German Cockroach
German Cockroach
German cockroaches are not found in nature. They are only associated with human activity and are a major pest in homes and commercial facilities. This means they are transported to the areas they infest by human activity - in boxes, containers, purses, backpacks, and even clothes. They are light to dark tan in color and are about ½ to ¾ of an inch in length. They have 2 parallel longitudinal dark stripes on the top of their thorax that can distinguish them from other cockroach species. Although adults have wings, they are not able to fly.
German cockroaches, Blatella germanica, are in the Order Blattodea and the Family Blattellidae. They are found all over the world and are thought to originate from either Southeast Asia or Northeast Africa. As you might expect, in Germany, they are called Russian cockroaches!
Life Cycle
Like other cockroaches, German cockroaches hatch from eggs as nymphs that look similar to the adults but are wingless. The females actually carry the egg cases (ootheca) until about 2 days before they hatch. At that time, they drop the egg cases, containing 30 to 40 eggs. After hatching, the tiny nymphs will go through several molts over 1 to 2 months before becoming winged adults. Adults live approximately 3 months and females can produce 4 to 8 egg cases in that time - as many as 360 nymphs! German cockroaches are omnivorous scavengers and will eat pretty much anything. They are most commonly found in areas of high moisture like kitchens, bathrooms, and water heater closets.
Why are they Pests?
Aside from being a nuisance, German cockroaches are extremely important pests for two main reasons. First, their excretions and cast skins have been found to be the leading trigger for asthma attacks in children. Secondly, their activities can ruin food and contaminate it with possible pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella.
German Cockroach Control
German cockroaches are much tougher to control than other pests, so we have a separate service called Expanded Basic Service to handle German roaches. We expect 100% control of German cockroaches by about 10 days after treatment. Control is usually about 80% within 2 days of treatment.
Sanitation is very important in getting control of German Cockroaches. They can still infest an immaculately clean house, but they are much easier to control in clean, uncluttered situations. If you work in the restaurant industry, be careful about bringing equipment from the restaurant home and be careful about where you put personal items that you bring back and forth from the restaurant (maybe leave purses and jackets in your car!).
This service is an inside only service and may use one or more of any of the following non-repellent insecticide classes: Oxadiazine (reduced risk), Neonicitinoid (reduced risk versions available), Pyrrole, and Insect Growth Regulators (reduced risk). The service begins with a crack and crevice liquid treatment. We only treat areas where spray will not drift onto countertops, utensils, or food, so there is no need to empty out cabinets. Next, we use a gel bait in areas we couldn’t spray. Finally, we may use a repellent dust (Pyrethroid) in wall or cabinet voids where we couldn’t reach with other means. This will kill cockroaches in those areas or push them into areas we treated.
It takes a longer visit to remedy a German cockroach infestation than than to prevent one. It also takes a longer visit than most other indoor pests. Also, there is a much higher chance that we will need to do a warranty treatment than with other pests. German cockroaches have evolved to live specifically in areas of human activity, while other pests are more suited to live in nature. This makes them harder to eliminate than other pests. It's also resulted in a greater incidence of pesticide resistance than other household pests. To account for this we often have to use multiple materials and methods during the visit. The good news is that control should be 100% after about 10 days. Re-infestation can only happen from adjacent untreated units or from reintroduction by people bringing them in on items from other structures. We see that happen with clients that work in restaurants, especially.
For duplex with German roaches our pricing is $225. And it's $185 if just one unit. Fourplex is $250.
More info on German Roaches:
We don't treat inside cabinets. We don't ask clients to empty their cabinets because we only spray the cracks and crevices. We'll spray the inside of the cabinet door but not inside the cabinets. The eggs are impervious to insecticide until they hatch (all insect eggs are like that). The residual gets them.
Note: We don't bomb the eggs which somehow other companies do as per some of our new clients.
