How to Get Rid of Roaches
Getting rid of roaches takes some work. The larger the infestation, the more difficult it is. It can be done though a four-step process:
- Evaluate
- Prevent
- Treat
- Monitor
It is important to complete each step and stay consistent. In most cases, one round of treatment will not be enough. Remember, roaches hide their eggs in walls and difficult to access areas. This means that there could be egg capsules waiting to hatch at any given time regardless of the adult roach activity. The absence of adult roaches, especially after you’ve launched a full on assault to eradicate them, does not mean there aren’t eggs or immature roaches waiting to emerge. Then, when they do, you have a whole new population of the pests in your home. This is why the monitoring step is so important.
Evaluate
Note where you are seeing roaches. Are they under the ledge of the counters? In cabinets? Under or behind appliances? Behind pictures or clocks? Try to look without disturbing the roaches too much. Just get an idea of where they are. Use a good flashlight and look in the most obscure, out of the way places you can find, concentrating on the kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms.
Look for evidence of roaches. One of the most obvious is waste that is found where roaches cluster. It is a dark, grainy speckling that can stick to walls and litter surfaces like the inside of cabinets. Egg cases and the shed exoskeleton (as they grow they shed it) are other ways to know if you have roaches.
If you have pets, you may find roaches in the pet food or find treats and food that they have been eating. Roaches love pet food.
Of course, if you see roaches in your home that means you need to take action. It may not be an out of control infestation yet, but you want to get ahead of it.
To start, you need to know where the roaches are and get an idea of the level of infestation. Set out some sticky traps, called monitor boards, in various areas where you suspect you have roaches. You also want to place them in areas where roaches may be – under and behind appliances, in cabinets, behind the toilet, and other out of the way, dark places. You might not have actually seen any activity there, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t hiding in that area.
Check your monitors in a day or so. They will give you a good idea of what you are dealing with regarding roaches and other insects as well as the possible size of your infestation.
Once you know where they are and about how many you are dealing with, you can begin a treatment plan.
Cockroach Prevention
Prevention is a crucial part of getting rid of roaches. The best way to do this is to make your home unattractive to the pests. Keeping your home clean is a good first step. Roaches will enter a house looking for three things: food, water, and harborage. When those things are absent or they don’t have access to them, they will have no reason to stay.
Exclusion is best though. Concentrate on restricting access completely.
While even clean homes can have roaches, cluttered or dirty homes are much more likely to have infestations. Those environments provide plenty of hiding places and an abundance of food choices. Even tiny crumbs on a counter are veritable feasts for roaches.
Eliminate food sources:
- Don’t leave food out on counters or tables, especially overnight
- Wash your dishes and put them away each night
- Wipe down counters after each use
- Sweep floors daily
- Don’t let your garbage sit. Take it out regularly, preferable every night.
- Clean pantries and cabinets
- Clean appliances in the kitchen including the coffee pot, toaster, toaster oven, stove, etc.
- Empty pet food bowls (food and water) every night, put or seal them in a container or plastic bag. Putting them outside can attract outside roaches to your home and they can sneak inside under doors, through cracks in windows, or when you open the door.
Many experts recommend cleaning your kitchen each night before bed, including sweeping or vacuuming the floor.
You should also designate one room in the house for eating. If you allow eating in bedrooms or other parts of the house, there are bound to be spills and crumbs left behind which will attract roaches.
Eliminate water sources:
- Anything that is damp (wet clothing, towels, etc.) should be sealed in a bag before bed each night or put them in the washing machine
- Put wet dish towels, sponges, and brushes in a plastic bag to store overnight
- Don’t leave dishes soaking in a sink full of water overnight
- Seal openings or cracks around pipes
- Fix faucets and pipes that are leaking Dry your toothbrushes and put them in sealed bags or containers
- Fix pipes that sweat
- Empty and dry water bowls for pets – do not leave pet water out overnight
- Dry kitchen and bathroom sinks as well as the bathtub every night
- Plug the drain for kitchen and bathroom sinks and bathtub every night
Basically, if it holds water, you don’t want to leave it out overnight.
