German Cockroach

Blatella Germanica

Appearance The adult is around 13-18 mm long and yellowish brown in colour. Just behind the head there are two dark stripes, which run lengthwise to the body. Young roaches are wingless and nearly black with a single light stripe running down the middle of the back. They can readily climb rough and polished vertical surfaces. Lifecycle A female can produce four to six cootheca (egg cases) during her lifetime which contain 30-40 eggs per cootheca. The egg case develops on the end of the female’s abdomen. She will carry it for 2-4 weeks, after which it will be deposited. 24 hours later, the nymphs emerge.

In males, nymphal development is 35-45 days with 5-6 moults occurring. For females it is 40-60 days and 6-7 moults. Mating occurs 7-10 days after the final moult to adult. Adult German cockroaches have a lifespan of 4-6 months.

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.

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