Springfield's Ultimate Invader; The German Cockroach

April 14, 2020

In: Cockroaches

Springfield's Ultimate Invader: The German Cockroach

The German cockroach is the most common type of cockroach to invade homes and businesses. They are small-to-medium size and light brown in color, and they can create huge problems if they infest your property. Not only do they contaminate your food, but they also put your family and employees at risk of disease and other health problems.  They can also damage personal objects, and their fast reproduction rate makes getting rid of them extremely difficult.
 
A roach infestation is a serious risk, so eliminating it is a huge necessity. Otherwise, they can spread fatal and/or harmful diseases, like salmonellosis, gastroenteritis, dysentery, and giardia. Protect your family and learn how to identify these dangerous pests, where and how cockroaches infested your Springfield home or business, and the best method for getting rid of them.

How can you tell if you have German cockroaches?

Aside from seeing the roaches, the telltale sign of a roach infestation is their droppings. Roach feces look like particles of black grit with an oily substance. Take care not to touch these with your bare hands, as they can trigger allergies, asthma, and spread diseases. Finding these droppings on your counters, along your baseboard, or in your food are clear signs that you have a roach problem.
 
Other signs of a roach infestation include ruined food (roaches can change the taste of food), an unpleasant odor, damaged wallpaper and books, and destruction of furniture glue. Additionally, if you spot roaches around your property and notice that your family or employees are having respiratory health problems, that likely means you have a large and well-developed roach infestation.

Where do German roaches come from?

While roaches tend to live outdoors, they can easily take residence in your property. They desperately need moisture to survive as they can only live two weeks without water. Therefore, they will seek out any location with water: pools of water in your yard, kitchens, bathrooms, basements, and log piles. Kitchens are especially attractive due to the steady water and food sources.
 
Roaches get into your home or business by crawling through cracks, crevices, windows, and doors. They can also be carried in on a number of different items. Once inside, they like to hide in dark, secluded places: behind ovens, in wall voids, around baseboards, and underneath furniture. After finding these secluded spaces, they’ll lay dozens of eggs that hatch within a day. This means that a roach infestation can get out of hand in a hurry. 

Are German roaches hard to get rid of?

Roaches are notoriously difficult to eliminate from your home or commercial property. They are incredibly resilient and DIY roach control rarely works. If roaches can survive a nuclear apocalypse, then household sprays are nothing to them. In fact, if you use these sprays enough, cockroaches will develop an immunity to them rendering this control method completely ineffective. Additionally, these sprays can be harmful to children and pets, making them almost as hazardous as the roaches themselves. Some DIY solutions might be effective short-term, but they rarely affect the roach population in your home at large. Female roaches can lay up to 48 eggs that all hatch in under 24 hours during their life, so every roach you kill is already replaced with several others.

Springfield's Ultimate Invader; The German Cockroach

A clean home, proper storage techniques, and regular maintenance can prevent infestations, but even those measures won’t eliminate any ongoing infestations. Trust the professional technicians at American Pest Solutions to handle your roach infestation instead. We have years of experience and extensive knowledge of roach behavior that helps us track down and eliminate infestations. We also help educate you on the preventative measures you need to avoid a re-infestation. Contact us today to make your cockroach problem a thing of the past!