Cockroaches

American Cockroach

General Information: Most cockroaches are about ½” in length, while the American cockroach is the largest of the house-infesting cockroaches and will reach up to 2”.  They are active when the temperature is 70 degrees or higher, but they can survive lower temperatures with the right conditions. Females can hatch up to 150 offspring per year. Cockroaches don’t get their wings until they become adults.
Diet: These pests are scavengers and would eat almost anything.  They prefer fermenting foods such as beer.
Habitat: American cockroaches are found in food processing areas and food storage areas. They are commonly found in large commercial buildings, especially in steam tunnels and sewers.

German Cockroach

General Information: The German cockroach is by far the most important and usually the most common of the cockroaches. In addition to being a nuisance, the German cockroach has been implicated in outbreaks of illness and allergic reactions in many people. This species has worldwide distribution.
Diet: German cockroaches are scavangers and will eat almost anything.
Habits: German cockroaches can be found throughout structures but show a preference for warm and humid places. They are usually found in kitchens and secondarily in bathrooms, but infestations often occur in rooms where people eat and drink. 
Habitat: German cockroaches prefer to live in cracks and crevices near food sources and spend 75% of their time in such harborages. German cockroaches prefer to live close to sources of food and water, hence their affinity for residential and commercial kitchen environments.

Brownbanded Cockroach

General Information: Brown banded cockroaches get their name from the two lighter bands they have across their dark brownish bodies. In addition to the distinctive banding, males have full wings, which reach beyond the tip of their rather pointed abdomens, but females have underdeveloped wings, much shorter than their broad, rounded abdomens. The lighter band markings are much more distinct in nymphs than in adults of either sex.
Diet: Brownbanded cockroaches are scavangers and will eat almost anything.
Habits: Male brownbanded cockroaches have been observed to fly indoors. Among cockroach species, brownbanded cockroaches have the most distinctions between sexes. Females have larger abdomen and shorter wings than males. Brownbanded cockroaches often hide their egg cases in or under furniture.
Habitat: Within a room, these roaches tend to prefer warmer, drier, and higher locations than do any of the other urban pest roaches. They are often found in upper cabinets or in other rooms than the kitchens (food preparation areas) or bathrooms.

Oriental Cockroaches

General Information: Oriental cockroaches are a pest invader that most frequently gains entry beneath the thresholds of doors, through open doors or gaps beneath siding, even following utility lines, pipes, open drains or sewers into a structure or home.
Diet: Oriental cockroaches are known for their preference of feeding on garbage, filth or material that has begun to decay. These cockroaches are very dependent upon water. While studies have shown that they can survive for up to a month without food, these insects can not survive for more than two weeks without water.
Habitat: Primarily an outdoors species, oriental cockroaches are well adapted for surviving in the natural environment. Most outdoor populations can be found living beneath the mulch in landscape beds, in leaf litter, beneath stones or debris outdoors. If access is available, the insects can thrive in the voids or openings beneath porches, in wall voids and crawlspaces. In more metropolitan areas, oriental roaches can be found in large numbers living in storm drains and sewers.

Asian Cockroaches

General Information: Asian cockroaches appear identical to German cockroaches. The best way to distinguish them is through their behavior. Asian cockroaches are capable flyers, while German cockroaches are not. Asian cockroaches also live primarily outdoors, while German cockroaches tend to infest human dwellings.
Diet:  Asian cockroach is omnivorous and feeds on any available food source. They have been known to carry germs and can spread diseases to humans. Asian cockroaches are prolific breeders and reach peak populations in spring and summer.
Habitat: Asian cockroaches are typically located in shaded, moist areas. While they are more likely to infest outdoor areas, they do sometimes enter homes. Asian cockroaches are most active at dusk and fly long distances toward sources of light. You may see an Asian cockroach attracted to your television screen or perched near lamps and other sources of illumination.

Risks associated with cockroaches:

Cockroaches have been reported to spread at least 33 kinds of bacteria, six kinds of parasitic worms, and at least seven other kinds of human pathogens. They can pick up germs on the spines of their legs and bodies as they crawl through decaying matter or sewage and then carry these into food or onto food surfaces. Germs that cockroaches eat from decaying matter or sewage are protected while in their bodies and may remain infective for several weeks longer than if they had been exposed to cleaning agents, rinse water, or just sunlight and air.

Recent medical studies have shown that cockroach allergens cause lots of allergic reactions in inner city children. They were even shown to cause asthma in children. These allergens build up in deposits of droppings, secretions, cast skins, and dead bodies of roaches.

Cockroach Prevention:

• Keep cooking, eating and food storage areas clean and dry.
• If you see cockroaches, call Barry's Pest Control due to the illnesses they can spread.