Eliminate harborage sources:
- Seal all cracks and other potential access points
- Avoid clutter, especially paper products like boxes and books
- Turn and rake mulch regularly
- Ensure your window screens fit properly
- Don’t stack firewood next to your home and check firewood before you bring it inside
- Plants, bushes, and trees should not touch your house and they should always be trimmed
- Get rid of any junk, clutter, or debris that is in your yard
- Keep mulch away from the outside of your house maintaining at least a 6-inch perimeter between your home and the mulch bed
The key is to eliminate clutter in and around your home. This will cut down on your pest issues considerably.
Treat
It usually requires more than one product to effectively get rid of roaches.
However, your treatment plan begins with stopping the use of any other products, especially those insect sprays and bombs that you get at the grocery store. Roach populations can become immune, or more specifically, the young from an infected female can emerge immune to those products. What you need are heavy-duty pest control products and in many cases, you don’t have to hire a pest control professional to get the job done.
You may want to start by vacuuming up all the live roaches that you can see. This will immediately reduce your active population. When you empty your vacuum though, make sure you take it far from your house and inspect the machine thoroughly for any stragglers before you bring it back inside.
Again, do not use bug sprays or bombs! Throw them away, get them out of your house. They will make your roach problem worse.
If you need help with Cockroach Control in Cooper City, Weston, Davie, or Pembroke Pines, please contact us
Cockroach Classifications and Species
CLASS – Insecta
ORDER – Blattaria (named for blattae, the domestic pest of the ancient Greeks)
FAMILIES – Cryptocercidae, Blattidae, Polyphagidae, Blattelidae and Blaberidae
TYPE METAMORPHOSIS – Gradual/Simple Egg
Found in a capsule or ootheca (of 4 – 60 eggs).
Nymph
The nymph resembles the adult in appearance but is smaller and wingless. (Think you have some albino roaches? All newly emerged cockroaches are white for several hours.)
Adult – Fertile males and females. Parthenogensis (or egg production without fertilization) does occur in American, brown, brownbanded, Florida woods, German and Oriental cockroaches, but egg capsules produced this way usually fail to hatch or produce only a few nymphs.
TYPE MOUTHPARTS – Chewing in all stages.
DISEASE ASPECTS – Cockroaches are known to be vectors of disease, especially intestinal infections, and are capable of carrying disease pathogens. Cockroaches produce secretions/fluids from various points in their bodies which have a foul (unpleasant) odor which may ruin the flavor of food and when the populations is high, impart a characteristic stench to the air in the general vicinity of the cockroach infestation. These insects are thought to be the transmitters of the causal agents (carriers of several disease-producing organisms) of gastroenteritis, food poisoning, dysentery, infectious hepatitus, leprosy, typhus, polio, boils, diarrhea, parasitic toxoplasmosis, cholera, salmonella and other illnesses. Some of the organisms which cause these diseases are carried on the legs and bodies of the cockroaches (similar to the house fly) and are deposited on food and utensils as cockroaches feed and move about. In addition, they cause gross contamination because of their annoying and disgusting habit of depositing saliva, excrement, fluids from their abdominal scent glands and a dark-colored vomit wherever they go. They often are a source of embarrassment and can cause anxiety and psychological distress in some people. Excrement and cast skins and dead roaches contain allergens and cause breathing problems, rashes, watery eyes and sneezing. Cockroaches are a leading cause of allergies – second only to House Dust mites. Vacuum and clean thoroughly with Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint.
