Cockroaches: Species Common to Our Central Virginia Region Part #2 – German Cockroach

I know that you faithful “dog-blog” fans have been anxiously waiting for part #2 of this cockroach series. Well, wait no longer! As you know, Part #1 concentrated on one of the five most common cockroach species found in our geographical region; the American Cockroach. In this Part #2 blog, of the 5-part blog series; I will focus on what is statistically classified as the #1 pest in American homes; the German Cockroach.

You know what they say, “a cockroach is a cockroach is a cockroach”. With approximately 4000 species worldwide, what will separate one from the other are generally size, color, and subtle characteristics exclusive to that particular species. One thing for sure; they are all scavengers. You name it and they’ll eat it; more on that later.

The German Cockroach is light brown or tan in color. Its size is ¼ inch to 5/8 inches long. They have dark lengthwise stripes on their head. Like other species, German cockroaches are fully-winged but rarely fly. They are most active at night, so unless you know what to look for, you may not even know that you have them! A pair of German cockroaches can produce 10,000 offspring in a year and infestations are often worse in the summer months. They love a hot and humid environment, such as a kitchen.

As I mentioned earlier; they will eat almost anything; leftover human food, paper, wood, leather, cigarette butts, toothpaste, coffee grinds, glue, soap, fabric, shoes, paint, human hair, packaging, and plastic. I’d say they’ll eat anything but the kitchen sink, however; I wouldn’t put it past them to give the kitchen sink a try.

They can squeeze through a crack 1/16 inch wide. They harbor in small cracks and crevices inside kitchens and bathrooms and other moist areas. When infestations are bad, they can be found throughout the entire home.

Here are a few facts you may not know about German Cockroaches;

German Cockroaches have incomplete metamorphosis.
German Cockroaches can carry salmonella and other diseases.
The ootheca (egg case) of the German Cockroach contains between 35-40 eggs.
The eggs take 1 month to hatch.
The female holds onto the egg case for a month and releases it just before it is about to hatch.
A German Cockroach takes from six weeks to six months to reach maturity.
German Cockroaches are able to climb on smooth surfaces because they have a sticky pad on their feet; this sticky pad is called an arolium.
German cockroach nymphs have a pale patch in the middle of their thorax.
Here, at Loyal Termite and Pest Control, our industry trained technicians are well equipped to take care of any roach infestation that our Loyal customers may be dealing with.

When it comes to termite and pest control, Hunter says, “If you got ’em, we’ll get ’em!”

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate; give us a call.

I look forward to continuing my cockroach series next week when I’ll be barking about another species found in our geographical region; the Oriental Cockroach.

I’ll bark at you again next week. Ruff! Ruff!