Generally, cockroaches are one of the major pests around homes. They are annoying and can enter your house by following the scent of food or water. American cockroaches are not exception either. They are prefer to live in warm and moist areas and tend to reproduce rapidly.
What are American cockroaches? Do they bite? Learn more on the facts, information on American cockroaches and how you to get rid of them instantly, naturally and with home remedies.
American cockroaches are known to enter in homes searching for food. They are annoying pests given the fact they rapidly grow and have a natural way of surviving harsh conditions. It can be hard to get rid of them if their infestation is larger. To prevent and control infestation, take preventive measures before they infest your home.
There are several methods both chemical and natural ways to eliminate American cockroaches. This article will give you detailed information on how to get rid of American cockroaches naturally, instantly including home remedies and also tips to prevent their re-infestation.
What are American Cockroaches?
American cockroaches are known as “water bugs” or “palmetto bugs”. This name comes from their fondness to water, most and damp places.
Scientifically the American cockroaches are known as Periplaneta americana. They are found allover both indoors and outdoors especially near damp and warm places.These annoying pests have amazing survival skills and tend to thrive even in the harshest of conditions.
American Cockroach Pictures
Here are pictures to help you learn to identify this pest.
American Cockroach Identification – What Does an American Cockroach Look Like?
How can you identify an American cockroach? What does it look like? An adult American cockroach is usually flat, oval in shape and appear reddish-brown in color. This pest measures between 1 3/8 to 2 1/8 or 35 – 54 mm long.
These type of cockroaches have a pale or yellow bands around the tip of the pronotum. American cockroaches have wings- both males and females. But a close look at the male wings, you will notice the wings of the males are slightly longer –see picture below. Just like most insects, American cockroaches have a pair of antennae and 3 pairs of legs.
The female cockroaches lay 16 eggs on average per ootheca. The nymphs tend to develop after the egg hatches. Initially, it appears whitish and turns grayish-brown before it eventually turns to reddish-brown. At the birth, the nymph doesn’t have wings but they appear in their third or fourth instar. The eggs takes approximately 600 days before it develop into an adult.
American Cockroaches Habitat –Where Do They Live?
Where do American cockroaches live? Where is their likely place to find cockroaches living? American cockroaches live ear warm and moist and damp places. They are fond of building their shelters in narrow and dark corners to avoid any external threat.
These cockroaches are known to live both indoors and outdoors. They infest homes for shelter to avoid harsh external conditions such as cold or rain. These cockroaches are the most commonly found pests after the German cockroaches.
In your house, the most common places to find the cockroaches include the kitchen, bathrooms, near water pipelines, inside pantries, behind cupboards among other places.
American Cockroach Bite – Do they Bite?
Generally cockroaches don’t bite. American cockroaches don’t bite either. In rare cases do the American cockroach bite, if they do it is usually when the infestation is overwhelming and has gotten worse. There are few cases of these pests biting humans, but in most cases it happens when there is food residue on the fingertips.
The bite appear like a bright red mark or bump. In some cases, the type of bite can appear as rash in case of an allergic reaction to the bite. If the rash causes a health concern, seek medical advice.
American Cockroach Infestation
Can American cockroaches infest your home? These pest are commonly found indoors and outdoors. They come into homes in search of food or shelter. The cockroaches are omnivores and tend to eat almost anything such as starchy products, sweets, fruits and vegetables including leftover, rotting garbage, peanut, decomposing organic matter, dead insects etc.
When they infest in your homes, they are commonly found living in wall cracks, under the sink, kitchen cabinets, furniture, cupboards or any other habitable place.
What Are American Cockroaches Attracted To?
American cockroaches are in most cases attracted to trash usually that comes from rotting smell of food leftovers and damp places. Like most of indoor and outdoor pest, American cockroaches tend to eat virtually anything.
The foods that these pest like include sweets, bread, fruit, beer, starch, glue, cheese, garbage, leftovers, etc. in short, they are always searching for food.
How Does an American Cockroach enter your House?
Like most insects, American cockroaches enter your house through the windows, spaces under the door, cracks, air pipes and any other entry points. Cockroaches are among the most common of insects one would never miss in a home. Sometimes it is not how clean your home but as long as there is trash somewhere near your house, you will always find a few roaches there. The roaches are invasive in nature always in motion to look for food and damp place to live.
These insects can carry disease-causing pathogens on their bodies such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi and if they come in contact with your food, can lead to food poisoning, dysentery, stomach complicated issues and diarrhea.
According to a study done by American cockroaches, contact with the roaches excrements and cast skin have quite a number of allergens which to a number of people can result to allergic responses such as skin rashes, nasal congestion, asthma watery eyes, and sneezing.
How to Kill American Cockroach
Here is how to kill American cockroaches. The steps should guide on the effective way to kill the roaches.