Basic Description
Cockroaches are stout-bodied insects that have a soft, oval (broad) flattened shape, six long, spiny legs and long antennae, a pronotum (shield-like covering projects over their heads) and they have chewing mouthparts. Adults of most species have well-developed wings. The young nymphs resemble the adults except for the lack of wings and their smaller size. Depending on the house infesting species, roaches are light brown, reddish brown, dark brown and/or black, and some have characteristic markings; most have an unpleasant odor. Each species can be distinguished from each other by their appearance and their characteristic habits and habitats. The adults and immature forms of all roach species that are household pests are all present in established infestations. Cockroaches are normally nocturnal and will usually hide from bright light and only expose themselves to the light if they have no where left to hide, so if you see one during the day, you can be certain you have many, many more unwanted guests. Cockroaches are among the most common and adaptable of insects on earth and have been able to survive many changing environments is evidenced by the fact that approximately 4,000 species exist in the world today and about 70 species are known to live in the United States. The cockroach was here on earth before mankind and is capable of surviving mankind. They are found in caves, mines, animal burrows, orangutan, termite and ant nests and in all of our buildings. Cockroaches need moisture to survive and follow edges when migrating to and from their harborage to feeding/moisture areas. The English word “cockroach” was first used in 1624 by Captain John Smith. Repellents – Try dusting with food-grade DE or baking soda or talcum powder or Comet® or spraying with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint, eucalyptus and/or rosemary or cedarwood or catnip essential oils or fresh marigolds or cucumber peels or petroleum jelly or a fan to repel them from an area temporarily. covering projects over their heads) and they have chewing mouthparts. Adults of most species have well-developed wings. The young nymphs resemble the adults except for the lack of wings and their smaller size. Depending on the house infesting species, roaches are light brown, reddish brown, dark brown and/or black, and some have characteristic markings; most have an unpleasant odor. Each species can be distinguished from each other by their appearance and their characteristic habits and habitats. The adults and immature forms of all roach species that are household pests are all present in established infestations. Cockroaches are normally nocturnal and will usually hide from bright light and only expose themselves to the light if they have no where left to hide, so if you see one during the day, you can be certain you have many, many more unwanted guests. Cockroaches are among the most common and adaptable of insects on earth and have been able to survive many changing environments is evidenced by the fact that approximately 4,000 species exist in the world today and about 70 species are known to live in the United States. The cockroach was here on earth before mankind and is capable of surviving mankind. They are found in caves, mines, animal burrows, orangutan, termite and ant nests and in all of our buildings. Cockroaches need moisture to survive and follow edges when migrating to and from their harborage to feeding/moisture areas. The English word “cockroach” was first used in 1624 by Captain John Smith.
Repellents – Try dusting with food-grade DE or baking soda or talcum powder or Comet® or spraying with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint, eucalyptus and/or rosemary or cedarwood or catnip essential oils or fresh marigolds or cucumber peels or petroleum jelly or a fan to repel them from an area temporarily.
Overcoming Common Cockroach Control Problems
Because the cockroach continues to reappear no matter how many times it has been professionally eliminated from a structure, the pest control industry considers these ancient creatures its bread and butter, so much so that the majority of the pest control industry’s income revolves around your need for continual cockroach control using their ineffective volatile poisons! Historically, over 15 billion dollars are spent each year (in the vain attempt) just to poison cockroaches. Obviously, this type of control has not worked – we still have the same amount of roaches and the volatile poisons are extremely dangerous to the human occupants and pets of the building. The only real control that can be obtained safely is to reduce the sources of food, water and the harborage points roaches need to survive. For the pest control community to actually control these pests permanently would simply destroy the poison applicators – no one wants to actually control or kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Despite man’s constant all out war waged upon this one insect for untold generations, its chances of ever becoming extinct and/or needing to be placed on a protected or an endangered species list are considered doubtful at best. They are all born scavengers, but the American roach will even feed on bed bugs when confined with them. They can live for weeks after their head is removed until they starve to death!
More money was historically spent yearly to “control” the lowly cockroach with poisons than any other house infesting pest. Learn the habits of each cockroach so you will know how to actually control these terrible pests.
Most cockroaches are tropical or sub-tropical in origin, generally living out of doors and most are only active at night when they emerge from their hiding places to forage for food. Their preferred living area provides them with food and water and is warm and moist. Some tropical roaches only consume vegetation, and some are gaily colored. Cockroaches that inhabit houses not only eat all kinds of human food, with a particular fondness for starchy materials, sweetened or sugary substances, beer and meat, they will also eat a great variety of other materials such as grease, soap, cheese, bone, leather, dead animals, plant materials, glue, paste, cardboard, ink, shoe polish and even dirty clothes. They have even been known to chew the fingernails, hair and eyelashes off sleeping people, especially infants. The most common mistakes in using bait stations is not placing them close enough to the area where roaches live – not eliminating all nearby alternative food choices and/or not using enough bait on stations and/or using too much boric acid or active ingredient.
