of killing and the degree of damage caused, and less damage can still reduce the number of eggs successfully hatched.
If you use an insecticidal spray to kill a pregnant roach, there is a high risk of survival of eggs inside an ootheca. This is because ootheca limits the absorption of chemicals and protects eggs.
In addition, squishing or crushing the pregnant roach can result in the death of most of the eggs inside the ootheca and lowers the risk of hatching.
Do Cockroaches Die After Laying Eggs?
A popular myth causes most people to believe that roaches die after laying eggs or they lay eggs when we kill them, so I will tell you whether this is true or not.
Well, you will be pleased to know that both situations are just assumptions and have no truth, as there is no scientific evidence that can prove that roaches die after laying eggs.
Reproduction is a part of the life cycle of cockroaches and their chief aim, but this doesn’t mean that they die after accomplishing their task. However, they complete their life cycle.
A mature American roach can lay an ootheca about 10 to 13 times during its life cycle, which is strong evidence that roaches don’t die by laying a single ootheca.
Besides, a single ootheca may contain as many as 14 to 50 eggs inside, which are hatched simultaneously. This means that a single a can cause a severe infestation in just a few months.
Moreover, roaches undergo a natural death after completing their lifespan, which is 20 to 30 weeks and may slightly vary depending upon the species.
Furthermore, they can be killed using baits, chemicals, crushing, and other methods but never die after detaching ootheca from their bodies.
Do Roaches Release Ootheca on Dying?
Now let’s discuss the second myth which states that roaches lay eggs when killed. Roaches paint a horrible image in almost everyone’s mind; this is because they are pests and stubborn.
This terrifying image resulted in a myth that roaches lay egg cases when killed in order to take revenge and increase their population.
But fortunately, it is not true; this is because when a pregnant roach is killed, the eggs within the ootheca also get damaged in most cases.
I hope I have cleared all your confusion about these self-assumptions; if it is so, then let’s move ahead.
Is It Good to Kill a Pregnant Roach?
As I have discussed above, people have developed various self-assumptions that do not have any scientific proof, so I am going to discuss another allegory.
Some people think that killing a pregnant roach is not suitable for their lives, and it can affect them. On the other hand, some assume that pregnant roaches are powerful, so they are hard to kill.
But let me clear that once again, these are not other than fake tales. Pregnant roaches do undergo some physical and structural changes during the gestation period.
These changes include the release of hormone enzymes in order to assist the development of the egg case and the eggs inside it; these hormones only assist growth instead of providing strength.
So a pregnant roach is just like other normal cockroaches, and there is nothing terrible in killing her; instead, it is appreciated to kill a pregnant roach, and this activity is highly recommended.
- Why Is It Good to Kill a Pregnant roach?
As I have stated, it is good to kill a pregnant roach; now you must be wondering about its reason; you don’t need to struggle as I am here to guide you, so let’s disclose its reason.
As you already know that ootheca can give rise to a maximum of 50 roaches at a time which means that it can add something to the existing number of roaches.
Therefore it is better to kill a pregnant roach instead of taking the risk of infestation because it is hard to remove them as they are stubborn and irritating insects.
Effect on Roach Eggs When It is Killed
Now let’s see in detail what happens when you kill a pregnant roach and the effects on the eggs of a pregnant female roach, depending on the method used for killing.
1- When Roach is Crushed
As I have stated above, the effects depend on the method you use to kill a roach; if you don’t want the eggs to be alive, then the preferable method to kill a pregnant roach is by crushing it.
Now the critical point to discuss here is the force you have to apply on the roach to ensure the death of the mother and its eggs.
Roaches have a natural protection which is also known as exoskeleton; it is the outer shell of a roach that plays a vital role in protecting it.
The shell is made of proteins and chitin, which is responsible for its toughness and rigidness. Therefore roaches can survive small forces, generally 300 times more than their body weight.
So if you want to kill a pregnant roach, you must apply a force that is more than 900 times its weight. Moreover, you have to repeat this procedure 2 to 3 times to confirm the death.
Now let’s talk about the protective covering of roaches’ eggs which is known as ootheca. Ootheca is less resistive than the mother’s exoskeleton.
So the force to kill a pregnant roach is more than enough for its eggs to ultimately become damaged.
Force Bearing Capacity of Insects
I have listed some insects including roaches, that are strong and can show resistance against damage thanks to their hard exoskeleton.
Just like roaches, it is hard to squash these insects at once so read the table carefully to get a gist about these insects, it will help you to predict the force required to squash them.
| No | Insect | Bearable Force |
| 1 | Beetles | 39000 times their weight |
| 2 | Flies | 50 times their weight |
| 3 | Ants | 5000 times their weight |
| 4 | Bees | 53 times their weight |
| 6 | Roaches | 300 times their weight |
The bearable force for flying insects is the weight they can lift and fly through distances while carrying.
2- When Roach is Poisoned
Now let’s discuss what happens when you use a poisoned method to kill a pregnant roach. As I have stated earlier, the preferred method of killing a pregnant roach is crushing.
So I will go through the reason behind it. Actually, when you use poison either in the form of insecticide, bait, or powder, the roach dies, but there is a risk of survival of eggs.
