Cockroaches. Winged insects that can fly, crawl, or hatch their way into your home, spreading unpleasant diseases in the process. Notoriously difficult to kill (the myth is true, a cockroach can live without its head for a week), cockroaches are an unpleasant sight skittering across your kitchen floor. Thankfully, there are some things you can do to effectively stop cockroaches in their spiny tracks.
Identification
The first step if you see a cockroach in your home is identification. This allows you – or your pest control company – to know what methods will work best for that species.
While there are 55 species of cockroach in the U.S., the most common in Arkansas are the German cockroach, the brown-banded cockroach, the American cockroach , the smokybrown cockroach, the oriental cockroach, and woods cockroaches.
This an in-depth look at each species.
Make a Control Plan
Once identified, it’s time to make a control plan. This can be done on your own or with a pest control company.
In the case of cockroaches, it’s highly recommended to work with a pest control company. This is thanks to their extremely strong exoskeleton (making them hard to squish), quick reproduction cycle, and ability to go months without food: just some of the many qualities that make them a formidable pest to eradicate.
Treatment will typically include a combination of prevention and other control methods (outlined below).
Common Control Methods
Each method will vary in effectiveness and are most effectively used with each other as part of an Integrated Pest Management (or IPM) plan. A pest control company or personal research can help you understand which types of treatments will work best for the situation and specific species.
Most of these methods are best used by a reliable pest control company, but it’s a good idea to understand your options so you can make an educated decision for what’s best for you and your family.
1)
Prevention
While prevention alone isn’t likely to get rid of cockroaches, it can definitely stress them and make other pest control options more successful.
This is an in-depth explanation on prevention methods.
2)
Hot and Cold Treatments
Since cockroaches are cold blooded, they’re unable to live in extreme heat (above 120F) or extreme cold (0F). Therefore, a common control method is to kill them using extreme heat or cold. Once such treatment is C02. C02 is a carbon dioxide that is freezing cold in gas form, effectively lowering the temperature below a cockroaches ability to live.
While pest control companies often have specialized tools to use hot or cold treatments, you can take advantage of this fact by placing cockroach infested items into a freezer or garage with freezing temperatures, and wait for several days.
Keep in mind, this does not affect other areas of your home, and the temperature change needs to be sudden, since cockroaches can adapt if it’s gradual.
3)
Dessicants
There are different types of desiccants, but at the end of the day their goal is the same: dehydration. Some common ones are diatomaceous earth, silica aerogel, and borax.
Desiccants are natural insecticides that break down the waxy film on an insect’s body, leaving it unable to retain moisture. This leaves the cockroach defenseless and it eventually dies of dehydration.
4)
Chemical Control
Some common chemicals come in the form of baits, sprays, and powders.
Knowing which ones are most effective to use for different species of cockroach is something a pest control company can help you with, as well as proper application.
The majority of chemicals work by affecting a cockroaches nervous system or causing organ damage. With a compromised nervous system, a cockroach no longer has control of his muscles and is unable to move and obtain food, meaning it will eventually die from starvation. With organ damage, the cockroaches’ systems can’t take in nutrients, and will eventually die from lack of nutrients.
Not to worry though, according to this article, cockroaches don’t feel pain like we do.
Here is a more in-depth look at types of chemical control
5)
Insect Growth Regulators
Insect Growth Regulators (or IGR) are generally less toxic than insecticides, but instead of killing cockroaches, it affects their ability to reproduce or reach the next stage of their life cycle.
Some types of IGR stop female cockroaches from being able to lay eggs, while others don’t allow nymphs to molt, effectively keeping them from reaching adulthood.
This is a useful website to learn more about IGR.
6)
Vacuuming
For a small, localized infestation, vacuuming can help lower a cockroach population. Using a cleaning wand to capture adult cockroaches, nymphs (baby cockroaches), and eggs sacs, be sure to seal and dispose of the bag when finished.
While each control method has its pros and cons, its important to find a combination that works best for your situation. Oftentimes, a quality pest control company can help you finding the best solution.
If you’re located in Arkansas, PureNature offers quality pest control options to keep your home and family pest free.
