They look a little like dust, just much larger than specks of dust are, about 1mm wide and sometimes 2 or more millimeters long. Another telltale sign that there may well be cockroaches infesting your house or business are the brown, irregularly shaped smear marks they can leave behind if they have access to water. These are usually found on flat surfaces, as well as where the floor meets the wall, which is where they spend most of their time. Another, perhaps more obvious sign are the skins they shed from time to time as they mature, about 5-8 per insect. You may also find their eggs, about the size of 2 droplets of water, in groups of ten or more in favorable environments.

Common signs of a cockroach infestation is damages caused by them. Cockroaches seem to prefer eating thins people consider foodstuffs; however, they are pretty much omnivores that will chew on just about anything if they need to. Aside from food packaging, you may notice damage on organic goods such as books or leather products.

Some species produce a worse smell than others, but in the event of a serious infestation, there will always be a strong oily or musty odor present. The smell is a lingering one that does not fade over time, but rather gets more intense as the infestation gets more advanced. The odor cockroaches produce will also taint all of the objects they come into contact with. Basically, roaches give off a certain type of pheromone to let each other know they’ve found a good place to nest, and as they swarm together, the smell can be quite overpowering. The female also gives off another distinct odor to let the males know she is ready to mate. In fact, it is often the distinct odor produced by cockroaches that alerts home or business owners they are being infested first.