Cockroach Pest Control
Cockroaches are flat, oval insects, black, brown, or tan, with chewing mouthparts and long, flexible antennae. Adults of most species have wings, though in some only the males do. Several species live around Reno, and each one hides, breeds, and responds to treatment differently.
Cockroach Biology
Cockroaches belong to the order Blattodea, which scientists now recognize also includes termites. They develop through three life stages, a pattern called incomplete metamorphosis: egg, nymph, and adult. Eggs are laid inside a hard, bean-shaped capsule called an ootheca, which can hold several dozen eggs. Nymphs look like small, wingless adults and pass through several stages separated by molts. For some species the whole life cycle takes only two to three months.
Cockroaches are extremely good at adapting to new environments. They are omnivorous, find food by smell, and many populations have developed resistance to commonly used pesticides. They are carried into buildings in grocery bags, cardboard boxes, and food packaging, and they also enter through gaps around doors and windows and travel through sewer lines.
They prefer warm, dark, moist places and are found mostly in kitchens and bathrooms. Cockroaches are nocturnal, so seeing them during the day can mean the infestation is already heavy. Large infestations produce a foul odor, and cockroach allergens can trigger allergic reactions and asthma. Cockroaches are not direct carriers of human disease in the way mosquitoes are, but they are suspected of helping spread illnesses such as food poisoning and dysentery by moving bacteria from drains and garbage onto food surfaces.
Signs of a Cockroach Problem
- Droppings that look like ground pepper or coffee grounds along shelves, drawers, and baseboards
- Empty egg capsules and shed skins in corners and behind appliances
- A musty, oily odor in cabinets or closets
- Cockroaches scattering when a light is switched on at night
Cockroach Species Found Near Reno
German Cockroach (Blattella germanica)
The German cockroach is the most common species in Nevada. Adults are brownish tan, under half an inch long, with wings covering the abdomen and two dark parallel stripes on the shield behind the head. It has an enormous reproductive potential because of how many eggs it produces and how short its life cycle is.
The female carries her egg capsule attached to her body for about a month and drops it only a day or two before it hatches, which protects the eggs from most treatments. The capsule is pale when first formed and darkens to brown within a couple of days. One female can produce four to eight capsules in her lifetime, each holding 30 to 50 eggs that hatch in about a month. Nymphs go through six or seven molts, and a newly molted cockroach looks white. Development takes around 100 days, and a German cockroach can live for most of a year.
German cockroaches are usually found in kitchens and bathrooms. Finding them elsewhere in a home indicates a very large infestation. They tend to travel along the lines where walls meet floors and cabinets.
Brown-Banded Cockroach (Supella longipalpa)
The brown-banded cockroach is about 12 millimeters long, slightly smaller than the German cockroach. Females are tan to reddish-brown or glossy dark brown, and males are a lighter brown. Adults have two light-colored bands across the base of the wings. Both sexes have wings, but only the male's cover the abdomen, and only the male can fly.
The egg capsules, about 4 by 2.5 millimeters and yellow to reddish-brown, are glued to surfaces in dark places such as the undersides of furniture, inside cabinets, and behind picture frames, which makes them easy to carry into a new home along with the furniture. A female can produce 14 capsules with about 18 eggs each, and the eggs hatch in 50 to 75 days. Adult females live around 200 days. Brown-banded cockroaches prefer temperatures of 80 degrees or higher, often settle higher up in a room, and are found more in homes and apartments than in stores and restaurants.
Oriental Cockroach (Blatta orientalis)
The adult Oriental cockroach is reddish-brown to black and about 30 millimeters long, with short wings. Females have only small wing pads, and males have wings covering about three quarters of the abdomen; neither can fly. Females drop their egg capsules, about 10 by 5 millimeters, in warm, sheltered spots near food. A female produces around eight capsules of 16 eggs each, and the eggs hatch in about 60 days.
Development takes one to two years. Nymphs are about 6 millimeters long and brown, darkening with each molt. Oriental cockroaches lack the cushioned pads between their claws that other species use to climb, so they cannot scale smooth vertical surfaces and are often found trapped in sinks and tubs.
They live in moist, dark places like drains, water meter boxes, plumbing fixtures, sewers, and garbage cans, which is why they are often called water bugs. They survive outdoors during the warmer months, tolerate colder temperatures than the German cockroach, and tend to cluster together.
American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
The adult American cockroach is about an inch and a half long, the largest species found in buildings. It is reddish-brown, and its wings extend beyond the tip of the abdomen. Egg capsules are about 8 by 5 millimeters, brown when dropped and black within two days, and they are dropped or glued near a food source.
Development depends on temperature and can take as long as 600 days, through about 13 nymph stages, and adults can live well over a year and a half. American cockroaches favor dark, damp locations such as sewers and poorly ventilated structures, and they can enter a building through the sewer system. Like other species, they are omnivorous and find food by smell.
Turkestan Cockroach (Blatta lateralis)
The Turkestan cockroach was first reported in the United States in 1978. Since then it has become established in large numbers in California and Nevada and across most of the southwestern states, where it has replaced the Oriental cockroach as the predominant cockroach in urban areas. It lives mainly outdoors, in water meter boxes, irrigation valve boxes, and cracks in block walls, but it can become an indoor pest.
Females closely resemble the Oriental cockroach: about an inch long and dark, with only short wing pads. Males are smaller and lighter, with full wings edged in cream, and they fly to porch lights at night. Nymphs are distinctly two-toned, half black and half reddish.
Field Cockroach (Blattella vaga)
The field cockroach looks a lot like the German cockroach but is lighter in color. It is found mostly in irrigated fields in southern Nevada, and its life cycle is similar to the German cockroach's. Unlike most species it is not deterred by light, so it is often seen during the day. It is an outdoor pest that feeds on decaying vegetation, but it will move into homes during dry seasons.
Smokybrown Cockroach (Periplaneta fuliginosa)
The smokybrown cockroach is not typically found in Nevada; it is most common in the southern states, and it is included here because it is easily confused with the American cockroach. It is a uniform dark mahogany, with wings that completely cover the abdomen. It is rarely found indoors, preferring garages, woodpiles, outbuildings, and greenhouses, where it feeds largely on plant material. It flies at night and is attracted to porch lights.
Cockroach Control
There are three basic steps to controlling cockroaches. The first is inspection. Cockroaches spend the day in dark, damp hiding spots, so finding where they are is harder than it sounds. Sticky traps are one of the most useful tools: placed in areas where an infestation is suspected and checked a few days later, they show exactly where cockroaches are traveling and which species is present.
The second step is sanitation. Cockroaches need food and water, so crumbs, garbage, and food left on counters all need to go, along with dripping faucets and leaking pipes. Cans and bottles waiting to be recycled belong outside, and cardboard boxes, which cockroaches hide and breed in, should not be stored in kitchens. Sealing gaps around pipes and under doors removes the easiest ways in.
The last step is chemical treatment. Cockroaches are rarely eliminated with a single treatment, because sprays and fumigants cannot penetrate the egg capsule. A treatment can kill every live cockroach, and the problem resurfaces once the eggs hatch, which is why multiple treatments are necessary. Treatments placed closest to regular hiding spots are the most effective. Because cockroaches develop resistance, the products used should change between successive treatments. The most common forms are sprays, dusts, and baits, often used together: baits in the cracks where cockroaches feed, dusts in wall voids, and residual sprays at points of entry.
Restaurants and other food businesses face the highest stakes, since a cockroach sighting can mean a failed health inspection. B's provides regular inspections and ongoing cockroach control for commercial kitchens as well as homes near Reno, Sparks, and Carson City.