One of the most common household pests is the Cockroach. They feed on common household food including human and pet food.
Ant populations are controlled using insecticide baits. The bait is One of the biggest problems caused by roaches is the offensive odor they can leave. They can also carry microbes on their bodies including those that are dangerous to humans, mainly in environments like hospitals.
This cockroach species is the largest of all the species.
The American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, prefers warm and humid environments, usually with temperatures in excess of 82째F (27째C). Under the right conditions, they readily live outdoors and are common pests in zoos and animal-rearing facilities. They are also common in sewers, steam tunnels, and masonry storm drains. Occasionally they forage from sewers and other areas into the ground floor of buildings. Adult females carry the egg cases around for about 6 days and then cement them to a protected surface where they incubate for about 2 months or longer. The egg cases, which are about 3/8 inch long, are brown when laid but turn black in 1 to 2 days. Each egg capsule contains about 12 young; a female and her offspring can produce over 800 cockroaches in one year.
Adult: 2 inches; reddish brown; large body, edges of pronotum are light colored
Preferred location: sewers, water meter boxes, storm drains, steam tunnels, animal-rearing facilities
This cockroach species is by far the most common, as well as the most important of all the species. Along with the fact that they can quickly become a nuisance, they are also known to spread disease and cause outbreaks of illness and allergic reactions in many people. They are found worldwide.
Adult: 0.5 inch; light brown, two dark stripes on pronotum
Preferred location: kitchens, bathrooms, food preparation and storage areas
This cockroach's name comes from the two light brown bands appearing across their dark brown bodies. Males have full wings, reaching past the tip of their pointed abdomens. Females, on the other hand, have underdeveloped wings, shorter than their rounded abdomens. The banded markings are more distinctive in the early ages of the cockroach, fading with age in both males and females.
Adult: 0.5 inch; males are golden tan; females are darker brown; both have light-colored bands on abdomen, wings, and sides of pronotum
Preferred location: warm areas indoors, behind pictures on walls, in hollow legs of furniture, clutter
Also known as Blatta orientalis (L.), this species is very dark in colour and shiny. They are found in sewers and similar wet and decaying environments. They are often called water bugs, because they are known to come out of drains, and "black beetle cockroaches" because of their smooth, dark bodies. Males grow up to 1 inch long, wings covering about 3/4 of their abdomen, and females grow to about 1 1/4 inches long, with short stubby wings.
Adult: 1.25 inches; almost black; male, wings are shorter than body; female, wings are rudimentary
Preferred location: cool damp, dark places-woodpiles, ivy, ground cover, garages, basements, water meter boxes, and in drains