According to the United States Census Bureau, it’s pretty common to find cockroaches in a house. After all, 14 million residents of the US reported cockroach infestation. Most of these infestations were by the common house cockroach, also known as small roaches. However, infestation with accidental intruders like palmetto bugs and wood roaches in Florida and Michigan is common compared to other states.
If you have spotted a cockroach in your house, follow these steps,
- Identify the type of cockroach, weather it is a dangerous cockroach with infestation capability or an accidental intruder such as the big roaches.
- Analyze the level of infestation by looking around the house for other roaches and their products
- Draw an extermination plan for house cockroach, including using a gel bait, insecticide spray, cockroach trap or other methods
- Prevent roaches from getting into your house in future by using different tecniques and methods.
Should you worry if you have seen a cockroach in your house? What next to do if you have seen a house cockroach? How to get rid of house cockroaches? These questions are critical to exterminating roaches to keep you away from these filthy creatures. Therefore, I will be answering these questions in the blog below; stay tuned, fellows.
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Use these products, and you will be roach free in less than a week.
1. Advion Cockroach Gel Bait (Review)
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1. Combat Roach Traps (Easy than gel baits)
2. Hot Shot Foggers (To kill in masses – 95%)
3. Pet Safe Killers (Uses Essential Oils)
4. Ortho Defence Outdoor Roach Killer (Prevent Roaches)
House Cockroach; [Explained]
Out of the majority of species of cockroaches found in the US, only a few of them infest homes. Most roaches live outdoors because they get everything, including food, water, shelter, and warmth, in the environment and never need to infest homes.
These cockroaches include,
- Madagascar hissing cockroach
- Discoid roach
- Dubia roach
- Red runner roach
- Giant Burrowing cockroach
- Megaloblatta longipennis
However, few roaches have adapted themselves so well to the human environment that they are dependent on humans for survival. Therefore, a cockroach mainly found in human houses and dwellings is called a house cockroach.
A house cockroach is small, measuring less than an inch. Unfortunately, it is also very dangerous because it transfers diseases, triggers allergies and asthma episodes. However, most of the house roaches do not fly and bite.
If a house roach is spotted around, you must not take it lightly because it can infest the house like wildfire and turn your house into a roach breeding ground.
To know whether your place is infested with roaches, look for cockroach smear marks around the damp corners. They are an indication of an infestation.
Types of House Cockroach
Cockroaches infest houses in search of four things,
- Ample food in form of garbage, filth, food bites or starchy items.
- Shelter to hide away and lay eggs
- Humidity/Water
- High tempratures
Therefore, if you only find dead cockroaches in your house, you should be happy because it means that your house lacks the above four things that are necessary to support cockroach life.
There are three types of house cockroaches; cockroaches that love to infest homes,
1. German Cockroach
Assume every house cockroach to be a German roach until and unless proven otherwise. This is because German Cockroaches infect 80% of the houses in the US. It measures half an inch and has dark stripes on the head. The German cockroach has two wings but does not make their flight capable.
The German cockroach is mainly found indoors in the kitchen, bedrooms, and basement and is known to spread disease and trigger allergies. Moreover, they reproduce very quickly and infest very heavily.
3. American Cockroach
Although the American cockroach is found mainly inside gutters, it is the second most common roach that infests homes in the US.
American cockroach measures one and a half to 2 inches in size and has a light brown or red color with a flat body. Therefore, It is also called the red cockroach.
The American cockroach has flight-capable wings and reproduces quickly. It has a life span of up to 2 years.
3. Asian Cockroach
These roaches were introduced to the US in 1981 from japan and have since spread like wildfire. Asian cockroach is a light brown to golden flat elongated roach with a grove in the abdomen and two parallel black lines on the head.
It measures 0.63 to 0.68 inches in length and 0.3 inches in width. Asian cockroaches closely resemble German roaches and are usually confused with them.
Two other house roaches are the Brown Banded and the Oriental cockroaches. They also infest homes but not so frequently. Therefore, any exterminator telling you that your house is infested with Brown Banded or Oriental cockroaches, do not believe them until you see it for yourself.
Is House Cockroach Dangerous?
By looking at a house cockroach, you soon realize that it is a very filthy and disgusting creature. Cockroaches living in the house often visit sewers and bathroom drains and considers them their second home.
Sewers are interconnected throughout the city, so the transfer of enteric diseases such as typhoid and paratyphoid by cockroaches is ubiquitous.
Moreover, the body parts of cockroaches can trigger allergies in individuals known to have cockroach allergies. Moreover, they also might trigger shortness of breath in some patients with asthma.
Therefore, house cockroaches are very dangerous and can even be deadly in some cases.
Factors that Attract House Cockroach
House cockroaches, including German and Palmetto bugs, are attracted to many factors mentioned below,
- Warm temprature
- Plenty of hiding places
- Humidity in form of leaking bathr room pipes
- Smell from rotting foods, leaves and drains
- Leftover food on table tops and floors
- Light attracts Wood and Asian roaches
Getting Rid of House Cockroach
Getting rid of cockroaches from a house can be tricky but not impossible. Before you embark on the extermination of a house cockroach, you must first prevent them from re-infesting your house. Therefore follow these precautions to prevent roaches from entering your house,
- Always pick up clutter, spilled food and garbage.
- Use Natural Palmetto Bug Repellents or mothballs to keep roaches at bay.
- Cover crevices and gaps in doors and windows with masking tape.
- Cover bathroom drains at night or when not in use.
- Use mesh screens to prevent roaches from flying inside during the night.
- Use IGR spray to keep baby roaches from maturing into adult bugs.
- Always inspect groceries and lugggae when bringing them into your house.
Getting rid of a house cockroach is easy. Based on the number of roaches, use any of the methods given below,
Method 1: Squash the House Cockroach
If you are sure that you have only one cockroach in the house, squash it immediately with your foot or a besom.
However, squashing a cockroach might attract other roaches if your house is infested with many roaches. In such cases, dispose of the dead house cockroach safely.
Method 2: Gel Bait
Gel bait is an effective and easy method to get rid of roaches inside the house. All you need to do is select proper locations for the application of roach gel and wait patiently for the results. Gel bait will disinfect your place from house roaches within 15 days.
Apply gel bait at these locations,
- Kitchen and bathrrom cabinets
- Under the furniture and carpet
- Behind the curtains
- Around the electric appliances such as Refrigirators and ovens
Read this article Where do Roaches Hide? to learn more about applying gel baits.
Method 3: Insecticide Spray or Roach Bombs
Insecticide spray or roach bombs are quick solutions for getting rid of house cockroaches. However, the problem with these products is that they kill house roaches but do not destroy their eggs; hence, we may again see roaches in the house after a few weeks.
However, using IGR spray with Insecticide spray will solve this problem.
Method 4: Traps
Traps are very effective, easy to use, and mess-free to get rid of a house cockroach. All you need is to place them at designated places and wait for a few weeks to see the results. Replacing the traps a few times gives excellent results.
I recommend you to read 7 ways to get a cockroach out of hiding before attempting to kill house roaches.
Additional Read!
