Roaches do not care about good looks, witty charm, or good intentions. They are drawn to many things, primarily food, bright objects, and dead things.
It is not pleasant to know that roaches are attracted to dead skin cells or your fingernail clippings. However, knowing the things that attract roaches will help you keep them at bay.
So, if you are wondering why roaches seem to follow you around your home, here are some reasons:
It is not uncommon for roaches to fly at people or tail them when discovered. For the most part, roaches employ this defense mechanism when threatened.
Of course, it could be because they chose to cling to their food source or hiding place. So, chances are that a roach merely goes after its food, which is close to you.
Here are a couple of things to note next time you find a roach in your path:
- Roaches are quite smart. When they fly at people, they hope to startle you so that you pause, and they have room to scurry.
- Although roaches like to hide in dark places, they are attracted to bright areas. So, if you sit under a lamp, you may find a roach or two creeping near because of its attraction to the warmth of light.
- Roaches have strong survival instincts. So, they will go anywhere to find food, even if it means hitching a ride in your hat.
In the rest of this article, we will discuss reasons why cockroaches may be seen following you. We have also included a section on answers to other questions.
4 Reasons Why Roaches Follow Humans
You could say that experience has taught roaches that leftovers follow wherever you are.
So, while they may not recognize your presence in particular, their senses detect the presence of dead skin cells or leftover bits of food they can feed on.
You could also say that roaches are picky when choosing where they live. They prefer warm, dark places and access to rummage through dead and rotten things.
If you have these around you, you may find that you have gathered a couple of loyal followers.
1. Presence of Food or Edible Substances
Roaches are driven by their need for survival and breeding.
With their strong sense of smell, they can find stray bits of food, animal droppings, and practically anything else on their menu. Naturally, crumbs of food or even unattended meals will be near you.
Roaches will eat anything organic, whether dead or alive, so droppings or shedding from your pets could also attract them. So if you have anything on you or nearby that cockroaches would typically eat, you might find one or two moving in your direction.
That is to say that roaches gravitate towards food items, which would be a coincidence since you were close to their target.
They stick to dead skin cells from humans, so do not be worried about them climbing your body to eat you alive.
2. Dirty Environment
Courtesy of their strong sense of smell, roaches also move and rummage through piles of dirt and junk to locate juicy meals.
So if you have a cluttered environment or dirt around your home, it would lead roaches out to scavenge. They are known to eat glue and paper and even bite through pieces of fabric.
They also like to hide in warm dark places, such as beneath a piece of inside furniture, behind electronic appliances, inside cupboards or drawers, or snoggle tightly behind old clothing.
So if you have untidy corners or spaces in your homes, you will draw the attention of roaches to you.
3. Holes, Cracks, and Leaky Pipes
Roaches like to live in warm dark places, and they use their ability to cling to items to achieve this.
For instance, they could hang on to your bags, furniture, and clothing and slink through cracks and holes when they enter your home.
Their dark-colored skin often helps them to blend into poorly lit places like corners or the spaces between furniture, especially bathroom cabinets. Areas like that provide the warm dark atmosphere they so greatly enjoy.
Their body structure allows them to squeeze into small spaces. So if you found a roach in your bathroom drain, it could be because it squeezed between pipes or loose plumbing fixtures.
So when roaches follow you, you are, sadly, a means to an end.
4. Bright Lights
Roaches love to hang out in dark places and spend most of their time there. Ironically, they are also attracted to bright lights.
If a room is properly illuminated, they would hover around or go creeping in search of food. However, roaches tend to gravitate toward brightness when a single light source or an area is more illuminated than others.
Guess who turns on lights or lamps in their home? That’s right, you.
When you turn on lamps or light bulbs and sit beneath them, they create a halo-like glow around you. That light is what attracts roaches and brings them near you.
So, if a roach flies at you, it’s not coming for you. It’s only trying to catch some of that glow.
Conclusion
When Roaches follow humans, it is seldom because they wish to be in your company. If you had a snack in your pocket or a drink in your hand, it could attract them.
However, their interest is solely for survival, and you possess free warm cozy spaces and treats.
The key to keeping roaches away from you is to maintain a clean environment and ensure that you take the necessary steps to eliminate the roaches already in your home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Roaches See You?
Roaches have over two thousand lenses in their eyes, giving them excellent vision and the ability to see multiple things at once. Therefore the answer is yes, roaches can see you.
However, unlike humans, who can identify animal species, roaches and insects generally cannot recognize human beings. While their sense will alert them to your presence and movements, they do not have any special knowledge or recognition of you.
They may rush away upon sensing you because they naturally like to hide. Or run towards you to plan their escape when you make sudden moves in their direction.
Why Do Cockroaches Crawl on You at Night?
Some cultures identify roaches crawling on humans as a sign of good luck. However, roaches keep too much company with germ-infested and rotting items to be considered unhealthy, let alone good omens.
The most likely explanation is that their quest for food makes them crawl around areas that smell like edible substances. For instance, if you had a meal and its aroma lingered on your fingers, a cockroach could be attracted to it in its search for food.
Such cockroaches could take a bite of dead skin cells and fingernails. Since they are nocturnal creatures who do most of their hunting and movement at night, it is no coincidence that crawling also happens at night.
Another reason could be the fact that warm temperatures attract roaches. As unpleasant as the thought may seem, there is a chance that the roach is merely looking for a warm snuggle.
