Jared was washing the dishes after having a nice dinner with the wife and kids. At the corner of his eye, something small pattered on the kitchen sink. He knew it was a cockroach, and he hates cockroaches. He then turned to face his fears, and all at once, felt nervous, fear, excitement, and anticipation. He suddenly felt aware of the choked up feeling in his throat and tightness in his chest as he realized that something was looking at him. He grabbed his slippers and smashed at the roach. It’s gone, he thought. But are roaches gone?
For endangered homeowners who are victims of these pests, the search for the perfect cure for cockroach infestation can be a long and frustrating nightmare. Now, a local extermination company in Concord, North Carolina, Go-Forth Home Services, offers residents a way to reduce the torturously long wait between roach infestation and getting rid of them through effective pest control methods.
Roaches truly are hardy insects. They have survived whatever Mother Nature had wrought upon them. They indeed have gotten only stronger, perhaps the saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” applies to them. But do not get me wrong, and do not despair, Go-Forth Home Services has your back.
Overview Of Cockroaches
Cockroaches are notorious for being the dirtiest creatures on earth. They thrive on filth and live in extremely dirty places like sewers and in piles of garbage.
Roaches are omnivores, meaning they eat almost anything. Their diet consists of fresh food, rotten food, decomposing dead animals, excrement, trash, and even their kind. Because of their dirty habits, roaches carry with them a lot of bacteria, viruses, and pathogens. This makes them transmitters of deadly diseases. Transmission is made possible by contaminating food and water with their droppings, urine, saliva, and vomit.
Cockroaches are nocturnal creatures, and if you encounter a cockroach during the daytime, it only means roach infestation is already very heavy.
Roaches In The Past
Cockroaches have roamed the earth for millions of years now. Their species are witnesses to the dinosaur era.
Come to think of it, if only roaches could talk, we can get a wealth of information from them, having been witnesses to every single event not only in the history of mankind but in earth's history as well; but of course, they cannot talk.
Why Are They So Successful?
There are around 4,600 identified species of cockroaches. Out of this number, only 30 are associated with humans.
Cockroaches are hardy insects. They can survive for a month without food and a week without water. They would not have any problems living with limited resources. They can live with their heads cut off for a week, breathing through the tiny holes found in their body segments. Some species can survive without air for 45 minutes. Cockroaches without heads die because they could not drink water.
It is believed that cockroaches might inherit the earth in the event of nuclear war and all humans die off. Roaches do have higher radiation resistance than most land creatures.
How They Reproduce?
Insects use pheromones to attract their kind, and roaches are no exception. They use pheromones to attract their mates. The males practice courting rituals too, like posturing. Like most insects, they mate facing away from each other with their genitals connected. Once impregnated, female cockroaches carry their eggs on their abdomens but drop them before hatching. A single cockroach can produce a whopping 300 to 400 offspring, another reason why their species are so successful.
Roaches, unlike most insects, have incomplete metamorphosis since nymphs are already similar to the adults.
Common Types Of Cockroaches
1. American Cockroaches
This is a misnomer since they did not originate from America. They came to America on board ships coming from different parts of the world and have thrived here ever since. American cockroaches are very resilient and are hard to eliminate. They can seem to take any kind of punishment and keep coming back for more.
American cockroaches are reddish-brown with a yellow mark that looks like the number 8 at the back of their heads. They can grow to 1 ¼ inch to 2 ⅛ inches with oval-shaped bodies. Their six spiny legs enable them to run faster than any other insect. They have fully developed wings and can fly short distances, but they are clumsy fliers. They are the largest and the most common cockroach pests.
They produce a musty smell that gives away their presence. They primarily live outdoors but will go inside your house to look for food, water, and shelter in case of food shortage. They can be found living in drains and sewers, or near garbage where their food source is. They enter houses from the sewers through the drainage or cracks, crevices, and holes around houses.
Once inside, they find their way in the kitchen and bathroom most of the time in search of food and water. They are not picky eaters and they eat whatever they can find, including feces, rotten food, and dead animals. Because of this, they carry with them lots of bacteria and viruses. This makes them disease vectors. They contaminate our food with their droppings, saliva, urine, and vomit; or they can contaminate our food by simply crawling on the food. Their droppings, urine, and saliva also contain allergens that can cause allergies and asthma.
2. German Cockroaches
Remember the small cockroaches you would normally find in restaurants? They are German cockroaches. Aside from restaurants, they are also found in factories and warehouses. They are considered as the most troublesome group of cockroaches. Just like with the American cockroach, German cockroaches can be found all over the world. They can grow to just 10 to 15 mm long. Like the American cockroach, they contaminate food and water with their feces and urine. They eat sweets and starchy foods.
German cockroaches are a threat to food-related businesses because their presence alone can bring them down due to their health risks. Their presence also means the place is unsanitary. To identify, German cockroaches are brown to dark brown and have two parallel bands running across the plate-like structure that covers its thorax.
3. Oriental Cockroaches
If the German cockroach is small, then there is the Oriental cockroach which is the biggest in this group. It is probably one of the largest of all the species of cockroaches. They like to live in damp areas, which earned them the nickname “waterbugs." They come in black colors, grow to about 1 inch in length, and have oval-shaped bodies. They have 6 legs and a pair of antennae.
They like to live in sewers and under clutter. They feed on garbage, decaying organic matter, and starchy foods. They find their way inside houses through small cracks, crevices, and holes, and once inside they prefer to go to the basements and crawl spaces. They crawl around toilets, sinks, pipes, and anywhere that is damp and cool. They are considered to be the dirtiest of all cockroaches.
4. Brown-Banded Cockroaches
They can be identified by the two lighter bands on their dark brown bodies. They are ½ inch long, with oval-shaped bodies, 6 legs, and antennae. They enter homes through cracks, crevices, and small holes and hide under furniture.
How To Get Rid Of Cockroaches
Here are some tips on how to get rid of roaches.
- Check for cracks, crevices, and holes. These can be used by roaches as entry points. Seal them off by caulking.
- Cover your trash cans tightly with lids and dispose of your garbage regularly. This removes one of their food sources.
- Put your food inside sealed containers to keep them away from roaches.
- Fixed leaky pipes and faucets since they love moist and damp areas.
- Use Diatomaceous earth. These are made from fossilized remains of diatoms and look like little shards of broken glass. It works by inflicting tiny cuts on the bodies of roaches, causing them to bleed to death. Sprinkle this all over the house.
If you are not sure how to make these roaches disappear or are overwhelmed by their presence, worry no more. The best pest control company in North Carolina, Go-Forth Home Services is just one phone call away.
Why Hire Go-Forth Home Services?
Are you overwhelmed by roaches in your house? Is your peace of mind affected by unwanted visitors? Do you fear getting infected with salmonella, cholera, and other nasty diseases? Then you need the professional technicians from Go-Forth Home Services.
We have expert experience in handling pests like roaches, mice, rats, bed bugs, mosquitoes, flies, silverfish, poisonous spiders, weevils, and many other pests. We use state of the art equipment that is second to none, and a family-friendly and pet-friendly method of extermination.
Get rid of roaches with Go-Forth Home Services. For more information or to request a free quote, call us. Our friendly operators are standing by.