Roach Elimination with Creepy Critters

• One of the oldest insects – fossil remains date back 200 million years.
• Crawl around on six legs, have wings and two antennae.
• Like dark, damp places with a plentiful food supply; hide during the day in warm, dark places, such as under sinks, behind dishwashers, stoves and refrigerators, and inside cupboards.
• Feed on a variety of foods, especially starchy and sugary materials, including book bindings, photographic film, linens, leather goods and numerous food items; usually forage at night.
• Can survive a month or more without food, but less than two weeks without water.
• Have an acrid odor that may permeate items with which they come in contact.
• Can transmit bacteria and organisms responsible for diseases in humans including food poisoning, cholera, dysentery, salmonellosis and strep. 
• A study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a report in the New England Journal of Medicine indicate that exposure to cockroach allergens is a major health concern for asthmatic children. 
• Under optimum conditions, cockroaches can produce two million offspring in one year, with an average breeding season resulting in 350,000 offspring.
• Found around the world. Two species are prevalent in the United States, the American cockroach and the German cockroach.
• The American cockroach has reddish-brown wings and light markings on its thorax and reaches lengths of up to 1.5 inches.
• The German cockroach is between one-half and five-eighths inches long and is light brown with two dark stripes down its back.

 

AMERICAN COCKROACHES Periplaneta americana (L.)


Color: Reddish brown, with a yellowish figure 8 pattern on the back of the head
Legs: Six
Shape: Oval
Size: 2"
Antennae: Yes
Flight: Yes
The American cockroach is the largest of the house-infesting cockroach.

Habits?
American cockroaches are found in food processing areas and food storage areas, as well as other types of buildings. They are active when the temperature is 70 degrees or higher, but they can survive lower temperatures with the right conditions.

Habitat?
American cockroaches are often found in sewers and basements, particularly around pipes and drains.

Threats?
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.

American Cockroaches can be found in All 50 States

Prevention?
Good sanitation and habitat reduction, along with vacuuming, surveillance, a baiting program, and some sealing of cracks can usually quickly reduce or eliminate a cockroach population.