How do you know if cockroaches are in your house? Perhaps you had the terrifying experience of watching a cockroach dart from behind a cabinet when you moved it, or you sat down on the sofa, and a roach scurried out from between your feet and ran across the living room floor. But how do you know if these experiences are evidence of cockroaches inside your walls, in the crawl space, or behind the kitchen cabinets?
Although cockroaches are active at night while you sleep, you can tell if they are in your Collegeville house by investigating for these signs of a cockroach infestation:
- Droppings
- Egg capsules
- Discarded shells
- Odor
- Cockroaches
Let’s briefly examine each sign so you can identify an infestation.
Cockroaches defecate as they travel through a home. American and oriental cockroaches produce rod-shaped, ridged droppings with blunt ends, while German cockroaches leave behind fecal matter resembling coffee grounds. Look for these materials in kitchen cabinets, drawers, under furniture, countertops, and behind appliances.
Cockroaches do not lay individual eggs but produce capsule-like structures (ootheca) that contain many eggs. They use their saliva to stick these oblong, brown containers near food sources in laundry rooms, basements, and underneath kitchen cabinets. One ootheca of prolific German cockroaches has up to 40 eggs, so when you consider that many female cockroaches deposit these throughout your house, you can see how an infestation can quickly develop.
Cockroaches are insects; one characteristic of insects is their skeleton is on the outside of the body. For these creatures to progress through each growth stage, they must shed (molt) their exterior shell to allow their body to expand. Finding discarded shells is another sign of cockroaches in your home.
Have you wondered how insects communicate since they don’t have tongues and can’t talk? Since they cannot speak, cockroaches produce pheromones to create trails that guide other roaches to food sources and nests; they also use these for mating purposes. The pheromones leave a musty odor that can be detected by those with sensitive noses when many cockroaches are present in a confined area.
The sighting of one or more cockroaches can indicate an infestation. Three types of cockroaches invade Collegeville homes: American, oriental, and German. American cockroaches typically stay in the yard but occasionally invade a home. They have a 1 1/4 to 2 1/8-inch reddish brown body with a figure-eight pattern on the back of their head. Oriental cockroaches have slightly smaller bodies of about 1 inch, but the easy way to identify them is by their jet-black, shiny color. Also called waterbugs or black beetles, oriental cockroaches prefer cool, damp crawl spaces. German cockroaches have a 1/2 to 5/8-inch light brown to tan body with two darker parallel stripes down the back. These cockroaches enjoy warm, humid areas where temperatures are over 70?.
Terra Pest Management Specialists provides cockroach pest control in Collegeville, so you don’t have to battle a cockroach infestation in your home. Our pest specialists know the signs for each species and can determine if cockroaches have set up colonies in your house.
Health Risks Of Roaches: The Dangers Of Cockroach Infestations
Intuitively, we don’t want cockroaches in our homes, but we may not fully understand why. How are cockroaches worse than ants, moths, or flies? While all insects contaminate food and surfaces, a few things set cockroaches apart. The first issue is the horizontal spines that jut out from their multiple legs. As cockroaches forage in the trash, sewers, drains, animal feces, and other unsanitary areas, bacteria, viruses, and parasitic worms stick to the spines. When they move through Collegeville homes, the disease-causing organisms transfer to surfaces and exposed foods, where they can be picked up by unsuspecting humans when they contact those areas or eat the contaminated foods.
Cockroaches don’t simply walk over gross surfaces but eat the pathogenic-filled rotting and fermenting plant and animal matter in those areas. Later, as they move through the house, they defecate on countertops, food packaging, utensils, and other items with their disease-filled droppings and contaminate them. Saliva on food packaging left behind after they chewed on it is another way they spread disease.
Salmonellosis, typhoid fever, cholera, gastroenteritis, dysentery, listeriosis, giardia, and E. coli infections are examples of some of the bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases spread by cockroaches. Another health issue is the allergic reactions and asthmatic attacks cockroaches trigger. A runny nose, coughing, itchy red eyes, shortness of breath, and other symptoms occur when household occupants inhale airborne fecal matter. Also, cockroaches produce a protein that causes allergic reactions when inhaled or when physical contact occurs.
Terra Pest Management Specialists offers pest control for roaches to protect your family from harmful diseases spread by cockroaches.
Preventing Cockroach Infestations: Tips For A Roach-Free Home
Once our pest specialists from Terra Pest Management Specialists eliminate the infestation, you want to do your part to ensure you don’t experience another invasion. These house cockroach preventiontips will deter a future infestation:
- Remove animal feces and rotting fruit from the yard
- Close indoor and outdoor garbage containers
- Eliminate yard debris and junk around the house
- Provide proper drainage to gutters, ditches, and puddles
- Install door sweeps on exterior doors
- Fix holes in window and door screens
- Place screens over the crawl space and attic vents
- Caulk cracks and gaps in the foundation and roofline
- Prune tree branches and shrubs away from the structure
- Remove pet food from bowls before bed
- Clean and put away dishes before retiring for the night
- Vacuum the house regularly
- Remove debris in the basement, crawl space, and attic
- Dehumidify the crawl space, attic, and basement
- Repair leaking pipes and plumbing fixtures
Maintaining a clean and dry exterior and interior will discourage cockroaches from staying on the property or entering the house. Applying these suggestions and the barrier Terra Pest Management Specialists create around your house will ensure a cockroach-free home. When a pest specialist inspects your property, we can provide additional exclusion and prevention ideas for your location. Contact us today to learn about our treatment options and request your free estimate.
Our certified pest experts will work with you to find the best solution for your needs. Simply fill out this form for a free, no-obligation estimate.