Basic Cockroach Control Protocol
Each cockroach has its own peculiar habits and nesting area as different from each other as deer are from beavers. When trying to capture any animal, we try to place our traps where they nest or travel. Therefore, we must learn the habits of all cockroaches, so we will know how and where to effectively control them. Cockroaches spend about 75% of their time hidden in crack and crevice harborages into which they can just squeeze. Therefore, we must first find, then vacuum, power wash or heat or steam or enzyme or dust and then caulk all cracks and crevices and patch all openings that lead into wall voids, etc. The most preferred harborages are those of the proper size that are located nearest food and water sources and are warm and have a high relative humidity. Control these conditions and you control the roaches. They are also excellent hitchhikers.
Nontoxic Pest Management Protocols
1. Prevention
Change the conditions conducive to infestation. First eliminate clutter, especially any/all corrugated cardboard, paper and plastic grocery bags, pallets and debris which provide hiding places or shelter for roaches. Properly store food and garbage. Then install dehumidifiers and/or fans or negative ion plates, then daily inspect all incoming items for cockroaches and oothecae (egg cases). Then follow through with routine performance of proper maintenance; make sure the building is in tight physical condition to reduce entry and finally the routine and thorough caulking and patching all cracks and crevices and other openings inside especially plumbing and heating runs. Do not allow eating in any area outside of the dining room or break areas. Inspect all incoming goods.
2. Good Sanitation
Continue to eliminate clutter. Adopt cleaning standards that daily reduce the amount of available harborage, garbage, food and water. Routinely and thoroughly clean with enzyme cleaner all shelves, counters, cooking utensils, steamers, floors, fryers, ovens, mops, break areas, soft drink and/or beer dispensers, storage areas, dishwashers, stoves, mixers, refrigerators (don’t forget to remove the fiberglass insulation), drawers, sinks, drains, seals, baseboards and all cracks and crevices and then fog or mist all drop ceiling voids and tunnels with Safe Solutions, Inc. Enzyme Cleaners or Eucalyptus or Peppermint Soap and/or borax. The best way to clean is with a power washer. Then dust, use glue traps or simply vacuum all electrical boxes, motors, etc. and your roach problems will drop dramatically. Do not forget to rinse out all returned or recycled pop and beer cans with diluted enzyme cleaner before bringing them inside. There is enough sugar to feed roaches for days in these empty cans and literally thousands of recycled or returned cockroaches can be and are brought into a store each day.
3. Inspection and Routine Monitoring
A thorough nocturnal inspection of the entire building using a flushing agent, e.g., an aerosol can of air and (red or yellow covered) flashlight is the key to successful control because it determines which specie is involved and exactly where any/all the infestations/populations are and, therefore, where and what additional treatment is required. Part of any good monitoring or inspection program is the use of cockroach traps; these can either be purchased commercially or home made. They will help you see the real problem. Put down several strips of double-sided carpet tape or duct tape (sticky-side up) to clearly see from where they are coming. To make a cockroach trap take a quart or pint-sized mason jar and tape the outside with masking tape or stretch a dark man’s sock over the exterior; then coat the inside of the jar mouth with petroleum jelly, place in the bottom a 10 to 1 mix of water and molasses, a few inches of beer, some dry kibble and/or a slice of bread with a few drops of beer or a full pheromone trap and then set the jar upright in room corners. Cockroaches will climb up and fall into the jar to get the bait, but will not be able to cross the petroleum jelly barrier to escape. You can kill the trapped roaches with hot, soapy water, or simply screw a lid on the jar and put it in the freezer overnight. One of the primary means of initial cockroach infestation is being carried in, is on incoming goods, e.g., infested cardboard and grocery bags; look carefully before putting grocerie/products away; leave the bags and boxes outside if possible. Freeze used appliances and furniture before bringing them inside or put them in completely sealed plastic bags with CO2 for a few days or store them for several weeks or at least carefully inspect with air blasts all incoming goods, furniture, packages and luggage.
