Cockroach Identification
When dealing with cockroaches, it’s best to hire a professional – they can be very good at hiding and even better at hiding their eggs. They reproduce very quickly and in a short time, could get out of hand. The inside of your home is a great place for them to thrive with unlimited food, water, warmth and places to hide. Roaches can be a pest all year long! They can be brought in by deliveries, grocery bags, used appliances and electronics and personal items like purses or backpacks. Some roaches can even carry and transfer disease and a variety of pathogenic organisms such as food poisoning, diarrhea and other illnesses.
German Cockroach
The German cockroach is the most important cockroach pest species because of its high reproductive rates, small size and ability to adapt and survive under almost any condition. Prior to the new millennium, German cockroaches were the number one pest species throughout the United States. However, the advent of cockroach baits made their control significantly easier. German cockroaches can transmit allergens and diseases to humans with the young, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems being most susceptible.
Although named the German cockroach, the most widespread cockroach pest in the world probably originated in Southeast Asia and expanded to urban areas through human travel and commerce. The first specimens to be identified may have been from Germany and assumed to be German. However, the fact that cold is a major limiting factor to their survival points to their not being native to Europe.
German cockroaches are domestic pests that rely on humans for food, harborage and transportation. They are rarely found outdoors and not in wild populations away from structures. Although they have fully developed wings, they do not fly since they are specialized for living with and being transported by humans. They also have certain reproductive traits that allow infestations to grow rapidly. While most cockroach species drop their egg capsules, German cockroach females carry theirs until the eggs are ready to hatch, which helps prevent dehydration and parasitism. Each German cockroach egg capsule contains around 40 eggs, about double the number produced by most other cockroaches. Also, the time period from egg to reproductive adult is shortest for German cockroaches, about two to three months.
Once inside a structure, they gravitate towards areas that provide warmth, moisture and food. After warmth, water is more important than food and they can survive longer without food than without water. German cockroach management usually fails when treatments aren’t applied directly to harborages because they weren’t found during an inspection. Harborages can be treated with a variety of formulations, including baits and liquid residuals. An insect growth regulator (IGR) can be applied on a regular basis (according to its label) ahead of German cockroach introductions to help prevent them from growing into infestations by sterilizing immatures when they molt into adults. IGRs containing hydroprene are volatile enough to translocate from where they are applied and can be effective even if they’re not applied directly to cockroach harborages.
Biology and Behavior
American Cockroach
The American Cockroach is actually not native to the United States, but instead originates from Africa. It emigrated to North America via trans-oceanic trade. The cockroaches stowed away on board ships and were introduced to this continent as well as Antarctica and Greenland. Their original habitat was warm and humid, but they have acclimated to colder climates by taking shelter in warm indoor spaces such as buildings, warehouses and homes. They have also been able to survive in colder areas such as underground subways and sewers.
