Understanding Cockroach Behavior

Cockroaches seek warmth, moisture, and food, and your home might just be the perfect winter retreat they’re looking for. These pests are nocturnal and tend to hide during the day, making them sometimes hard to spot. They can squeeze into small spaces like cracks in walls, behind refrigerators, sinks, and stoves, or under floor drains and inside of motors and major appliances. Recognizing signs of an infestation is crucial and can include seeing live or dead cockroaches, finding droppings, or noting a musty smell in dark, damp areas of your home.

Step 1: Seal Up Entry Points

Prevention starts with making it hard for cockroaches to enter your home. Winterize your home by sealing up cracks and openings:

• Inspect the exterior of your home for any cracks or crevices, and seal them with caulk or another appropriate material.
• Install weather stripping around doors and windows to eliminate gaps.
• Check for gaps around cable and utility entry points and seal them.
• Cover vents with mesh screens to prevent entry without blocking airflow.

Step 2: Eliminate Attraction Factors

Cockroaches are attracted to food, water, and clutter, which provide them with the necessary resources to survive and reproduce:

• Keep your kitchen clean: Wipe down counters and sweep floors regularly to remove crumbs and spills.
• Store food in airtight containers and never leave dishes in the sink overnight.
• Regularly empty trash in a sealed receptacle and keep it away from the house.
• Remove clutter: Reduce clutter in storage areas, as piles of items can provide shelter for cockroaches.
• Dispose of old newspapers, magazines, and boxes, as these are attractive nesting materials for cockroaches.

Step 3: Reduce Moisture

Since cockroaches thrive in moist environments, managing moisture in your home is essential:

• Repair leaky pipes and faucets to eliminate water sources.
• Use dehumidifiers in damp areas such as basements and crawl spaces.
• Ensure good ventilation in high-humidity areas like the kitchen and bathroom.

Step 4: Regular Cleaning and Maintenance

A clean house is your best defense against cockroaches:

• Deep clean regularly: Areas behind appliances and under sinks are often neglected.
• Vacuum frequently: This helps remove food particles and potential egg sacs from carpets and cracks.
• Maintain yard and exterior: Trim vegetation away from the exterior of your house to decrease shelter and breeding sites for cockroaches.

Step 5: Set Traps and Baits

In the event that cockroaches make it into your home, traps and baits can be an effective way to eliminate them before an infestation grows:

• Use glue traps: These can help monitor and reduce the number of cockroaches.
• Bait stations: Place them in areas where cockroach activity is suspected. These stations use attractants to draw cockroaches in and then poison them.

Step 6: Consider Professional Pest Control

If you suspect a serious infestation or want to ensure thorough preventative measures, professional pest control can offer more comprehensive solutions:

• Scheduled inspections: Professionals can offer regular inspections and treatments to maintain a cockroach-free home.
• Customized treatments: Based on the specific needs and vulnerabilities of your home, professionals can apply the most effective treatments to prevent infestations.

Educating Your Household

Every member of your household should be aware of the steps they can take to prevent cockroach infestations:

• Establish routines: Such as cleaning up immediately after meals, not leaving pet food out, and managing trash efficiently.
• Be vigilant: Regularly check for signs of cockroaches, especially in high-risk areas.
• Respond promptly: If you see signs of cockroaches, increase cleaning efforts and check for possible entry points that may need sealing.

The Importance of Early Intervention

Early detection and intervention are key to preventing a full-blown cockroach infestation. Regularly inspect your home for signs of cockroaches and take immediate action if any are found. The sooner you address the issue, the easier it will be to manage and eliminate.

Keeping your home free from cockroaches in winter requires diligence, but it is achievable with the right strategies. By sealing entry points, eliminating attractants, managing moisture, maintaining cleanliness, setting traps, and possibly engaging professional pest control, you can enjoy a healthier, pest-free home. Remember, the effort you put into preventing cockroach infestations not only contributes to a more comfortable and hygienic living environment but also protects your home’s value and structural integrity. Learn more by accessing our website.

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While the cockroach already has an uncanny “super bug” reputation, the real truth will blow your mind. Most people know that the cockroach has been around for a long time, and will probably be the last species on the planet, even after a global nuclear war. Most people know that cockroaches are hard to eradicate, and suspect that they are possibly winning the battle against humans in terms of both numbers and population growth. Certain species seem to have an almost mythical reputation. The coyote, the rat and the cockroach are good examples.

Nevertheless, some of the following cockroach facts will still surprise and shock you.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re A Diverse Species

When we think about cockroaches, we often think only of 3 species.

