The Life Cycle of Common Household Pests

Pests are not only annoying, but they’re also nauseating at first glance and a health and/or structural hazard. So, it’s no wonder people want to get rid of the pests out of their household as soon as they can and as much as possible.

While the bad news is that no household is 100% immune from any form of pest, the good news is, pests can be eradicated even when there isn’t an infestation.

Sometimes it helps to know about the life cycle of different common household pests to get a better idea of how to get rid of them.

Cockroaches

Because roaches breed in the spring, they’re rampant in the summertime. These heavy breeders can hatch a whopping 50 eggs in one session! Roaches reach sexual maturity in just a few weeks, so you can imagine how quickly they can start a full-blown infestation inside your home.

Termites

Termites, like cockroaches, breed in the springtime. While it might seem like good news that male termites die after breeding and that the pregnant female loses her wings, infestation can still start within a very short period of time due to how quickly termites reproduce.

Termites lay approximately 100 eggs in the first 24 hours. They continue laying and hatching eggs for 10 to 30 years! Just one colony can end up housing 5 million termites.

Rats

There are a lot of problems with rats, but one of the biggest concerns is that even with the size of rats and how powerful just a single rat can be, they’re still strong breeders.

Unfortunately for us, rats breed year ‘round, with female rates going into heat every 4 or 5 days. Conception to birth for rats takes less than a month, and each pregnancy can include an average of 6 to 12 pups.

So, if we do the math, if you have one female and one male rat in your house, they can produce an army of 1,500 rats in just a year’s time! That’s only if you let the rat situation get out of hand.

Mealybugs

You guessed it – mealybugs are also rapid reproducers, and worst of all, they reproduce all throughout the year.

Even though female mealybugs die after laying her eggs, their egg count is easily in the hundreds- up to about 600, and those eggs hatch in just a week’s time. The complete cycle of a mealybug is from around one to three months.

Are you dealing with a pest infestation? Even if you only notice a small amount, things can quickly go haywire. That said, get in touch with a Residential Pest Control company as soon as possible to get a grip on the issue.

Conclusion

Dealing with household pests isn’t ideal. It can be disturbing, expensive, and even harmful to have an active infestation in the house. Part of tackling pests is learning more about the one(s) you have, including what their life cycle is. With greater understanding of pests, you can quickly and efficiently get rid of them from your household.