American Cockroach

Periplaneta Americana

Appearance American cockroaches are 35 – 50 mm long and shining red–brown in colour. The wings are fully developed in both sexes and are capable short flights in warm conditions. The wings are longer than the body in males, but only just overlap the abdomen in females. Lifecycle A female will usually produce up to 20 ootheca (egg cases), with 14-16 eggs per ootheca. These are carried by the female for several days before being deposited; usually in groups. A female will produce on average about 150 young in a lifetime. The incubation period is usually around 35-days. Nymphs moult 9-13 times before becoming adults which typically takes 5-15 months depending on conditions. Adults mate around 1-week after the final moult.

Diet

The American cockroach is an omnivorous and opportunistic feeder. They will eat anything including meat, vegetables, human faeces and other cockroaches. It has been observed eating paper, boots, hair, bread, fruit, book bindings, fish, peanuts, old rice, putrid sake, the soft part on the inside of animal hides, cloth and dead insects.

Habitat

They are frequently found in basements, sewers and drainage systems as well as in commercial and large buildings such as restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, and where food is prepared and stored. They can develop to enormous numbers.

Management

Improving sanitation by eliminating food and water sources and clutter can have a significant impact on reducing the chances of an infestation population size. Finally, exclusion practices such as sealing cracks and crevices will reduce harbourage space and also negatively impact population size.

The roach produces more eggs and has more generations per year (three to four) than other roaches, and only a few individuals are needed to develop into troublesome infestations.

Complete eradication will require the services of a professional pest control technician.

Disease

Cockroaches are known to spread at least 33 kinds of bacteria, six kinds of parasitic worms, and at least seven other kinds of human pathogens. The diseases that cockroaches spread cause such things as Salmonella food poisoning, diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid, TB and Polio. They also cause allergic reactions and are a major contributor to respiratory asthma in humans.

Germs accumulate on their legs and bodies as they crawl through decaying matter or sewage. Food preparation and storage areas can then become contaminated by the cockroaches themselves or their faeces. While feeding, cockroaches often regurgitate digestive fluid that contains organisms ingested in a previous meal.

Bacteria associated with cockroaches include:

Clostridium perfringens
Enterobacter aerogenes
Escherichia coli
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Mycobacterium leprae
Proteus morgani
Proteus mirabilis
Proteus rettgeri
Proteus vulgaris
Salmonella bareilly
Salmonella bovis-morbificans
Salmonella bredeny
SalmSalmonella oranienburg
Salmonella panama
Salmonella paratyphi-B
Salmonella typhi
Salmonella typhimurium
Serratia marcescens
Shigella dysenteriae
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus faecalis
Streptococcus pyogenes
Vibrio spp.
Yersinia pestisonella newport