• German cockroach
• American cockroach
• Brownbanded cockroach

But did you know there are over 4,000 species of cockroach on the planet? And they exist on every continent except Antarctica.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re Persistent As A Species

Cockroaches are older than the dinosaurs, and have been around for 359 million years. Many species have come and gone the way of the dinosaur since then…but not the cockroach.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re Survivors

No food, water, air? Not a huge immediate problem for a cockroach.
A cockroach can go without eating for a month. They can survive without water for a week and when water is scarce they retain it longer by holding their breath. In fact, cockroaches can hold their breath for 40 minutes at a time, which means they can also survive under water for that long. So, the drain and the toilet are not necessarily barriers to cockroaches seeking entrance into your home from the sewers.

No head? Not a problem!
Cockroaches breathe through holes, or spiracles, in their body segments, so do not need to use their mouths to breathe. However they do need their mouths to drink water. For this reason, a cockroach can survive for a week without its head! It only eventually dies due to lack of water.

Nuclear disaster? Not a problem!
Since their cell cycles are slower (they molt only once a week), cockroaches can tolerate high levels of radiation and have been found at nuclear disaster sites (Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl) living as if nothing happened.

Sub-freezing temperatures? Not a problem!
At least it’s not a problem for the Japanese cockroach, who hibernates under the winter snow down to 8 degrees below zero, then emerges in the spring ready to continue on with life, even if he has spent the entire winter frozen!

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They Eat Just About Anything

If it’s organic, cockroaches can eat it. This includes dead insects, paper, cloth, soap, wood, glue, and hair. Speaking of hair, they have been known to eat people’s eyebrows and fingernails at night! They also love beer.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They Have Reproductive Stamina

Since the female cockroach can store sperm, she needs to mate only once, and then can reproduce for the rest of her life without a male. These females just don’t have much of a need for men!

And, their babies grow fast! German cockroach eggs hatch and grow to adulthood in as little as 30 days! They’re ready to breed in 120 days.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re Dangerous

Cockroaches, which you’ll remember can hold their breath as they move through the sewer and drain pipes, carry bacteria and viruses on their bodies that cause such diseases as tuberculosis, cholera, leprosy, dysentery, and typhoid. Some studies have found up to 45% of children are allergic to cockroaches and suffer asthma as a result of cockroach exposure.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They Fit Into Small Places

Cockroaches like to wedge themselves into tight places, and curiously, have been reported by some doctors, to be the most common foreign objects removed from children’s ears, up to 50% of the foreign object removals.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re Fast

What’s the fastest land moving creature? Most people would say it’s the cheetah at 60-70 mph. That’s fast…freeway fast. But the cockroach, once size is taken into account is 3 TIMES AS FAST AS A CHEETAH! A cockroach can move 50 times its body length in just one second. That’s the equivalent of a 1 second 100 yard dash, or 200mph. We’re lucky they’re not the size of a cheetah! We’d all be doomed!

A baby cockroach, the size of a grain of sand can run almost as fast. And, they run vertically up walls just as fast! One species, discovered in South Africa in 2009, can even jump like a grasshopper.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They Do Get Bigger!

As we just said, we’re lucky the cockroach is not the size of a cheetah. However, there is a large version in South America that is six inches long with a wingspan of one foot!

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re Sensitive

We have not yet discovered the limits of what a cockroach can sense, but it goes way beyond human and animal ability. Cockroaches can sense changes in barometric pressure and know when it’s about to rain. In Bermuda, thousands of cockroaches have been seen running across roads shortly before a downpour.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re Many

The sensitivity of the cockroach also includes the ability to signal others as to the presence of a food source, so cockroach infestations can grow to huge proportions. One record is over a million cockroaches discovered in a New York home in 1979. There were 24 dogs, 20 cats, 2 mice and a parrot in the same home, so the presence of pet food most likely contributed. The story demonstrates the cockroaches ability to grow their population to match the local available food source.

On the Good Side?

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – Some Make Great Pets

The Madagascar hissing cockroach makes a great pet. It’s odorless, and, like all cockroaches is hard to kill and lives a long time. Tired of little Johnny’s heart being broken every time his favorite pet fish dies? Get him a cockroach!

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – Some Make Great Snacks

As long as cockroaches are fed a diet of food and vegetables, and raised in sanitary food quality conditions, they are edible. In China, cockroaches are deep fried and sold on sticks on the streets.

