### ?…ask the Bugman

Green Pest Management | ID your Bugs | Animal Issues | Natural Living
All Creatures Great and Small

# Cockroaches

Posted by askthebugman ⋅ February 3, 2014 ⋅ 5 Comments

It won’t be long before cockroaches are active again. You can help prevent cockroaches from coming into your home by inspecting all incoming food products, all boxes, and any used furniture or appliances for the presence of cockroaches or their egg capsules. Do not store paper bags anywhere in the kitchen. Seal any holes or crevices around plumbing under sinks and behind toilets. Regularly vacuum and clean floors under the kitchen appliances. Keep all of your drains closed at night to prevent them from coming up from the sewer system.

There are a number of good baits available for controlling cockroaches. You can put equal amounts of baking soda and sugar out in flat containers and they will take it. Make a roach dough by combining ½ c. powdered sugar and ¼ c. shortening or bacon drippings. Add ½ c. onions, ½ c. flour and 8 oz. baking soda. Add enough water to make a dough-like consistency. Make balls of bait and put them wherever you see roaches. However, there is a very good roach bait available commercially. It is Niban Bait and it is made from boric acid. It would probably be easier to get this product and use it if you are in an area where roaches are very common. You can’t buy Niban in stores, but it is available online. One good supplier is www.pestcontrolsupplies.com. When using Niban, put it under and behind appliances, around hot water heaters, inside lower cabinets, in the garage and other places roaches will hide.

The American roach feeds on a wide variety of plant and animal material and it is commonly found in sewer systems. It will come up the drains at night and enter the living space of a home. It also likes the homes that have crawl spaces under them. The is the largest of the home-infesting roaches in the country. It will reach a little over 1 ½ inches in length. It is a dark brown with yellowish band around its thorax (section behind head).

One beneficial aspect of this cockroach is that it will feed on bed bugs. Of course most people don’t want roaches in their bed feeding on the bed bugs that are feeding on the humans. Niban Bait is a very good commercial bait that works well on controlling these insects.

Oriental cockroaches or “waterbugs” are about an inch long. The female is all black and the male has two brown wing tips, but it cannot fly. These roaches are common in sewer systems and will come up the drains into the homes. They are also common under ground debris outside and love stacks of firewood. These roaches will readily take Niban Bait as well as the homemade baits discussed above.

Turkestan cockroaches are closely related to Oriental roaches. They are about in inch in length with color variations between the male and female. Males are red/brown with pale or white lateral stripes on the ventral side of the wing base. The male also has wings that cover the entire abdomen. Females are dark brown in color with short lateral white dashes at end of the wing. The female wings are very short in comparison to the male and do not cover the entire abdomen.

They can be found in sewer systems, water meters, compost piles, potted plants and large cracks in pavements. Niban Bait is a good product for controlling these insects. This species is becoming common in Albuquerque and it is just matter of time before it infests other areas.

The German cockroach is the most prolific of the roaches. It is small, dark brown with two distinct black stripes on its thorax. It will feed on almost anything edible and a lot of things we wouldn’t consider edible. They go from egg to adult in as little as 45 days and, if left unchecked, can severely infest a home or business. Usually they are most commonly found in kitchens and bathrooms. When you are controlling German roaches, you should use German Roach Pheromone Traps as well as some of the baits. The traps will attract and catch the roaches. They are available online. One good supplier is www.pestcontrolsupplies.com.

German cockroaches are also believed capable of transmitting staphylococcus, streptococcus and coliform bacteria and are known to be responsible for many allergy and asthma problems. If you have any pest questions, you can contact me at askthebugman2013@gmail.com.

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## About askthebugman

I have been in the pest management industry for over 40 years. In that time I have used almost every pesticide available to control so-called “pests”. With this experience, I have learned over the years that the pesticides we use are far more dangerous than the pests we are trying to control. As a result, it has become a passion for me to improve the quality of life for humans and the planet, by assisting people to not only become more educated and aware of their environment – but also by learning to manage their home and business with a sustainable and healthier approach to tending to unwanted infestations of bugs. Please enjoy my blog posts, check out my publications, utilize my services, or simply stay in touch if you have a bug question…
View all posts by askthebugman »

## Discussion

### 5 thoughts on “Cockroaches”

1. I was told many tales lately of The Cockroach, most recent is “they” The Elders Cockroach, send in “Scouts” to a home and if they don’t go back to their nest and are killed instead, this means that the “Adults” will consider the enviroment not as intriging and move on to their next destination.
   I don’t know if this is true or not, I recently found a small bug which appeared to be a cockroach on my bathroom floor below the sink and cabinet, since the bathroom is a damp location anyway, I spray inside my cupboards and around the pipes with KleenGreen Spray, this pest was dead already on the floor when I found it.
   prompting me to respray the inside of the bathroom cabinets and around the pipes as well, and the toilet area.
   I was considering making one of your bait traps and see what happens.
   Thanks so much!

   Posted by Wendy | February 9, 2014, 11:57 am
   Reply to this comment

   - Cockoroaches don’t have nests or colonies, so they don’t send out scouts. They are just individuals that live in crowded conditions.

     Posted by askthebugman | February 9, 2014, 5:01 pm
     Reply to this comment

     - Thankyou for your resonse, I had a feeling that the person who told me this fable was wrong, I wish to Thankyou for clearing this up for me, lol
       How does one get rid of the Pharoh Ant, when the weather is mild and all through the summer months, red ants are always around, the bathroom and kitchen more often, I know they like damp spaces, if this is true or not, the exterminator my condo manager sends in just lays out traps but over the past 20yrs there has been no getting rid of these pesky ants even with what the exterminator puts down..this is so frustrating, cannot even leave the bread out on the counter as within mins., there are many red ants all over it!!

       Posted by Wendy | February 11, 2014, 7:31 am

2. If you take away any possible food sources and lock your home down, you should
   rid yourself of any roach problem, and youll lower your heating
   costs, as well. But we do have some geckos roaming
   outside our house and I am happy they are there. Today, controlling roaches doesn’t have to be toxic to
   your family or pets at all.

   Posted by best way to get rid of roaches without exterminator | September 10, 2014, 7:10 am
   Reply to this comment

3. I have just moved into a brand new mobile home May 1st 2015. Tonight I found 2 mid sized German cock roaches in my bathroom on the other end of the home from the kitchen, within 1 hr of each other. No food source back here besides an empty coffee cup in the trash can. I have not seen any roaches in this home, and I am a pretty clean person (not OCD, but far from a slob). I rarely have guests, and no one else has lived in this trailer. How did they possibly get here?! Could it be a neighbor or the lot this trailer was placed on? This trailer has been sitting here empty since last fall/winter! Help!!

   Posted by Brittney | June 24, 2015, 2:55 am
   Reply to this comment

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