Common In Food and Pharmaceutical Facilities
Cockroaches are the most common type of crawling insect that raid food and pharmaceutical buildings. They often cause problems because of their size, their ability to hide in small places, their diverse diet, rapid reproduction and the diseases they sometimes carry.
Like most roaches they are nocturnal, and usually hide in the daytime, only coming out at night when things are quiet and they can look for food undisturbed. Warm temperatures and high humidity attract them to dark cracks, crevices, and even sink or floor drains. In manufacturing facilities they hide inside equipment and machinery. They are experts at avoiding places that are frequently cleaned and accessible.
Risks from Cockroaches
They are known carriers of many disease-causing microorganisms, like Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. Their disgusting diet consists of almost anything but includes mold, fecal matter, decaying corpses of animals, bird droppings and decaying insects. As they walk, they secrete waste and saliva on surfaces marking their path. What they leave on surfaces builds up and eventually creates a foul odor and leaves stains. Cockroaches can open and contaminate packaging and products often leaving skin and eggs behind. The presents they leave after visiting can trigger asthma in high volumes.
Life Cycle
Depending on the species of the cockroach its life cycle varies. Starting life as eggs, they are carried in a capsule called an ootheca (common to mollusks and mantises’ as well). A female cockroach can lay between 14 – 36 eggs, with an incubation period of between 24 days and 215 days. Female cockroaches live longer than males, up to two years for some. World-wide there are more than 4,500 different cockroach species in the world. Some entomologists believe that after a nuclear holocaust, cockroaches might be one of the few forms of life that could survive.
German Cockroach
The adult is 10 to 15 mm long, brown to dark brown in color with two distinct parallel bands running the length of the pronotum. The German cockroach is the most prolific roach in residential and commercial settings alike. They contribute to the vast majority of calls for help. The German roach has three life stages typical of insects with incomplete metamorphosis: the egg, nymph, and adult. The entire life cycle is completed in about 100 days. However, factors such as temperature, nutritional status, and strain differences may influence the time required to complete a life cycle.
Call Sentinel Pest Control if you have issues with cockroaches (226) 989-5157
