American Cockroach - How to Get Rid of Roaches

Click Image To Go Directly To The DIYPC Store for all American Cockroach Control Products
COCKROACH CONTROL: AMERICAN COCKROACHES

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.
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS AND TREATMENT:

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

SUSPEND ,
DEMON WP,or CYNOFF WP 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.

Apply DELTA GUARD GRANULAR INSECTICIDE around the base of the house, particularly in areas of pine straw and mulched areas.for additional treatment for the outside.
If you have cockroaches entering inside your home from the attic area (due to trees that overhang the attic or gutters that are not clean) using a bait like
NIBAN FG would give you very good results. NIBAN FG would also be an excellent choice for crawl spaces.
The DEMON WP, CYNOFF WP , SUSPEND and DELTA GUARD GRANULAR INSECTICIDES should be repeated every three months during the season.
The NIBAN FG bait last from 6 months to a year, free from rain. Feel free to call if you have any questions.