Cockroaches are attracted to warm, moist environments. They spend the daylight hours in dark, secluded sites under refrigerators, stoves, false bottoms in kitchen cabinets, in the backs of cabinets and in crevices between baseboards and floors or cabinets and walls. They may also be found behind pictures or within electronic equipment. A number of these openings will ultimately lead to voids in the stud walls. The insects leave these sites at night to forage for food and water. The presence of cockroaches during the day may indicate a large population.

There are about 50 species of cockroaches in the United States. Of these 50 species, the three most common in the Sacramento area include the German cockroach, the Oriental cockroach and the Turkestan cockroach. In the past six years, California has been overrun with the Turkestan roach which is displacing the oriental roach. Most of the time, if a customer calls saying that they have roaches in their garage or outside, or that there are large roaches dead inside their home, it is almost certainly the Turkestan roach. 

How To Identify Roaches

The German cockroach is 12 to 17 mm (1/2 to 5/8 inch) long, tan to light brown, and has two dark brown stripes on the body region (pronotal shield) just behind the head. Females will produce four to eight egg capsules during their lifetime, with each capsule containing approximately 40 eggs. The egg capsule is retained by the female until the eggs are ready to hatch, usually in 28 to 30 days.

Prevention

Roaches are every homeowners nightmare. If given the opportunity, German Roaches will become a permanent family member! There are different ways of dealing with this pest, but three qualities you need are 1) patience, 2) persistence and 3) knowledge. Patience is needed because you cannot spray one time and expect to never see another roach. Egg cases will hatch and follow-up treatments are necessary. When sightings occur after treatments, use these sightings to your advantage. There must be a nest or two you missed so attack that area. Persistence is needed when dealing with roaches because of their biology. Roaches develop rapidly and studies confirm they will develop faster when their population is under stress. Many of you have experienced a population explosion within two to six weeks after a major clean out. This is nature’s way of preserving the species. A treatment schedule must be made and then strictly adhered to when you decide to clean out a roach infestation. Think long term and schedule treatments for the year. This insures your commitment.