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Cockroach Extermination and Control

Cockroaches transmit serious diseases are significant public health pests

Is there any more universally-hated creature on earth than the cockroach? But there are good reasons why the lowly cockroach is so universally despised:

• Cockroaches are implicated in the spread of many diseases, including Salmonella, E. Coli, Hepatitis E, diarrhea, and dysentery; and they may play a role in the transmission of pneumonia.
• Roaches and their shed skins and by-products can cause increased rates of asthma and allergies among inner-city children.
• Cockroaches emit a nauseating odor and contaminate our food with their droppings and filth.
• Their secretive habits, high reproductive rates, and impressive ability to develop resistance to pesticides make cockroaches among the most challenging household pests to control.

Common Cockroach Species

There are many species of cockroaches, but four species account for the bulk of cockroach control calls handled by exterminators in the Greater St. Louis area. The most common cockroaches encountered in our area are:

German Cockroaches. German cockroaches are the most common cockroaches found infesting homes and businesses in St. Louis. Adults are about 5/8 of an inch in length. They are reddish-brown in overall color and have a distinct longitudinal stripe on the top of the pronotum. German cockroaches favor warm areas nearby to available sources of food and water.

Adult German cockroaches have wings, and appear to possess the nerves and musculature necessary for flight, but they don't fly.

 

American Cockroaches are sometimes incorrectly called "water bugs" or "palmetto bugs." They're about an inch and a half in length, on average, and predominantly brownish in color with a pale margin around the edges of the pronotum. Adult American cockroaches are capable of flight, but they seldom fly.

American cockroaches favor dark, secluded areas such as basements, crawl spaces, steam tunnels, boiler rooms, manholes, rubble foundations and, during the warmer months, exterior trash storage areas.

 

Brown-banded Cockroaches prefer dryer conditions than German cockroaches. We usually find them in closets, night tables, inside electronic equipment, and behind peeling wallpaper. They are brown in color, with two light-colored bands running transversely across the wings and the abdomen. Brown-banded cockroaches will eat almost anything, but they prefer starchy foods, such as wallpaper paste. Adults of both sexes have wings, but only the males fly. If you have roaches in your bedroom, and the bedroom is dry, there's a good chance that they're brown-banded cockroaches.

 

Oriental Cockroaches are dark brown or black in color. Adult males are about an inch in length. Females are slightly longer. The wings of adult males extend about three-quarters down the abdomen, but the females (shown on the right) have only small wing pads. Neither sex is capable of flight. Oriental cockroaches tend to be outdoor pests when the weather is warm, but they move inside when the weather gets cold. They prefer dark, warm places like basements, sewers, storm drains, manholes, utility chaseways, and crawl spaces.

Cockroach Control

The first step in addressing any cockroach problem is sanitation. This means doing a thorough clean up to remove sources of food, water, and harborage. Be especially careful about things like paper bags, cardboard boxes, and other refuse that can provide roaches with a protected place to live.

Once any sanitation problems have been addressed, Buckingham Pest Control uses a wide variety of treatment methods, depending on the roach specie, the environment, and the severity of the infestation. Depending upon the situation, we may use baits, gels, sprays, traps, or some combination of these. Our goal is the complete elimination of cockroaches from your property.

Buckingham Pest Control, Inc. Serves the Greater St. Louis, Missouri area. To see how we can help you solve your roach problem, or any other pest problem, please contact us.