4. Elimination of water sources
The single most important factor in determining cockroach survival is the availability of water/humidity. Install and maintain fans, air conditioners and/or dehumidifiers. Repair all plumbing leaks. One leaky faucet can waste 6,000 gallons of water a year. Do not overwater plants. Empty refrigerator or air conditioner drip pans or add some Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner and/or borax. Repair leaky appliances, sinks and bathtubs. Do not let pet water remain out over night. Eliminate water (inside) humidity with dehumidifiers and/or air conditioners and collection sites outside and/or add a few drops of Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner and/or sprinkle some borax.
5. Humidity
Most roaches are attracted to moisture and areas with high humidity. Once people move out of an apartment unit and stop breathing, sweating, flushing, bathing, washing, showering and cooking the humidity drops and most roaches move away to a more humid unit. This should tell you a very important control secret. Use desiccating dusts and properly install and maintain dehumidifiers and fans and/or air conditioners. Repair all moisture problems and your roach population will also drop dramatically. Direct hair dryers on high or adjust tile softeners to the perfect setting and force dry, hot air into all cracks and crevices and see what happens. Fans left on 24 hours a day for 3 to 4 weeks will kill them.
6. Sanitation
Basically stated, practice proper sanitation; then routinely inspect the area carefully; use 5% or less boric acid or borax or food-grade DE or aspartame baits and/or dust only if and when necessary; paint/seal all bare wood, vacuum and/or steam clean and/or power wash thoroughly; routinely clean thoroughly; correct any moisture problems; seal and/or caulk thoroughly and screen thoroughly. Store all foods and wastes properly. Mop with diluted enzyme cleaner with sodium borate. Install pheromone traps. Vacuum them as they run from blasts of air during the day or vacuum at night with red or yellow lights to physically remove roaches – do this once a week until all activity ceases – remember start one hour after dark or one hour after the lights go out. Remember to dispose of vacuum bags by burning, burying, sealing them in plastic and placing outside in the garbage or after freezing them for several days. Routinely and thoroughly clean with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint. Sprinkle talcum powder or baking soda or Comet®, or food-grade DE and/or mop with borax or Mop Up®. Remove infested fiberglass insulation, paper bags and cardboard boxes. Caulk, caulk, caulk. Use copious amounts of nonvolatile bait with aspartame where they live or travel. Lower the temperature and humidity as often as possible. Spray Not Nice to Bugs® as needed.
7. Poison The Buggers
Later, after all else has failed and only if absolutely necessary carefully make a spot (nonvolatile) insecticide poison application. Start with boric acid or dusts, e.g., food-grade DE, talcum or medicated body powder or Comet® carefully placed in cracks, crevices and voids. Be sure to carefully read and follow the entire pesticide poison label regarding kitchen food areas, because some pesticide poisons may be applied only when the kitchen is not in operation while others may not be used in commercial food areas at all.
8. Follow-up or Maintenance Service
Once an IPM program is carefully instituted, follow-up usually consists of nocturnal and/or daytime inspections with a flashlight and mirror and/or a flushing agent (canned air) and/or the use of monitoring traps or tapes to find missed or newly introduced cockroaches, and carefully vacuuming or spot treating any active reinfestations found. Search out the source. Reread the first sections. Clean and/or spray with diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaner and/or Not Nice to Bugs
Cockroach Prevention
No matter where you live, it’s vital to get rid of these nasty, pesky roaches! Now that you have an inkling as to how you can identify them, you can get rid of them. However, it’s not all that easy to eliminate these roaches completely. Once you’ve gotten rid of them first, you’ll have to put in some effort to make sure they don’t invade your home again!
