COCKROACH AND COCKROACH CONTROL

The best remedy for a problem is always to go to the source. In this case, it’s the cockroach nest. So, don your investigative hat and follow the path of any cockroaches that you spot. They tend to congregate in cracks in walls, skirting boards or inside cupboards, as well as under moveable appliances.

Cardboard boxes are also culprits for unwittingly smuggling cockroaches into the home, especially if they’ve been stored in garages or sheds. Consider setting up bait as soon as possible if you can’t transfer all the contents into plastic boxes.

Health risks of a cockroach infestation

A cockroach infestation can be dangerous to our health. They are responsible for spreading numerous types of bacteria, worms and pathogens. They are also known to spread diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid fever, cholera, salmonella, and leprosy among others. Furthermore, they can also trigger cockroach allergy symptoms such as rashes, coughing, wheezing, nasal and sinus issues, and more.

If your house is suffering from a cockroach infestation, it most likely means that it’s become a host for tons of bacteria and germs to congregate. This is why it’s crucial to keep your house clean at all times so that it doesn’t become an environment conducive to cockroach growth. Always throw away your trash and do general cleaning every few weeks to ensure you’re not unconsciously growing a cockroach colony within your home.

More general information about cockroaches

Aside from the relevant information needed to know how to get rid of cockroaches, here is some more general knowledge about them that can come in handy:

H3: Average lifespan of a cockroach

Depending on the species, cockroaches have varying lifespans. An American cockroach has an adult stage of 600 days. While a brown-banded cockroach has a total average lifetime of 225 days. It starts when a female cockroach lays a batch of eggs, typically 10 to 40 per batch. A female cockroach may be able to lay around 30 batches throughout their whole lifespan.

Cockroaches order Blattidae

While most of the 4500-plus species are bush cockroaches, the best-known members of this family are the introduced pests. The large (up to 53 mm), shiny red American cockroach, Periplaneta americana and the so-called Australian cockroach, Periplaneta australasiae, are an integral part of domestic life. American and Australian cockroaches look very similar. However, Australian cockroaches are a little smaller and have a yellow margin on their thorax and yellow streaks near the base of their wings. Their effective diurnal hiding and the ability to fly into new territory make them all but impossible to eradicate. Among the bush cockroaches are many large, wingless genera. These fat, sometimes colourful, cockroaches are often diurnal and clamber about on the bushes they feed on. Many can emit a powerful defensive chemical smell. Polyzosteria and Cosmozosteria have some very striking, flightless, sometimes metallic-coloured species.

The general form of cockroaches varies little. Therefore, the image of the introduced city dwelling species helps to place the majority of the native bush species in this order.

No matter what type of cockroach you spot in your home, it’s clear that a cockroach infestation of any kind is the last thing you want to happen to your house. Keep your home clean and get the best products for cockroach control, and you won’t have to worry about any infestation and all the hygiene and health hazards that come along with it.

Sources:

• A field guide to insects in Australia - third edition - Paul Zborowski and Ross Storey - New Holand publishers.
• Donkor E. S. (2020). Cockroaches and Food-borne Pathogens. Environmental health insights, 14, 1178630220913365. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178630220913365
• WebMD Editorial Contributor. (2024, January 17). What to know about cockroaches and your health. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-to-know-cockroaches-health
• Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Cockroaches. Better Health Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/cockroaches
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9753028/
  Siddiqui R, Elmashak Y, Khan NA. Cockroaches: a potential source of novel bioactive molecule(s) for the benefit of human health. Appl Entomol Zool. 2023;58(1):1-11. doi: 10.1007/s13355-022-00810-9. Epub 2022 Dec 15. PMID: 36536895; PMCID: PMC9753028.
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03281-1#citeas
  Li, S., Zhu, S., Jia, Q. et al. The genomic and functional landscapes of developmental plasticity in the American cockroach. Nat Commun 9, 1008 (2018). 
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29062854/
  Mosayebian H, Basseri HR, Baniardalani M, Rassi Y, Ladonni H. Effect of Different Diets on Lifetime of Brown-Banded Cockroaches, Supella longipalpa (Blattodea: Blattellidae). J Arthropod Borne Dis. 2017 May 27;11(2):302-308. PMID: 29062854; PMCID: PMC5641618.