Cockroach Pest Control

German cockroaches are light brown to tan with two dark stripes located on their backs. They are oval shaped with six legs and antennae. 10 – 16 mm in length. German cockroach have wings but barely flies.

Depending on the conditions, the average time it takes for the German cockroach to develop from egg to adult can range from 54 to 215 days. The average is 100 days.

German Cockroaches eat almost anything. They are lovers of starches, sweets, meats, breads, gravies, and almost any other human or pet food. They will also eat glue and book bindings.

The German Cockroach is the most sociable of the pest species and is often found in large groups, especially near warm areas like water heaters. Although nocturnal, the German cockroach is occasionally seen during day. When excited or frightened, the species releases an unpleasant odour.

They nest in moist, dark areas including: under kitchen appliances, sinks, in cabinets, behind baseboards or moldings, in wall voids and pantries.

German cockroaches do not bite or sting but they do feed and live in areas that harbour dangerous bacteria.

Firefighters in Pana, Illinois found a cockroach infestation so massive that the city council agreed that the best option was to burn the house down.

Oriental Cockroaches have a shiny black to a dark reddish-brown color. As adults, the male and female cockroaches Grow to only 25 mm in length, they have large wing pads that shelter the first few segments of their bodies. While differing in appearance, neither males nor females can fly.

The incubation period for the oriental cockroach is about 42 to 81 days. An adult oriental can live from 34 to 180 days, and pairing takes place at any season.

The oriental cockroach feeds on all kinds of food, especially decaying organic matter, starchy foods and garbage.

The Oriental Cockroach is most common in May, June, and July. The adult is active during the spring, and the nymph from March- During this period the nymph casts its skin from seven to ten times. This species is found in groups, like the other species of cockroaches, but is more sluggish.

Oriental cockroaches nest in damp, dark areas. Outdoors, these roaches can be found living underneath piles of leaves and grass as well as under mulch and soil found around foundations and stone walls.

The feces and saliva of the Oriental cockroach contain problematic proteins and allergens, which may trigger asthma attacks.

American cockroaches are reddish brown with yellowish pattern on the back of their head. They are 30 – 50 mm in length.

Adult cockroaches can live up to two years, during the period, females produce an average of 150 young. The American cockroach reproductive cycle can last up to 600 days.

American cockroaches are omnivores that consume a wide variety of foods, including milk, plant shoots and fermenting fruits. American cockroaches will also eat sweets and starchy items.

American Cockroaches seem to prefer decaying organic material, but will eat most human or animal foods as well as paper and clothing. They have also been observed to feed upon dead or wounded cockroaches of their own or other species.

They prefer warm, damp areas like flowerbeds, and under mulch.They are very common in sewer systems.

The American cockroach can transmit diseases that can potentially affect the human digestive system, such as diarrhea and dysentery.

In China there is a farmer who uses 300 million American cockroaches to get rid of 15 tonnes of food waste per day.

The Brown Banded Cockroach is 0.5cm in length. Males are dark-brown at base and golden-tan toward wing tips; females have reddish-brown wings and dark-brown bodies.

An adult brown-banded cockroach can live anywhere from 130 to 315 days, with an average lifespan of 206 days.

Brown Banded Cockroaches eat almost anything organic, including bodily fluids and decaying matter. You may find them nibbling on stamps, envelopes, books and wallpaper.

Brown-banded cockroaches are not as likely to cluster together but when populations are large, females tend to deposit their egg cases in bunches.

Brown-banded cockroaches prefer dry and warm locations and can be found inside cabinets, pantries and closets. They can also hide from humans in a variety of places such as clocks and picture frames. They tend to avoid water sources and are more commonly found near the ceilings of infested homes.

The Brown banded Cockroach has been reported to cause allergies which may result in asthma and other long-term health issues.

The wings are especially long in the males which can be up 11 mm long, and shorter winged females up to 10 mm long.

The Dusky cockroach’s egg cases are produced and carried by the female for one or two days the nymphs hatch in the spring. The nymphs hibernate during the late stages of development to become adults.

The Dusky cockroach eats vegetation and it is known to prey on other insects.

Adult and nymph males are mostly found on low-lying vegetation. Females are often found in decaying wood.

The Dusky cockroaches are known to nest in vegetation .female roaches carry the eggs for 24 hours after which they are deposited in leaf-litter.

Dusky cockroaches have not been reported to cause any health hazard to humans.

The species is called the Red-headed cockroach (Deropeltis erythrocephala), or sometimes referred to as the Bush cockroach, which is a medium-sized cockroach around 30-35 mm in size, it is black in colour, with females more rounder than males, and pose no wings, whereas males are longer in length, but are slimmer and possess wings.

They are relatively slow-moving and occur in various habitats and vegetation types, with them seeking shelter and living mostly under rocks, stones, or any harbourage point in the wild such as tree trunks or tree bark. They are active around trees, bushes, shrubs and any other ground cover, and rarely enter people’s dwellings, as they live in outdoor environments, but do occasionally wander into properties from outdoors, or when new developments go up near areas where they naturally occur.

These cockroaches pose no threat to creating an indoor infestation because if they are found indoors, they would have accidentally moved inside from their natural outdoor environment. Unlike other species of cockroach such as the German cockroach, which will establish itself and breed in ideal conditions indoors.