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COCKROACH CONTROL: AMERICAN COCKROACHES

roaches insecticide

Cockroach Pictures: Click on image for a bigger size.

*This excellent photograph of the American Cockroach is courtesy of:
University of Lincoln-Nebraska Dept. of Entomology

These cockroaches are also known as a "water bug" or "palmetto bug".

APPEARANCE:

Reddish-brown, about 1.5 inches long or longer, winged, but seldom fly.

DIET:

These cockroaches prefer decaying organic matter, but being scavengers will eat anything. Sweets are attractive to them. They also will feed on starchy items like book bindings, and the back of wall paper.

AMERICAN COCKROACH HABITS AND BIOLOGY:

Females produce many egg capsules, having 14-16 eggs hatching in 50-55 days into grayish-brown "nymphs". As they mature they become more reddish-brown in appearance. Adults and nymphs can be found in a variety of places. In the North,they are commonly found in steam heat tunnels or in large institutional buildings.They more commonly congregate in open spaces instead of small crack and crevices.When indoors,they can be located in dark,moist areas like basements and crawl spaces.Other likely areas indoors would be around bathtubs, floor drains,and sewers. Outside these cockroaches can be found in moist, shady areas like:yards, hollow trees, woodpiles,and mulch. At times they can be found under roof shingles or attics. Usually they will live outside,but will wander inside in search for food and water or during extremes in weather conditions.

Recommendations for American Roach Control:

  • Caulk all penetrations through ground level walls.
  • Stop water leaks, screen equipment overflow drains, and take overflow water away from buildings; keep drain traps full or capped.
  • Remove rotting leaves from window wells.
  • Move garbage cans out of preferred moist habitat.
  • Ventilate moist spaces.

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Generally speaking, control measures should concentrate on the outside of the building and points of entry. This is called a "perimeter or barrier" treatment.

Use a good residual sprays such as :

  1. Cyonara 9.7*Top recommendation (Broader label and longer lasting-may be used on ornamentals as well and will dry invisible.

    cyonara 9.7Cyonara 9.7 Insecticide


  2. Cyper WP

    Cyper WP

    3. Cyper WP and Demon WP have the same label, but you can get smaller amounts with the Demon WP

  3. Demon WP
    Demon WP


      4. You may use three residual sprays : Cyonara 9.7, Cyper WP or Demon WP inside or outside

Spray outside around doors, windows, pipe openings, and dryer vents. Apply also on the inside on the baseboards near the entry pts.

On the inside-apply around the plumbing under the sinks and washer and dryer connections. You don't have to spray all the interior baseboards, just the corners and baseboards inside the garage and basement areas.

For additional treatment you may apply granulars around the base of the house, particularly in areas of pine straw and mulched areas.

Two recommended granulars are : *Top recommendation(longer lasting)Talstar One or Bifen IT Granulars


If you have these larger cockroaches entering inside your home from the attic area (due to trees that overhang the attic or gutters that are not clean) using baits like Intice insect baits, would give you very good results.
Intice Bait

Intice Baits would also be excellent choices for crawl spaces and or attics.

The residual insecticides : Cyonara 9.7 , Cyper WP, and Demon WP as well as the residual granulars: Talstar or Bifen LP Granules should be repeated every three months during the season.

The Intice baits last from 6 months to a year, free from rain. Feel free to call if you have any questions.