The American Cockroach – Nothing to be proud of!

So they say April showers bring May flowers but that’s not all they bring and their friendly gifts aren’t limited to only the month of May either! Rainy season in Southwest FL brings us unwanted house guests of a creepy crawly kind of nature. Yes, I’m talking about the American Cockroach or water bug as some people call ’em.

Since we’ve had quite a bit of rain this season you might see a roach or two, or three or four… crawling around your kitchen or bathroom at night. Some of them are even bold enough to come out in the day light and prance around your kitchen counter in search for their next delicious meal! It’s very important to keep a clean home if you want bugs to stay away because they love leftovers, crumbs, trash, debris and just sweet, icky, sticky stuff that they call food. I recommend you put all your food away before going to bed at night, wipe down your counters with some fantastic and take the trash out often. I’m not trying to tell you how to do your housekeeping now, just giving you some friendly bug advice to try and keep these big roaches away! They’re ugly buggers too and they can be quite unnerving to some people.

I got a frantic call from a client this week asking us to come out and get a handle on the bug problem in his house and it wasn’t necesarily the bugs that were bothering him so much but his wife’s horrific screams every time she was startled by one in her daily comings and goings. You’d think the world was coming to an end by the way she yelled and screamed and started throwing things. He said the last thing he needs is another reason for her to interupt his football season – again! So I felt sorry for the guy so I had to come right over!

I had to reassure him and her that these aren’t permanent house guests and even though a interior spray is needed and this was no laughing matter but it wasn’t the worst of bug problems either. You see they’re just coming in from the rain in search for some dry space. They don’t like all the water in their home so they decide to come camp out in yours.  No, I know that’s not very comforting but it is important to understand that these bugs will appear more during the rainy season and they aren’t the worst kind of roaches to have.

The small roaches are the ones that you really want to worry about because they love to live and breed and stay inside your home. If you see the small ones, call me right away and I’ll be RIGHT over to take care of it for you. 239-945-6543  Here some details and information that you might appreciate below.

Cockroaches are easy to recognize. Reddish-brown in color they have antennae longer than their body, and the shield behind the head has a yellowish margin. Adults have wings but immature cockroaches are wingless. One-and-a-half to two-inch long cockroaches are common in Florida.

Cockroaches are found in warm moist areas, and you will see them in cracks and crevices of foundations, in garages, or under mulch in the yard. In Florida, it is not uncommon to find them in houses or on porches. They feed on a variety of plant and animal material.

Appearance:

American roaches are reddish-brown in color with a pale-brown or yellow band
behind the head.

Size:

1-1 ½- inches in length. They are the largest of the house-infesting
cockroaches.

Behavior:

These cockroaches dwell outside but often enter houses after heavy rainfall or other extreme weather. They may enter via sewer connections, under doors, around utilitypipes, air ducts, or other openings in the foundation. When disturbed they may run rapidly and adults may fly.

American cockroaches prefer warm temperatures and do not tolerate cold climates. Because of their fondness of sewers, large populations of American cockroaches will be seen in many cities after heavy rains or flooding. Females produce egg cases that hatch in 6-8 weeks. The nymphs require 6 to 12 months to mature. Adult cockroaches can live up to one year, during which females produce an average of 150 young.

They are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders that will consume decaying organic matter, but being a scavenger, they will eat almost anything. They prefer sweets but has been known to eat paper, book bindings, the soft part on the inside of animal hides, cloth and dead insects.