ANTS | TERMITES | WASPS | PROTECTION PLAN

Cockroaches (Order: Blattodea)

Cockroaches are often considered the ultimate pests. Just thinking about them invokes feelings of disgust and thoughts of filth. Not only that, but they can be nearly impossible to kill. After all, there’s a reason for the joke about Twinkies and Roaches surviving a nuclear disaster. Once you have them, they can be difficult to remove. Luckily, ASAP Operators can help.

Habitat and Diet

When it comes to cockroaches, there are five main species that are well known for being pests in North America: the German Cockroach (Blattella germanica), the American Cockroach ( Periplaneta americana), the Oriental Cockroach (Blatta orientalis), the Brown-banded Cockroach (Supella longipalpa), and the Smokey Brown Cockroach (Periplaneta fuliginous). Each of the five different species has their own preferred habitat as well and diet.

American Cockroaches, for example, prefer to make their homes in warm, moist areas like flower beds and trees. That doesn’t mean, however, that they can’t find a way into your home. When outside, the roaches eat wood, fungi, and other small insects. Inside, they will eat anything they can find.

German roaches are usually found in homes or businesses. They also prefer warm, humid areas and are most often found in kitchens, bathrooms, and around electrical appliances. They will move to other areas of a home or building, though, to be closer to a food source. German Roaches will eat just about anything.

Oriental cockroaches are another species that prefers to dwell outside. They’re often found living in swarms in storm drains, and other cool, wet areas. They are highly dependent on water, and can’t survive for long without any. Oriental roaches feed solely on filth, garbage, and decaying materials.

Often mistaken for German cockroaches, Brown-banded roaches are also very small, and are most often found in homes and businesses. Unlike German roaches, though, they don’t thrive in humid areas, preferring to move into warmer areas like in the ceilings, attics, and in electronics. While they will eat just about anything, Brown-banded roaches prefer high starch content items like wallpaper glue, book bindings, and stamps.

Smokey Brown Cockroaches are roaches that fly at night toward bright lights. They fly from trees into your home, being attracted to any trash or pet food left out. Smokey brown roaches are found many times under shingles and gutters (feeding on organic debris). They are commonly found along roof lines. These roaches are found in moisture-prone areas because this roach dries up rapidly and requires a constant source of water. They avoid areas which could dry them out such as vents, and any place with a sizeable current of air. They are found in mulch, woodpiles, leaf litter, tree bark. They are there as a protection against drying out.

For the southern states, the Smokey Brown Roach is abundant outside and can be found in tree holes and canopies of palm trees. Other areas of harborage are in flower beds, mulched areas, block walls and gardens.

DAMAGE

While certain cockroaches inflict damage to your physical home, they do much more damage to the people living in the infested home, or building. Their dandruff and discarded skins can cause respiratory problems, like asthma, in sensitive people. Each of the pest species is known to spread diseases that they carry, as well outside illnesses brought on by what they feed on.

American, German, Oriental, Smokey Brown, and Brown-banded cockroaches all secret a musty odor when they collect in large quantities. This is caused by their pheromones, and can also make people ill.