Having a cockroach infestation is not fun for anybody. These pests are highly gross and brutal to eliminate from your household.
However, if you are trying to avoid your house getting overrun by roaches, one of the main things you need to understand is identifying what baby roaches look like.
A baby roach is roughly 3/8ths of an inch long and has a black body and pale brown markings.
This article discusses how fast baby roaches grow and how you know you have baby roaches. We will also discuss if seeing some in your home indicates an infestation.
What Are Baby Cockroaches?
Baby cockroaches are nymphs, or young cockroaches. At first, most baby cockroaches are a grey-brownish color and darken each time a molt is complete. Some studies even show that the first foods they eat significantly affect their growth.
They are very similar to their adult counterparts in terms of their eating. In other words, cockroaches eat starchy foods, sugary foods, hair, decaying matter, etc.
Unfortunately, you will find baby cockroaches dangerous because they carry diseases with them as their parents do.
Baby cockroaches scavenge for food like animal feces (like cat litter) or somewhere else that contains it.
Once they crawl into your food, countertops, or other hard surfaces, you must disinfect them due to cross-contamination and potential sicknesses.
Read More: The Complete Guide To Eliminating Roaches
What Do Baby Cockroaches Look Like?
Most baby cockroaches have an oblong body with six spiny legs and a long, thin antenna.
This section tells us what baby cockroaches look like by type. Knowing which ones you are dealing with is essential to handle them accordingly if push comes to shove.
Read More: Identify Common Roach Types
American Cockroach
Baby American cockroach nymphs are about 1/4 inch and will change color as they shed or molt.
However, these nymph cockroaches begin a black-brown color until the adult stage, where they turn roughly reddish-brown. These baby cockroaches have a halo marking behind their heads as well.
Their body is an oblong shape with a long, thin antenna and has six spiny legs with a flat, hard-shelled body.
Baby American cockroaches have appendages called cerci at their bodies’ bases. However, they do not contain wings as their parents have.
Read More: How to Eliminate the American Cockroach
Oriental Cockroach
Oriental cockroaches are also called water bugs because they crawl up pipes and live in damp areas.
Baby oriental roaches are roughly 1/4 inch long. In their nymph stage, they have a reddish-brown color and grow darker each time they molt.
Often, the adult version is a dark reddish-brown. Some people believe they are black.
In terms of their shape, the oriental cockroach has an oblong shape with a medium-length antenna, six legs, and a hard-shelled body. These creatures do not have wings until later in their lifecycle.
Read More: I Found an Oriental Cockroach In My House: How to Get Rid of Them
German Cockroach
Baby German roaches are much smaller than their other two cousins, roughly 1/8 inch long.
These insects look black but are dark brown. As the German cockroach nymph grows, you will notice black lines behind their heads. Once they turn into adults, these black lines turn to tan or pale brown.
The German roach has an oval-shaped body and contains six spiny legs. They include a flat hard-shelled body with a distinctive separate head.
These insects have two long, thin antennae and do not have wings until adulthood.
Read More: How to Get Rid of German Cockroaches Overnight
Brown-Banded Cockroach
A baby brown-banded cockroach is roughly 1/8 inch, making them small like the German roaches mentioned above.
Their color is roughly dark-brown and almost look black. However, as they grow, it develops black lines behind its head that is tan or pale brown.
Brown-banded cockroaches are oblong and contain six spiny legs. Its antennae are long and slender with a shiny, hard-shelled body.
Read More: How to Get Rid of Brown-Banded Cockroaches
Smoky Brown Cockroach
The last common insect is the smoky brown cockroach, which is 3/8 inch long. Its color is roughly dark brown to black with white markings.
As it reaches adulthood, it typically changes to light mahogany color, then to a smoky brown color, hence the name.
Read More: Saw a Smokybrown Cockroach in Your House? What You Need to Know
How Fast Do Roaches Grow?
How fast roaches grow depends on what species they are.
For example, one cockroach nymph may take 700 days to reach full adult maturity, whereas another cockroach might live roughly 589 days.
However, there are over 4,000+ species of different cockroaches worldwide. Still, we will discuss the five main types of roaches living in the USA.
Read More: How Fast Do Roaches Multiply, Reproduce, and Grow?
American Cockroach
The adult female American cockroach can live more than 700 days, whereas the male lives up to 362 days.
These creatures go through roughly 10 to 13 instars, or molting stages, before the baby roach reaches maturity. This process can take approximately 600 days to get completed.
Female American cockroaches lay roughly 6 to 14 egg cases (or oothecae) and lay about 16 eggs each time. Their average incubation period is 44 days, which is approximately 224 offspring.
Oriental Cockroach
Oriental cockroaches undergo 7 to 10 instars in their lifetime, which takes roughly 589 days to accomplish.
The male insects live roughly 160 days, and the female roaches live 180 days after reaching adulthood, which is a little over 2 years.
Female oriental cockroaches cannot reproduce egg cases in lower temperatures below 59 degrees.
However, female cockroaches can produce 8 oothecae during their lifespan and lay about 16 eggs per case.
That is roughly 128 offspring during her lifetime with an average incubation period of 60 days.
German Cockroach
German cockroach nymphs’ development is roughly 103 days in length, and they can live for under 200 days as an adult.
The baby German cockroach goes through 6 or 7 instars before they reach maturity.
German cockroaches have a much higher reproduction rate than other cockroach species.
Female German cockroaches lay roughly 20 to 40 eggs per sack and produce 4 to 5 oothecae in their lifetime or approximately 200 offspring. The incubation period of a German cockroach is 28 days long.
Brown-Banded Cockroach
It takes roughly 276 days for brown-banded roaches to reach full maturity, and the nymphs molt up to 8 times within 6 months. When they molt for the last time, they are ready to reproduce.
Female brown-banded cockroaches lay 14 egg capsules in their lifetime, each containing 10 to 18 eggs.
Smoky Brown Cockroach
A smoky brown cockroach’s development stage can vary depending on its living conditions.
These stages range from 160 to 716 days—their adulthood averages 218 days for females and 215 days for males.
However, these cockroaches have been known to live about 2 years given the ideal conditions.
Female smoky brown cockroaches lay roughly 20 eggs per case and can produce around 10 egg cases.
The eggs are attached to a surface within a day of production and will lay there until hatched.
How Do You Know If You Have Baby Roaches?
You know if you have baby roaches because they are tiny and white with no wings.
Make sure to look for other following signs:
- Head bent downward
- Two long, thin antennae
- Six spiny legs
- Flattened, hard-shelled body
- Two small appendages at the base of the body
Do Baby Roaches Mean an Infestation?
Yes, baby roaches mean an infestation. These roaches are usually found in warm, damp environments.
In that case, make sure you do everything you can to eliminate them from your home immediately.
Read More: Signs You Have A Roach Infestation
Call a Professional for Help
Having baby roaches inside your home can be a pain. However, if seeing a cockroach stresses you out, call an exterminator immediately.
Overall, we wish you great luck in your journey to get rid of these pesky creatures!
