Cockroaches are the number one pest in homes or other buildings. New York cockroaches have successfully adapted to living wherever people live and are common on ships, in warehouses, restaurants, stores, apartments, offices, hotels and one-family dwellings. In fact, cockroaches are often the first occupant in a new building. All County Pest Control offers cockroach control in Wappingers Falls, Hopewell Junction, Fishkill, Pawling, Patterson, Carmel, Mahopac, Mahopac Falls, Lake Peekskill, Katonah, Mt Kisco, Bedford, Pound Ridge, Armonk, Scarsdale, Port Chester and the surrounding areas in Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester counties.
Cockroaches are frequently carried into buildings in bags or boxes. They can live outside in watermeters, garbage dumps or sewage systems and then migrate into buildings. Cockroaches hide in sheltered, dark places during the day. Because they avoid light, they maynot be detected in a home for months. Most homes have many cracks or crevices where they hide. At night, cockroaches leave their hiding places to seek out food and water. If a light is turned on, they will run rapidly for shelter, disappearing through openings into their hiding places.
Cockroaches can carry bacteria, fungi and filth on their legs and bodies. Their habit of hiding in empty spaces and moving under cover of darkness carrying bacteria is a health menace. They may pollute food or cooking utensils with this filth.
Identifying cockroaches
Cockroaches have a broad, flattened shape and six long legs. They are dark drown, reddishbrown, light brown or black. The adults of most species have wings. The male Oriental cockroach has wings which cover only part of the back. The female’s wings are reduced to small pads. The young cockroach is called a nymph. It looks like the adult, except it is smaller and has no wings. A newly hatched cockroach is 1/8 inch in length. New York cockroach eggs are laid in a group, covered with a hard coating called an egg capsule. The egg capsule is brown, reddish-brown or black. Egg capsules are small and 1/5 to 1/3 inch in length and the width is usually near one-half the length.
Control methods
To control cockroaches in the home, the homeowner must use care and planning. Prevent cockroaches from entering the home. Prevention is better than applying insecticides to control an established population. Practice cleanliness in the home. Eliminating favorable breeding sites lessens the possibility of cockroach infestation. A home may be infested by two or more kinds of cockroaches. Identify the cockroach and understand its behavior so that controls are properly applied. For example, insecticide applications may be needed throughout the house to control the brown-banded cockroach. Treatment of the bathroom and kitchen may be enough to control more restricted German or American cockroaches, except with heavy infestations.
Non-Chemical Control
- Practice sanitation in and around the home. A building should be kept clean and repaired to make it less favorable for insects.
- Keep windows and doors tight. Caulk cracks in outside walls, sills and foundations.• Seal all openings where electrical lines or water, steam and cooling pipes pass through walls and floors. This will slow movement of cockroaches into a home.
- Inspect soft drink cartons, cardboard boxes, dried pet foods, potatoes, onions and firewood carried into the home to avoid carrying in cockroaches.
- Repair plumbing leaks and seal all moisture sources.
- Remove all food crumbs and garbage to containers with tightly fitting lids.
- Store foods in sealed containers.
All County Pest Control will use Cockroach traps (baited boxes with sticky material inside) are very helpful. Specimens collected in traps can locate the part of the home with cockroach problems, as well as aid in identification of the particular cockroach present. Traps will also indicate the severity of the problem. Using a trap may prevent an infestation by catching cockroaches that are carried into the home in bags or boxes before they find hiding places.
Chemical Control
To control cockroaches with insecticides, it is necessary to find their shelters and hiding places and treat these locations. Regardless of the insecticide chosen, chemicals placed in or near regular hiding places will provide much better control than those placed where cockroaches move only occasionally. To eliminate an already established infestation, remove all routes of reinfestation. Then thoroughly clean the house and apply an approved insecticide. Several treatments may be needed to kill cockroaches after they hatch. The type of insecticide depends on the location and nature of the infestation. No one chemical is best suited for all cockroach problems, but the various types available present an effective combination.
All County Pest Control will use liquid insecticides for transient areas and gel baits and bait traps in areas of high activity and nesting. We will take care not to combine these two tretment methods in the same areas, as to not counter act each application.
Ask about our Home Protection Plan, this is the best protection we can provide to control pests in and around your home. Pests are a constant threat to your home environment and with on-going inspection, treatment and correction of conducive conditions, All County can provide a much better living environment for you and your family.