As the eggs are enclosed in a rigid eggshell called ootheca which is capable of minimizing the absorption of chemicals.
So if you also want to kill the eggs along with the mother, then I advise you to use a large concentration of chemicals and spray it correctly on the ootheca.
Suppose that you have used the insecticidal spray, which resulted in the death of a pregnant roach but the survival of the babies inside the ootheca.
In this case, there are still chances that the babies don’t hatch or die before completing the development process.
This is because the mother roach plays an important role in the survival of its babies as it searches for a protective place to attach the ootheca in order to protect the eggs from predators.
In addition, the mother roach also ensures the availability of food and moisture to the young ones, so without a mother, predators can eat eggs; moreover, nymphs can also die of starvation.
3- Discarding the Egg
Now let’s assume that you have killed the mother roach, but the eggs are still surviving, so you think of discarding them and throwing them in a trash can in order to get rid of them.
So, you will be pleased to know that this method can work by protecting you from infestation; but the notable point is that you have to choose the correct method for discarding the ootheca.
Some people consider throwing the egg cases in the toilet and flushing them out. This method is reliable, and you can use it to dispose of eggs.
Moreover, the idea of throwing the egg sac in the trash box is not bad until you clean your trash box and transfer the material to the Large trash can inside your house.
This will make sure that the eggs will die outside as the dead eggs or the dead body of a pregnant female roach is not safe for health.
They can release pathogens into the surroundings causing breathing difficulties and other problems; moreover, the secretary material from the dead body can cause asthma.
If you are facing allergic issues, then avoid direct interaction with dead bodies, droppings, and secretion because these materials contain allergens that can make the condition worse.
Best Methods to Kill a Pregnant Roach
If you want to kill a pregnant roach, the following methods are safe and can help you get the best results; now, let’s see.
- You can trap a pregnant female roach, which will cause the death of a particular roach due to starvation and dehydration, and then discard the ootheca or kill the eggs by squashing.
- Smashing by applying the required force is one of the best methods as it results in the death of the mother as well as the babies inside the ootheca.
- Poisoning can also help to kill a pregnant roach; use a chemical that has the capability to kill the roach in no time, then discard the egg as there are still chances of their survival.
Inferior Methods
- The use of bait is not preferred in killing a pregnant roach; bait can help you to transfer the poison among the large population but is slow and takes time.
- Insecticide sprays that contain less efficient chemicals are also not advised for killing pregnant female roaches as they don’t ensure the death of eggs and are also slow to react.
So always use the methods that ensure the desired results because any mishandling can result in adverse outcomes.
What Does it Mean to See Nymph On Killing a Pregnant Roach?
As I have discussed above, this is just an assumption that roaches lay eggs the moment they are killed. But, still, there may be some people who witnessed this situation.
So, now I am going to explain what are the reasons behind facing this situation because it has any scientific proof.
Actually, the baby roaches remain inside the ootheca until they are fully developed. Moreover, female roaches consider hiding their egg cases when they are close to the hatch.
Therefore killing a pregnant roach means that there are some days in the hatching of eggs. Some species of roaches keep the egg case with them and only leave it when there are 2 days left.
So after 2 days, the eggs of that particular female roach can get hatched, but it is rare to see a nymph hatching at the same time.
- Difference Between Ootheca and Egg
People who claim to see the eggs killing pregnant roaches are those who don’t have a proper understanding of ootheca; they confuse the term ootheca with eggs.
Both are different in the case of roaches, Ootheca is not technically an egg, but it is a protective case in which several eggs are closed.
- Slowing Down the Process of Detaching Ootheca
In addition, it is possible that a pregnant female roach does not find a suitable place to stick ootheca; therefore, it remains attached to its body until its complete development.
In this case, if the timing of killing the pregnant roach and hatching matches, then it is possible to see nymphs hatching from the ootheca on killing the roach.
Final Words:
In this blog, I have discussed: What happens if you kill a pregnant cockroach? When you attempt to kill a pregnant roach, there are more chances that the eggs will also die.
There are several methods that you can use to kill a roach; I have discussed the best among them, so read the entire article carefully if you want to kill a pregnant roach along with its eggs.
I prefer using a squishing method to kill roaches as it also kills the eggs. When you kill a pregnant roach, the eggs may die, don’t hatch, or some of them can survive.
I also cleared some most common myths, which include: pregnant roaches laying eggs when killed and roaches dying after laying eggs, so I hope you have learned something productive.
People who don’t have a clear concept of ootheca and egg might confuse themselves and get stuck in self-assumptions, so if you want to clear your concepts, this article is for you.
FAQs:
Does Killing a Roach Spread Eggs?
No, killing roaches never spread eggs; they remain inside the ootheca and only come out after the development process is completed; moreover, roaches separate ootheca before their hatching.
Are Cockroaches Dirty?
Yes, roaches are dirt because some of them love garbage and feed on it; they also carry disease-causing agents along with the dust particles that are attached to their legs.
What Happens If a Human Eats a Cockroach?
The roach is digestible, and it gets digested in the stomach; it is nutritious; the nutrients are metabolized, and dirty or wild roaches can cause stomach problems and other diseases.
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