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – They’re Used by the Cosmetic Industry

Cockroaches are farmed and sold to some cosmetic companies to be ground into powder and used in cosmetic products. Can that cockroach durability last longer and make people look younger? You may already have found out, and not known it!

Cockroach Facts Beyond Belief – How to wrap this article up?

We guess that when you’re through being thrilled and amazed with these interesting cockroach facts, and see a cockroach running across the kitchen floor, you’ll forget all the cockroach trivia and have just one thought: “How do I get rid of this cockroach that I see, and the many that I don’t see?”

Call ApolloX Pest Control
(888) 499-7378

We believe that even through cockroaches are pretty amazing creatures, they don’t belong in the house, and we know how to safely and quickly remove them from your home!

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    As the weather warms up, so does an infamous pest no one likes to see around–the cockroach. There is only one experience more horrifying than discovering a cockroach scurrying across the kitchen floor. It’s having guests discover a cockroach scurrying across YOUR kitchen floor. 

Cockroach Prevention – Famous “guests discover a cockroach” story.

If this has happened, don’t feel so bad. Here’s a story to top any “guest sees a cockroach in my home” story you can imagine. Last October at the very moment the Chicago pest control commissioner was testifying at a City Council meeting an amazing event occurred. The meeting was suddenly interrupted when what an alderman described as “the largest cockroach I’ve see at City Hall” made it’s appearance right in the City Council chambers. Evidently it scaled a white wall, boldly standing out in direct contrast to it’s background. Such an event will probably never be forgotten! Curiously, the story was even reported by a newspaper 3000 miles away! http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/chicago-cockroach-drops-in-on-city-hall-pest-control-meeting/

You don’t have to suffer the embarrassment

Fortunately, there are some rather simple actions you can take now to help prevent a public siting of a cockroach in your home. Even if you’ve seen a roach in your home, the following 7 actions will greatly reduce the problem.

Cockroach Prevention – Top 7 Ways to Discourage An Infestation

The science behind these 7 roach prevention tips is pretty simple: Create an environment that has nothing that attracts cockroaches. If there’s nothing that supports their living conditions, cockroaches will look for another home. 

What do cockroaches love? roaches are water-loving insects, and therefore love damp places. They also love just about all the types of food that we eat. Therefore, eliminate dampness and access to food, and you make your home a very unfriendly environment for cockroaches.

Cockroach Prevention – Keep Things Dry.

Sounds simple, but sometimes the obvious is not so obvious. Your home may seem dry enough, but think again.

1) Dry Out Damp Places: Is your basement a damp place? What about the crawl space under your home? Take action to see that these are well ventilated. This alone will make a big difference.

2) Remove Standing Water: When was the last time you checked the evaporation pan under your refrigerator? Is it full of water? Has it overflowed?

3) Ventilate Areas with Water Pipes: What about the area under your kitchen and bathroom sink? Are these areas dry and well ventilated. How about the wall voids that contain your water pipes? Any leaky, sweaty pipes? Is there good ventilation?

Cockroach Prevention – Eliminate Food Sources

4) Keep the Sink Free of Dirty Dishes: While it’s much easier to clean dishes the next morning rather than at night when you’ve tired, dirty dishes in the sink at night are like Disneyland to cockroaches: Both food and water! Sure, the dishes are there only for a few hours until the morning, but this alone could support a huge cockroach infestation.

5) Remove Food Particles: Cockroaches can live on food that we can’t even see. This includes the smallest food crumbs on the floor or in your carpet, and even food residue on discarded food containers and wrappers. Therefore, vacuum regularly. Eliminate any standing garbage in or around your home. Empty the kitchen garbage daily. Rinse containers before placing them in the recycling bin.

6) Tightly Seal All Food: Keep all food in air-tight containers. While food in the refrigerator is probably safe, consider the food in your pantry – potato chip bag, cereal boxes…even the dog food bag. Think Tupperware!

Seal off points of entrance.

7) Seal Any Cracks Around the Outside of Your Home: Young cockroaches can crawl through a crack as thin as a dime; Adult males can slip through a space as thin as a quarter; The largest cockroaches–pregnant females–only need a space the size of two stacked nickels. So, when we say “seal the cracks”, we’re talking about even the smallest of cracks. 

Give yourself a fighting chance.

As you can see, even a home that appears to be immaculate can be a paradise for cockroaches. The most conscientious housekeeper can easily miss quite a few of the food and water sources able to support a large population of cockroaches.

Is your home officially “Unfriendly to Cockroaches”? Call us for a professional cockroach inspection. We’ll look at all the places listed above, and more, for conditions that favor cockroaches. And, if there are cockroaches in your home that you have not yet discovered, we’ll quickly find them and eliminate them.

