Cockroach

Although there are a lot of different species of Cockroaches around the world, the one you are most likely to see in our service area is going to be the German Cockroach. The German Cockroach, which has worldwide distribution, is by far the most important and the most common cockroach. In addition to being a nuisance, it is associated with outbreaks of illness, allergic reactions in many people, and transmission of a variety of pathogenic organisms including at least one parasitic protozoan.

Adults are 1/2 to 5/8 inch long. They are light brown to tan except for two dark stripes going down their back. The female is darker that the male, and abdomen is broader. Adults rarely "fly." The yellowish-brown egg sack, carried by the female, is dropped immediately prior to egg hatch. It is 1/4 to 3/8 inch long and slightly arched. On the average, the female will produce about five egg cases, averaging 30 to 40 eggs each. Developmental time (egg to adult) varies from 54 to 215 days, averaging about 103 days. There are usually three to four generations per year, and can be up to six. The adult German Cockroach will between 100 and 200 days. Nymphs which is the baby cockroach make up about 75 percent of the colony.

German Cockroaches can be found throughout the structure, but show preference for warn and humid places. You will find them in bathrooms, kitchens and other rooms where people eat or drink. Cracks and crevices near food areas is where you are likely to find them. Roaches spend about 75 percent of their time in such harborages. Small sized nymphs require a tiny crack of 1/64 inch, whereas adults require a crack of around 3/16 of an inch.

These cockroaches are introduced into buildings through paper products and packaging such as grocery bags, cardboard boxes and drink cartons, and through second hand appliances such as refrigerators, TVs, VCRs and microwaves. On rare occasions, they have been seen migrating from building to building on warm evenings. Although uncommon, they can survive outdoors during the warm months.

They feed on almost anything with nutritive value including all kinds of food, as well as soap, toothpaste and glue, this is why it is very common to have a German Cockroach infestation in libraries because of the glue content in the bindings.

How to control cockroaches: Control methods vary and you need to destroy 95 percent of the population to be successful. Some companies choose the "Clean Out" method as did we before some careful research. The clean out method consists of taking everything out of the infected area and applying a residual pesticide and using a flushing agent to draw them out to the residual product. Also with the residual you will have to have a growth regulator which will prevent breeding and maturity of the nymphs. After careful research we have opted to go to the baiting system which includes careful bait placement in the affected area, which all the roaches will feed on and die. This sounds simple enough because it is, it just takes careful inspection and proper placement of baits. But most of all it keeps pesticides out of the house and keeps us in the direction of our mission to use IPM and not become blind applicators.