 There
is one thing that nearly everyone in the world agrees
upon: All throughout the world, on every continent where
they can be found, in every nation, state, city, town,
and village, people detest cockroaches.
This universal loathing of cockroaches is no accident,
either. Consider the following:
Cockroaches threaten human health because they transmit
or aggravate many serious diseases, including
Salmonella, E. Coli, food poisoning, asthma, and
Hepatitis E, diarrhea, and dysentery.
Roaches, shed their skins, and their droppings
contaminate hundreds of thousands of pounds of stored
food every year.
Roaches are one of the most difficult pests to
eradicate, due to their adaptability, their ability to
quickly become resistant to insecticides, and their
prolific reproductive habits.
There are thousands of species of cockroaches, but only
four species are common household pests. Cockroach
behavior varies by specie, but the following
characteristics are generally true.
Cockroaches tend to live in close proximity to each
other, but they are not social insects. They have no
social structure or division of labor, and they do
nothing to care for their young other than to deposit
their eggs in areas close to food, water, and harborage.
All cockroaches develop through incomplete
metamorphosis. Adult females deposit their oothecae, or
egg sacks, in an area favorable to the development of
the young. Immature cockroaches emerge from their eggs
as nymphs, who look very much like adults except for
their smaller size and lack of wings. The nymphs develop
through a series of molts, with the stages between molts
known as "instars." There is no pupal stage.
The time span between hatching and reaching reproductive
age can be as little as two to three months. As adults,
cockroaches can live as long as a year under ideal
circumstances (although three to six months is probably
more typical).
Reproductive Potential of Cockroaches
Cockroaches are among the most prolific insects in the
world. Their rapid reproduction is one of the reasons
why a single pregnant cockroach carried home in a
grocery bag really can explode into a major infestation
in almost no time at all.
A German cockroach in an average environment, with
sufficient food, warmth, moisture, and harborage, lives
for about three or four months, on average. During this
time, a female will produce 4 to 6 oothecae, with each
ootheca containing between 30 and 40 eggs. This makes
for an average reproductive potential of between 120 -
240 live offspring during her lifetime.
German cockroach nymphs reach sexual maturity in about 8
to 12 weeks under favorable conditions. So factoring in
the reproductive potential of her offspring, a single
female German cockroach (or even a single ootheca)
brought into a home can swell to an infestation of
hundreds or thousands of roaches in the course of a
year.
Common Cockroach Species
There are several thousand species of cockroaches, but
these four species account for the bulk of interior
cockroach infestation in the United States.
Do-it-yourself cockroach control begins with identifying
the correct specie.
German Cockroaches
The German Cockroach (Blattella germanica) is the roach
that exterminators are most often
 called
upon to control in the United States.
Adult German cockroaches average about five-eighths of
an inch long. They have long antennae which they use to
detect chemicals, moisture, air currents, and probably
sound waves and vibrations in their environment.
German cockroaches prefer warm, moist areas, and are
frequently found in kitchens and bathrooms. Thousands of
german cockroaches can occupy a single kitchen.
American Cockroaches
American Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) are large
roaches, ranging in length up to an inch and a half.
These are the roaches that people usually are talking
about when they
 say "You could have put a saddle on it."
American cockroaches prefer dark, moist, warm areas.
They are commonly found in basements, steam tunnels,
boiler rooms, rubble foundations, and similar places.
Often they aren't even noticed until a light is turned
on, and they scurry away rapidly.
Adult American cockroaches of both sexes have working
wings and at least some flight capability, but oddly
enough, they seldom fly.
Brown-Banded Cockroaches
Brown-banded Cockroaches (Supella longipalpa)
are about half an inch in length as adults. Adults of
both sexes have wings, although only the males fly.
Brown-banded cockroaches have two light-colored bands
running across the base of their wings, hence the name
"brown-banded cockroach."
Compared to other common roaches (such as the german
cockroach, as which they often are mis-identified),
brown-banded cockroaches tend to prefer drier
conditions. They're commonly found in bedrooms
(especially in the cabinets and night tables), in
closets, behind peeling wallpaper, and inside electrical
and electronic equipment.
Oriental Cockroaches
 Oriental Cockroaches (Blatta orientalis) are
black or very dark brown in color and roughly an inch in
length. Adult males' wings reach about three-quarters
down their abdomens, but they cannot fly. Adult females
have only small wing pads.
Oriental cockroaches tend to live outdoors when the
weather is warm, but they readily move inside during
extremes of heat, cold, or drought. They can commonly be
found in garbage storage areas, basements, and under
porches and decks. They're often found along sill plates
in unfinished basements and crawl spaces.
Turkestan Cockroach
Identifying:
 The adults of this species grow to about 1" in length, with the female being a bit longer. The males are brownish yellow in color and the females are dark brown to black in color. The wings of the male extend beyond the abdomen whereas the female wings are very short triangular pads separated by less than a wings width.
The nymphs (young) are bi-colored with the thorax (front) being light brown
 and the abdomen being dark brown. The ootheca or egg capsules are 3/8” long, dark brown and contain about 18 eggs.
The males of this roach are commonly confused with American Roaches and the females with Oriental roaches.
Habits:
 This roach is a desert or semi-desert dweller. It can live inside under the right conditions, but is most commonly found outside. Outdoor habitats include water meter and valve boxes, under leaf litter, and under heavy thatch in lawns. It is common in sewer systems and is capable of carrying the bacteria that causes dysentery.
Biology:
Not a lot is known about this species other than nyumphal development takes around 118-137 days, and adults live from 30 to 300 days.
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