In addition, it’s equally important to also kill all of the young roaches so that their population in your house reduces drastically. Roaches never dwell in clean places, so they can bring in a lot of bacteria into your home, which can be quite disgusting. Apart from the diseases they spread, they also secrete compounds that have a mild odor. Time is of the essence since these buggers can reproduce fairly quickly, so let’s get to it!
There’s a chance that your first few attempts to get rid of your nasty friends may not eliminate them completely. There are various ways in which they can gain entry into your house, which makes their intrusions unpredictable. Before you think about the cure, I would suggest thinking about preventive methods. This especially applies to people who want to prevent roaches from entering their homes, as opposed to those whose houses are already roach-infested. In some cases, it will take up to 8 weeks to eliminate them, but if you’re lucky, it can take as little as 2 weeks. Therefore, it’s better to use preventive methods before anything else.
Prevention:
- An effective method to prevent roach infestations is to maintain a clean home. Roaches cannot survive in clean areas and thus, if you’re clean, it makes it very difficult for them to continue with their antics. Clean each and every corner of your house and make sure it stays that way. Sanitation is very important in order to prevent roaches from invading your space.
- Be sure not to drag any roaches home with you! If you spend some time in an unclean environment, be sure to check all your bags. Regardless of whether you are at a friend’s home, a hotel or a warehouse, if there is a roach infestation it’s better to be safe than sorry. It is very possible for roaches to accompany you back to your home. So, as a preventive method, check everything to make sure they are clean before returning to your abode.
- Make your home unsuitable for them. Make a conscious effort not to leave any food outside the refrigerator at night. Also, don’t forget to wash your dishes! Unwashed plates lying in the sink can turn out to be a huge party for these pests.Since they love warm places, they spend their time in bathrooms and kitchens more than the other rooms in the house. Also, you need to clean your kitchen cabinets by wiping them down from time to time.Seal all your food containers, ensuring that the roaches can’t destroy them.I understand that it’s easy to preach than to practice, but you need to remember that if these roaches enter your home, they make it a point to stay with you for a long time.
- Surprisingly, roaches even feed on other miscellaneous non-food items, especially paper products. Items such as newspapers, books, cardboard, paper bags, etc. can easily absorb a particular pheromone that roaches give off. This pheromone relays a message to other roaches, informing them of the whereabouts of their comrades. It’s also used as a guiding system so that roaches can make their way from place to place. That being said, it’s important that you avoid letting many of these paper products pile up anywhere in your house!
- Leaving food crumbs on the ground is essentially a direct invitation for roaches. Allocate a single room to eat your food instead of eating in multiple rooms. It can be difficult to mop your floor every day, but I would highly suggest doing it at least three times per week to make sure it’s clean. After mopping, don’t forget to mop it dry since roaches will use the water to survive. Be sure to use a minimal amount of water to avoid splashing and spilling too much. Using your handy vacuum cleaner is also a great idea. Not only does your vacuum cleaner help you pick up all of your food crumbs, but it also helps you eliminate eggs and shed skins. The more you vacuum, the more likely roaches will leave your house alone.
- If you live in a warmer climate, you’ll probably find it a bit easier to get rid of roaches rather than preventing them. As the climate gets hotter, it becomes impossible to get rid of them and as a result, roaches thrive in places like Florida. However, even if you reside in a location with warm climates, you need to maintain a clean, dry home. Remember that ‘dry’ is the keyword here, because roaches find it difficult to survive if your home is dry. As an added measure, you can also wipe your sinks, showers and bathtubs dry at night before you to go to bed.
- Roaches love to reside in trash cans and other dirty areas, so you need to pay attention and remove trash cans and keep your yard and other places clean.
- I mentioned that roaches love hotter climates, but the humidity also plays a major role. Simply put – roaches tend to live in places that have high humidity. Therefore, you can control the humidity by using a dehumidifier if you want to prevent roaches from entering your house.
- Roaches can’t survive forever without water. However, they can still survive for at least a week without water supply. Of course, you aren’t supplying any water directly to them, but they are smart enough to figure out where they can find it.The main source is usually a leak somewhere. Since there are various places where water can leak in your home, you need to find them all and stop leakage, if any. Check your shower heads, garden hose, taps, hose bibs, meter lines and toilets to see if there are any leaks. Find a way to quickly fix all the leaks in your house or hire a plumber to do the job for you.