Here is step and procedure on how to kill American cockroaches:
a) Inspect & Identification of the roaches
To effectively kill roaches both indoors and outdoors, first inspect the infested area. Inspection gives you the information on the level of infestation you have. Inspecting helps you to locate their nesting areas such as the kitchen, pantries, bathrooms, cracks, rotting garbage etc. you may even follow the trail of the roaches’ droppings which look like black pepper.
Identify the roaches to help you select the best treatment method or pest control products to use.
b) Application of Pest Control Products, Insecticides
Killing the roaches usually involves the use of chemicals or insecticides. Select the best insecticide sprays depending on the level of infestation.
Insecticide Sprays
Here is a list of the commonly used insecticide sprays used to get rid of the roaches. But before using any of the sprays or chemicals, make sure you wear personal protective equipment such as mask, protective glasses, gloves to avoid coming in direct contact with the sprays.
Insecticide Dust or Powders
You can also use insecticide dust or powders to get rid of the roaches. Dust helps to get rid of roaches in crack, behind cabinets or baseboards, under furniture, inside wall voids, entry points. The powders help to reach these inaccessible areas. Although, you can still combine dust with treatment with insecticide spray.
Here are some of the best available dust for American cockroaches:
Cockroaches Baits and Traps
Baits and traps are also effective in killing American cockroaches. They are sold in liquid, solid and gel. Normally, a bait has an attractive food to lure the roaches and a toxic chemical. Once they ingest the bait, it will cause their death.
Gel or liquid baits are ideal for indoor roaches. Place the bait near their nests. For effective results, make sure you reapply the baits several time a weeks.
Here are some of the recommended cockroach baits:
Terro Multi-Surface Roach Baits
Bayer Maxforce Granular Insect Bait
Insect Growth Regulators
To interfere with the growth and development of the cockroach eggs, larvae and adults use insect growth regulators. The regulators are also effective in preventing re-infestation of American cockroaches.
Here are some of the recommended growth regulators:
c) Prevention of Re-establishment & Re-infestation
One of the sure of eliminating bed bugs for good is to create an environment harsh for them to survive. These are basic things to do including cleaning your house, removing all the garbage, leftovers, disposing of the trash cans etc.
To prevent the re-infestation of American cockroaches, here are some of the tips
- Seal all the cracks, crevices, wall voids, entry points and nesting points
- Repair all the broken water pipes, drainage systems, remove stagnant water from the kitchen and bathrooms.
- Clear out the cutter-keeping your house free of clutter ensures that there are no hideouts for the roaches
- Store leftover in the refrigerator and pantries
- Cleaning and sanitizing your house
- Create a barrier such that you bar the roaches from accessing your home. Apply, Ortho Home Defense. Spray along wallboards to create a long lasting barrier that eliminates and prevents American cockroaches from re-infesting
How To Get Rid Of American Cockroaches Instantly & Naturally – Home Remedies
Other than chemicals and pest control products, there are other natural home remedies that can get rid of American cockroaches instantly. The natural home remedies are inexpensive and environmental friendly.
Here are some of the natural home remedies that can get rid of American cockroaches instantly.
Diatomaceous Earth Powder
Diatomaceous earth has natural insecticidal properties to get rid of cockroaches instantly. Apply the powder directly on the roaches and on the infested areas. It will damage their exoskeleton ruthlessly resulting to their death – Buy on Amazon
Peppermint Oil
Use peppermint oil to repel and get rid of the cockroaches instantly. Make peppermint oil spray and apply on the insects directly and their common nesting points such as the kitchen cabinets, drawers, behind furniture, in pantries, etc.-Buy on Amazon
Lavender Oil
To get rid and repel American cockroaches naturally at home, use lavender oil. The roaches cannot tolerate the smell of lavender oil thus they will be forced to move out of the hideouts. You can combine lavender oil with diatomaceous earth to make this method even effective –Buy on Amazon
Boric Acid
Boric acid is one of the effective natural home remedy to use to get rid of American cockroaches naturally and instantly –Buy on Amazon
How Long Does It Take To Get Rid of American Cockroaches?
One, two or three American cockroaches crawling around the kitchen or your house is a sign of an infestation. How long it takes to get rid of the American cockroaches depends on the level of severity and the methods used to kill the roaches. A spray kills the roaches on contact but that can only visible roaches. How about those hiding in cracks, crevices, behind furniture etc.?
One cockroach is an indication of hundreds or even thousands nesting nearby. If you act promptly before the population gets difficult to control, you may succeed to get rid of the roaches within a week and up to ten days. A number of them will die within the first one day or second.
As put sprays will only kill the ones you see. Those that hide in places you cannot reach requires ant traps, gels and powders and baits. The poison in bait takes about 24-hours to get rid of the roaches. You may also in cooperate natural methods and repellents to effectively get rid of the American cockroach infestation.
To Prevent new infestation remember to clean up your kitchen, getting rid of newspapers, seal up cracks, gaps between windows, etc.