Let us be the only guests who ever see a cockroach in your home.

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

The post Cockroach Prevention – When the guests discovered a cockroach. appeared first on Pest Control.

New Thought: Cockroach Value?

Here’s a different perspective on the hated cockroach. Some people are actually beginning to see the value of cockroaches. There’s a new trend in China: Cockroach farming. Yes, they’re actually breeding cockroaches. Why?

Cockroach Value Economically

Cockroaches have an economic value and entrepreneurs across China are cashing in on the increasing value of cockroaches. Pharmaceutical corporations are gobbling up dried cockroach supplies to make inexpensive drugs for China’s aging population. Cosmetic companies have found that cockroaches are an affordable source of protein and cellulose-like substances used in hair and skin care products.

Chinese farmers can earn a $20 profit with only $3 worth of insect eggs. For farming, the Chinese prefer the hardy winged American cockroach instead of the common wingless German cockroach. Fried roaches are also a delicacy.  Credits: Cockroaches: Pest or Payout? | Alpha Ecological Pest Control

What’s The Source of Cockroach Value?

“Some of these insects live in the filthiest places ever known to man,” says Naveed Khan, co-author of the new study. “These insects crawl on dead tissue, in sewage, in drainage areas. We thought, ‘How do they cope with all the bacteria and parasites?’”

Extracts of ground-up brain and other nerve tissue from the American cockroach,Periplaneta americana, and desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, killed more than 90 percent of a type of E. coli that causes meningitis, and also killed methicillin-resistant staph [MRSA]…
Credits: Cockroach Brains Have Medicinal Value | Health Policy Blog …

Cockroach Value in Conservation

In general, cockroaches are important ecologically as part of food chains, being consumed by various predators (such as bats, birds, and spiders) as well as by parasites. Even the feces of cockroaches are consumed by some animals. And cockroaches do provide some direct value to human beings in terms of being used in scientific research and adding to the wonder of nature. Credits: Cockroach – New World Encyclopedia

Cockroach Value Stops at Your Doorstep

Your home is not a very good place to breed cockroaches because their presence can spread disease.

If you’re not a Chinese cockroach farmer or a conservationist believing in the value of cockroaches, you’re probably looking for the best way to prevent an infestation. Here it is: Take action to get rid of cockroaches as soon as you spot the first one. Credits: Cockroach – New World Encyclopedia

It’s always a good idea to consult professionals. ApolloX Pest Control will quickly identify the source of the problem and kill cockroaches with commercial-grade treatments not available directly to homeowners.

Unless you’re raising cockroaches in your home for economic, medical or conservation purposes, you probably want them exterminated.

Call ApolloX Pest Control Now

(888) 499-7378

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Why Cockroach Prevention?

Here are some startling facts:

American cockroaches have been reported to spread

• At least 33 kinds of bacteria
• Six kinds of parasitic worms
• 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.

Recent medical studies have shown that cockroach allergens cause allergies and exacerbate asthma attacks, especially in children and those living in metro-city areas. Credits: American Cockroach Control & Prevention « Bug Busters USA

Cockroach Prevention Begins with Identification

You can typically identify a cockroach infestation by their droppings. Cockroach droppings resemble a small amount of pepper, and they can be found in various places; they tend to prefer corners, crevices, and other small spaces. Check around your fridge, oven, and dishwasher to see if you have a cockroach problem. Your pest control professional can rid your home of these bugs using hand sprayers, traps, or foggers. Credits: A Look at Some Cockroach Prevention Methods – Payne Pest …

Image: Credits: American Cockroach Control & Prevention « Bug Busters USA

• Cockroach Prevention Actions

• Seal cracks around the outside of the home to prevent pest entryways.
• Properly ventilate basements and crawl spaces to eliminate harborage points.
• Seal all entrances around utility pipes and ventilate crawl spaces to prevent moisture buildup.
• Vacuum frequently and remove garbage from around the home on a routine basis.
• Do not allow dirty dishes to accumulate in the sink and remain there overnight.
• Keep food in the refrigerator or in containers with tight-fitting lids to prevent contamination.
• Periodically check and clean the evaporation pan under the refrigerator or freezer.

Credits: Cockroach prevention tips – Hulett Pest Control

Cockroach Prevention Professional Help

If you suspect you have an infestation, contact ApolloX Pest Control to identify the species and recommend a course of treatment. We’re licensed pest control professionals.

Call ApolloX Pest Control Now

(888) 499-7378

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