Roaches are one of the most common household pests, and are found all across the country. These scavengers are constantly on the hunt for food, water and a safe place to live, AKA your home. That being said, if you have cockroaches in your home you might be wondering, do cockroaches make noise?
Do Cockroaches Make Noise?
Yes, some roaches do make noises. While most pests are known to be quiet and discreet, cockroaches produce certain noises when they are active. Most of those noises that roaches make are indeed subtle and unrecognizable, but if you pay close attention, you will be able to distinguish them after reading this article.
Not all roaches in the United States produce sounds, but the ones that do can be detected in a quiet room. Continue reading to learn the most common sounds of insects, as well as the reason why they make them.
What Sounds Do Cockroaches Make?
Generally, roaches in the United States are pretty quiet or even silent compared to Madagascar Hissing Roaches. But they still can make scurrying and slight chirping noises occasionally.
Depending on the material of your floors or counters, you might hear quiet scurrying noises as roaches move around the house, but generally they are pretty quiet.
Why Do Roaches Make Noise?
There can be several distinct reasons. Some cockroach species make noises when they are mating or during courtship. These noises are similar to a chirping sound and happen mostly when the male cockroach rubs the pronotum on its veins. The process is known as stridulation.
Other cockroaches make noises when they feel threatened. Typically, these noises appear when one male cockroach faces another, and the threat is in the air. The sound will intensify with a roach infestation since the cockroaches will encounter themselves inside walls or in your home.
Do Cockroaches Make A Loud Hissing Sound?
Only one roach species produces a hissing noise – the Madagascar hissing cockroach. These household roach species make a loud sound when air is forced throughout the spiracles of the abdomen.
These spiracles are known as the cockroaches breathing holes, and they are created when male Madagascar hissing cockroaches hear each other and approach.
It is their way of saying who is in charge. The hissing noise can also be produced when cockroaches feel threatened by other roaches or by humans.
Do Cockroaches Make Clicking Noise?
No, cockroaches cannot make a clicking noise. The clicking noise is a myth; even wild cockroaches cannot generate this sound. So, if you hear clicking noises, they probably come from other insects.
Clicking noises are associated with click beetles, cicadas, or katydids.
Why Do I Hear Cockroaches During Nighttime?
Since roaches are nocturnal pests, they are more likely to produce noises during nighttime. The noises appear only when the roaches are active, so if you notice cockroach noises at night, you have a significant infestation in your house.
Also, once the sun sets, things tend to quiet down. During the daytime, it is harder to hear roaches’ noises since everyone is so busy and there are many distractions.
It is not a rule that cockroaches make sounds only at night, but that is the quietest time. Therefore, you start hearing cockroaches.
Do All Roaches Species Make The Same Sounds?
No, not all cockroach species produce matching sounds. Cockroaches from the Elliptorhina, Aeluropoda, Principia, and Gromphadorhina are the most common cockroach species that make hissing sounds.
Other species like Megaloblatta, Nauphoeta, and Leucophaea create stridulating sounds.
Hissing noises are most common for the Madagascar hissing cockroach, while stridulating noises are associated with the Nauphoeta cinerea, Megaloblatta blueberries, and Leucophaea moderate. These species make stridulating noises to warn other cockroaches that they are coming.
Final Thoughts On Cockroaches Making Noise
The answer to your question, ‘do cockroaches make noise,’ is yes. Though some cockroaches produce sounds like hissing or stridulating, they are usually very quiet pests. Even if they make weird sounds, they are too difficult to understand and recognize.
Before panicking, setting up baits to verify that you have a cockroach infestation in your home is a good idea. Then, if you confirm the problem, you can start taking specific measures to establish pest control.
Although roaches generally don’t make much noise, cockroaches have a distinct smell to them!
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