German Cockroach control – Termite and Pest Control

How To Identify the German Cockroach

The German cockroach is a small cockroach about 1.1- 1.6cm long. The colour varies from tan to almost black. It has two dark roughly parallel streaks behind the head.

German cockroach lifecycle stages — German cockroach

How to Get Rid of German Cockroaches

1. Inspect

Inspect the kitchen, bathroom, laundry for signs of German Cockroach and determine the severity of the problem. Use sticky traps to catch and identify pest inspects around the house. Establish a Pest Management Plan.

2. Vacuum

You’re going to want to suction up everything that’s not clean—crumbs, debris, debris, body parts, cockroach eggs, and every panicking, scrambling roach that dashes by your feet. Use the brush and crevice tools (that you can use to scrape surfaces and poke deeply into cracks).

3. Clean

Clean table counters, floors and cupboards with hot soapy water (don’t use harsh or smelly chemicals). Vacuuming and cleaning will reduce the food supply for the cockroach colony, making products like cockroach gel bait more effective (refer below).

4. Seal

Caulking gaps and cracks such as baseboards and around pipes may prevent the travel of adults. Also consider sealing around door and window frames, and cupboards.

5. Spray

One effective control is insect growth regulators (hydroprene, methoprene, etc.), which act by preventing molting, thus prevent maturation of the various instars. Spray at cornices, base of cupboards and walls, around door and window frames, around equipment and inside cupboards and cabinets if possible whilst avoiding food and utensils.

6. Bait

Formulations of attractant and pesticide that deliver a lethal poison when eaten. Roaches don’t die right away, but over time, typically when they return to the nest, bringing the poison with them to further spread. The tiny amount of poison in the gel isn’t enough to harm you, your family, or your pets, but a single syringe or station of bait can often be enough to wipe out an entire German cockroach colony. To use gel baits, squeeze tint drops into any cracks and crevices near the German Cockroach hotspots. Within a few days you’ll notice dead or dying roaches. Within a couple of weeks, you’ll have wiped out scores or hundreds more.

7. Dust

Roaches depend on their hard, protective exoskeletons to shield their tissues and retain moisture. When their exoskeletons become damaged, they dehydrate and quickly die. Insecticidal dusts take advantage of this vulnerability by causing damage to their exoskeletons, poisoning them through ingestion as they try to groom it off, or poisoning them via absorption through the exoskeleton itself. Dusts provide an excellent complement to gel bait because the products attack German roaches in different ways. To use insecticidal dust, you’ll “puff” the product with a “hand duster” into voids you haven’t “baited”—inside cracks and crevices, gaps between moldings, long windowsills, and behind electrical face plates and fixtures. Too much dust will scare them off, but a fine layer will kill cockroaches extremely well. You’ll want to puff it deeply into cracks where it can coat multiple surfaces. Inside walls a single application of dust can work for years.

Enquiry

Rayco Pest Control offers pest control and pest management services, including the control of German Cockroaches.

Pest Significance

German cockroaches are serious pests that can put you and your family at risk. They spread disease and ruin food. These resilient insects are experts at scavenging for crumbs and leftovers. They’ll quickly build colonies in apartment buildings and houses if the resources are there.

Adult German cockroaches live for 20 to 30 weeks on average. They reproduce and spread rapidly–faster than any other residential cockroach. In only a year, a German roach infestation can grow exponentially.

Are German Cockroaches Dangerous?

German cockroaches are particularly dangerous pests because of their ability to access food items in cabinets and pantries and their tendency to carry serious diseases. These cockroaches contaminate leftovers and stored food with bodily secretions and droppings. Their droppings might also create an unpleasant odor, signaling contamination.

German roaches spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are carried on their legs and abdomens by walking across cooking surfaces, countertops, sinks and bathtubs. They’re especially dangerous in stores and restaurants where food is everywhere; a German cockroach infestation there can ruin a business’s reputation.

German cockroaches have been found to carry Salmonella, which can cause food poisoning. Their skins and droppings can also trigger an allergic reaction in people with asthma or other sensitivities. Bites from German cockroaches are extremely rare but not impossible. However, these and other roach species almost always flee from humans, so bites aren’t typically a concern.

Reasons for proliferation

The German cockroach is very successful at establishing an ecological niche in buildings and is resilient in the face of many pest-control measures. Reasons include:

Lack of natural predators in a human habitat.
Prolific reproduction. The German cockroach reproduces faster than any other residential cockroach, growing from egg to reproductive adult in roughly 50 – 60 days under ideal conditions.
The ability to hide in very small refuges.
Sexual maturity attained within several weeks.
Adaptation and resistance to some chemical pesticides.
The German cockroach is resistant to 42 active ingredients from most major groups of synthetic insecticides such as organochlorides, organophosphates, carbamates, synthetic pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, oxadiazines, and phenyl pyrazoles.

Diet of German Cockroaches

German cockroaches are omnivorous scavengers. They are attracted particularly to meats, starches, sugars, and fatty foods. Where a shortage of foodstuff exists, they may eat household items such as soap, glue, and toothpaste.