One of the most common things pest control guys hear on the job is “We’ve been seeing Baby Roaches”. When most people see a small roach they don’t really give much thought to what kind of roach it is. They just want it out of their home. However, as pest control professionals, when we hear this we have to start asking questions in order to determine what we’re dealing with. If the customer is really diligent they may have kept a sample roach or they may have taken a quick picture of the specimen. Most often though there is no physical evidence so we have to ask questions to determine what kind of roach we’re dealing with in order to use the best roach control method.
When people report seeing “Baby Roaches” it’s usually one of two different scenarios. They have either seen the younger stages of the larger American or Smokey Brown Roach or they’re seeing German cockroaches. Since the younger stages often look similar it can be hard for the average person to determine which roach they’re looking at.
When we come across this situation the first question we ask is:
- How many cockroaches do you see on a daily basis?
When there is an active infestation of German Roaches the answer to this question will usually be multiple per day. I’ve had people tell me they see 10-20 per day when they have German cockroaches. The reason for this is based in the fact that German cockroaches reproduce very quickly and live inside 100% of the time. So unlike an American Roach that may move from inside to outside based on weather and resources a German cockroach will take up residence in your kitchen or bathroom and stay there. This leads to most people seeing a lot more than they would if they were seeing young American Roaches.
- Do you see them scatter when you turn on the light?
This is a pretty common occurrence when you have a German cockroach infestation. German cockroaches will find small cracks and crevices to hide out in during the day but as soon as the lights go out they emerge to look for food and water. If you happen to be the first one to turn on the lights in the morning you will often see them scurrying back to their hiding places. American roaches aren’t a big fan of light either but it’s not often that you would see this many in one place unless there were other extenuating circumstances.
With the information learned from these two questions, we can usually have a good idea of what kind of cockroach we are dealing with but, we will always do a thorough inspection of the home or business in order to determine which roach treatment needs to be done. If it’s German cockroaches, we will be placing monitoring traps and using several different Gel Baits for roach control in order to control the infestation. If it’s American or Smokey Brown Roaches, the roach control method we use is to apply residual insecticides to entry points and potential hiding places in and around the structure.
If you have any questions about what cockroaches you might be seeing, please give us a call and we’ll be happy to help with the correct roach control treatment for your situation.
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