Cockroaches
Cockroaches are one of the most common pests in our homes. They live in dark, moist spaces in our homes and come out at night for food and water. Cockroaches transfer bacteria and diseases that are dangerous to humans and have been found responsible for allergies and asthma.
Entry: Cockroaches come in through plumbing and tiny spaces and ride in inside boxes, grocery bags, and even on you.
Scent Trails: Cockroaches excrete chemical scent trails in their waste (feces) to lead others to food and water, and emit pheromones to attract mates and signal the colony to swarm. These chemical scent trails spread bacteria on the surfaces of everything they touch.
Nest Locations: Cockroaches breed quickly in warm, damp and enclosed spaces like sewers and crawl spaces. They even live outside in warm climates and come inside your home to find food.
Colony Size: Cockroaches that nest in a crawl space will expand to fill the spaces between your walls, behind cabinets, under flooring, and even in furniture.
Colony Lifetime: The cockroach colony is constantly renewing increasing in size and will continue to thrive unless the space it lives in becomes uninhabitable or there is a loss of food.
Do-it-yourself Effectiveness: Keep foods put away, clean surfaces well, put screens over pipes, and seal cracks in your home.
Woods Cockroach – Male
The Male Woods Cockroach is lighter in color than the female, and a little larger. He has fully developed wings and does fly. Both males and females are more active during the day but males are attracted to lights at night.
Oriental Cockroach
The Oriental Cockroach is large with a dark brown or black glossy body. The males and females are slightly different. The female is wider and has small useless wings while the male is thinner and has long brown wings that allow it to make short flights.
Brown-Banded Cockroach
The Brown-banded Cockroach is small, brown and easily identified with tan stripes across its back that are visible at every stage of development. They also have wings but the females do not fly as well as the males.
Woods Cockroach – Female
The Female Woods Cockroach is darker in color than the male, and has short useless wings and does not fly. Both males and females are more active during the day and prefer living and breeding outside.
German Cockroach
Two dark streaks run parallel from the head to the base of its wings. German Cockroaches are one of the smaller species of cockroaches and can more easily hide from view because of their small size.
American Cockroach
The American Cockroach is originally from Africa and thrives outdoors in warm climates. In cooler climates it will live in sewers, basements, under porches and in foundations. It is one of the largest species of cockroaches and is most active at night.
Surinam Cockroach
The male Surinam Cockroach has a black head with dark brown wings and can fly a short distance. The female Surinam cockroach has a black head with light brown to olive colored wings that are too small to fly.
Florida Woods Cockroach
The Florida Woods Cockroach is a large cockroach that is a glossy black and has short wings but does not fly. It thrives in warm, wet climates and is prolific in the southeastern United States.
Australian Cockroach
The Australian Cockroach is reddish-brown in color, with yellow markings on the thorax and sides. It is a good flyer and will fly from trees to a dwelling in search of food.
Asian Cockroach
The Asian Cockroach looks similar in color and size to the more common German cockroach, but its wings are longer and it is able to fly. It prefers to live outdoors and will nest under dead leaves in large groups at various stages of development.
Cuban Cockroach
The brightly colored Cuban Cockroach is mostly common in tropical climates where it prefers to live in trees or other foliage. The nymphs can be found on the ground in leaf debris and thick vegetation.
Smoky Brown Cockroach
The Smoky Brown Cockroach lives primarily outdoors, in places like wood piles, dead leaves or mulch and near a water source. It can often be found living in trees, under wood roof shingles, or in leaf filled gutters.