American Cockroach

Our call center and service centers have recently received a lot of calls regarding cockroaches.  So we thought this would be a great opportunity to educate our readers on the American Cockroach in the event that you are experiencing this nuisance as well!

The American Cockroach, “Waterbug” or “Palmettobug”, as we like to call it in the south, is suspected to have been brought over to North America via ships from Africa.  These hideous looking bugs are known to be an inch or longer and reddish brown in color.  Both male and female cockroaches have wings but are not good fliers.

The female cockroachwill drop her ootheca, or egg, about 4 days after it is formed.  The cockroach eggs are dropped in cracks or crevices of high humidity near a food source, which could mean health issues for you in your home or business.  On average, the female cockroachwill produce 9-10 ootheca which will contain 14-16 eggs in each.  It takes the eggs on average of 600 days to develop.  The life span for female eggs is between 225-440 days, depending on temperature, while males typically live about 200 days.

Although, we have recently seen a growing number of cockroaches in homes, they are more often found in large commercial buildings such as restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, food processing plants, hospitals, etc.  They are in search of food in these commercial buildings the same way they are when they are in your home.  Cockroaches often enter homes and buildings by being brought in, traveling through sewer systems or mass migration from other structures such as dumps etc. 

If you are experiencing problems with cockroaches in your home or business, call Northwest Exterminating and we will be glad to serve you!

Interesting Facts:

• Although they feed on many kinds of food, they show a particular fondness for fermenting food.
• The American Cockroach is the most common species found in city sewer systems in the US.

Treatment:

• Granular bait formulations in attics and crawl spaces
• Dust in attic and crawl spaces
• Perimeter spray treatments
• Perimeter granular bait treatments
• Call the best, call NORTHWEST