- Roaches usually enter through cracks, so it is very important to find all the cracks in your home and seal them, thus blocking their entrance. It’s important to seal the cracks on the exterior as well as the interior of your house to block every pathway. Of course, this will take some time, but this tactic is the most effective preventive method since you are eliminating their breeding and hiding locations. In addition, check all your kitchen cabinets, floors and walls to identify any cracks and seal them up completely.
- Trim plants that are around your building to increase the light circulation, particularly near vents as this reduces the possibility of dense plants growing there. Since roaches love residing in warm, dark places, trimming plants will reduce their population considerably. In addition, having gravel areas that are at least 10 to 12 inches wide surrounding the perimeter of the buildings can help keep roaches away.
If you need help with Cockroach Control in Cooper City, Weston, Davie, or Pembroke Pines, please contact us
Identifying Your Cockroach
Species
There are about 4,600 species of cockroaches, but only six of them commonly become irritating pests: the German cockroach, the Oriental cockroach, the American cockroach, the Turkestan cockroach, the Smoky brown cockroach, and the Brown-banded cockroach. Indeed, there are about 4,594 other species of roaches other than these six; however, they don’t normally take refuge within the human habitat. Every once in a while you may find one of these cockroaches crawling into your house when temperatures rise but have no fear; it probably isn’t your typical harmful pest that should be worried about.
Identification
Identifying the specific type of cockroach plays a key role in choosing the correct method to eliminate it. Belonging to the superorder Dictyoptera, cockroaches are polyneopterous insects that grow in medium to large sizes. It is considerably easy to spot a cockroach, and while some roaches have a noticeable odor, others are odor-free. These flattened, large, broad pests have long antennae and a pronotum, which is the visible section behind the roach’s head that is shaped almost like a shield.
Many people confuse beetles with cockroaches, though there are some distinct features that separate beetles from roaches. For instance, while beetles have hard forewings, also known as Elytra, roaches have wings that consist of various membranes. However, small cockroaches that have yet to become adults lack wings.
Cockroaches are nocturnal insects and tend to separate from their group when they are disturbed. Among the six species of roaches mentioned above, the Brown-banded and the German cockroaches are the ones you should worry about the most! These two species have a tendency to invade buildings and homes inhabited by people. The remaining four species live outdoors and rarely intrude into buildings.
I will now go over the various types of roaches that you should be looking out for. Remember, identification is a crucial part in determining the appropriate method of extermination!
The German cockroach
Size: 0.5 inches.
Color: Light brown with about two stripes on their pronotum.
Dwelling Locations: Places with storage and food areas, homes, bathrooms, kitchens, warehouses, etc.
Among all the species of cockroaches, the German cockroach is considered the most harmful since it can invade numerous buildings and structures, especially those that contain multiple families. Needless to say, this cockroach puts all the other cockroaches in bad light thanks to its ability to destroy homes.
These cockroaches thrive in places with warmer temperatures and studies have shown that they can’t inhabit structures or places with cold temperatures. In fact, it is commonly known that these roaches can’t survive in places that aren’t inhabited by humans. For the most part, the German cockroaches dwell in locations that contain an abundant supply of water, food, and heat.
The Brown-banded Cockroach
Size: 0.5 inches.
Color: Adult males are light golden-tan and females are usually dark brown. Both male and female adults have colored bands on their abdomen, sides of their pronotum, and wings.
Dwelling Locations: Kitchens, clutter, hollow legs of any furniture, warm areas, etc.
The Supella longipalpa, otherwise known as the Brown-banded cockroach isn’t as popular or as destructive as the German cockroach. These pests seek warm hiding places and nest in places where the temperatures are at least 80 degrees F. Their favorite locations are warm places such as electrical components in televisions, refrigerators, and radios.
These roaches love starchy food and are often seen at places that store paper (for example, offices). Since they prefer locations that aren’t air-conditioned, they search for hospitals, warehouses, animal rearing facilities, and kitchens. Adult males will fly when they are disturbed, but females don’t fly. Females glue their egg cases (which are typically a quarter-inch long) to ceilings, closets, spaces beneath furniture, and other dark places. The eggs incubate for many weeks before they hatch and every female cockroach (including her children) has the capacity to produce more than 600 new roaches every single year! That’s a lot of cockroaches!
The Oriental Cockroach
Size: 1.25 inches.
Color: Adult males are almost black in color and have wings that are usually shorter than their bodies. Adult females are also black in color but their wings are commonly underdeveloped.
Dwelling Locations: Places that are damp and cool are usually preferred. These roaches love areas such as garages, drains, woodpiles, ivy, and basements.
The Blatta Orientalis, otherwise known as the Oriental cockroach is oftentimes referred to as either the black beetle or a water bug. Found in damp, wet areas, these roaches survive in temperatures that are colder and often multiply to huge numbers when given the chance.
These roaches tend to move slower compared to the other species of roaches and come out at night in search of food within buildings and other damp areas. Oriental roaches can’t fly and don’t have the ability to walk on vertical, smooth surfaces. Therefore, they are commonly seen stuck in tubs and sinks. Similar to Brown-banded roaches, the Oriental roach also deposits egg cases that are dark red or brownish in color.
The Smoky Brown Cockroach
Size: 1.5 inches.
Color: Nymphs are usually dark brown in color. Their pronotum is slightly darker than their body and is almost black.
Dwelling Locations: Places that are damp and cool are usually preferred. They also like trees, attics, shrubs, planter boxes, and other vegetation.
Similar to Oriental roaches, these guys love to reside in garages, basements, and water meter boxes. You’ll also find them dwelling in trees and other vegetation. However, Smokybrown roaches are also commonly found in attics since they love the upper levels of buildings, unlike others that prefer lower levels.
Females are known to carry their egg cases, which are dark brown and blackish in color. They carry it for an entire day before delivering the goods. Each egg case can be at least 3/8th of an inch long. The cases typically produce at least 40-45 nymphs when they hatch. Hatching can occur anywhere within 24-70 days, depending on the temperature.
The American Cockroach
Size: 2 inches.
Color: Adults are usually reddish-brown in color. Their pronotum has a lighter color when compared to the body.
Dwelling Locations: Places that are warm and humid are usually preferred. They also love outdoor locations such as zoos, animal rearing facilities, storm drains, steam tunnels, and sewers. The Periplaneta Americana, also known as the American cockroach, loves environments that exceed at least 82 degrees F. Commonly dwelling in zoos and other warm locations, they are known to travel from sewers to buildings and reside in lower levels. Adult females attach their egg cases to protected surfaces, allowing them to incubate for at least 2 months.
The Turkestan Cockroach
Size: 1 inch.
Color: Adult females have colored markings that are cream in color. These markings are present behind its head and around the wings, which are short and have a yellow-colored tan. The wings also have stripes around the edges.
Dwelling Locations: The Blattalateralis, also known as the Turkestan cockroach, is found within concrete cracks, litters of leaves, plants and other compost piles. Also found in sewer systems, they are generally mistaken for roaches from other species. Adult females are very similar to Oriental roaches. The nymphs are usually dark red and black.
The Field Cockroach
Size: 0.5 inches
Color: Adults are usually grayish or olive-brown in color. Additionally, they have two stripes on the pronotum, including stripes between their eyes.
Dwelling Locations: Similar to Turkestan roaches, even these little guys like to reside in leaf litters and other plant debris. The Blatellavaga, also known as the field cockroach, is usually found outdoors but may invade your indoor area when the temperature is too hot to bear. They are olive in color, albeit darker when compared to German roaches; however, they are commonly mistaken for them. It takes about 3 months for a nymph to grow into an adult cockroach. Adult female field roaches tend to carry the egg cases, each case having the capacity to produce at least 30-40 roaches.
If you need help with Cockroach Control in Cooper City, Weston, Davie, or Pembroke Pines, please contact us
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