AMERICAN COCKROACHES
American cockroaches are significant pests throughout the world, and are not native to the Americas at all. The original home of the American cockroach is actually tropical Africa. The American cockroach is one of the largest cockroaches that can be seen lurking from cracks or corners in your home. The adult is around 1-1 ½ inches long with a pair of antennae that are equally as long! The American cockroach’s nomenclature is Blaterraria from the family Blattidae. This insect derives from the species Linnaeus or Periplaneta Americana. The American cockroach has also been called a Palmetto bug or water bug.
So what do these incredibly ugly insects look like? Let’s begin with their color. The adult can be a dark brown or reddish brown in color. If you get close enough to one of these critters (and why you would?), you’ll notice a yellow margin behind its head. Nymphs (also known as immature cockroaches) also have the same colors. Yellow markings can often be seen on the abdomen of larger nymphs. When you finish reading this article be sure to read the article on prevention and treatment options.
Did you know that these insects can fly? Immature, or nymph, American cockroaches are wingless and incapable of flight; adults have useful wings and can fly for short distances, though they rarely use the ability. Oh yes, and they’ve been known to fly into the oddest of places. They are pretty awkward critters, so you won’t usually see them flying all that often.
Now moving on to male and females. It just so happens that they look pretty similar. They both have finger-like appendages at the tips of their abdomens called cerci. These cerci serve a purpose-to detect any type of movement in the cockroach’s surroundings. If the cockroach happens to be a male he has an extra pair of appendages on the abdomen called styli. The styli are smaller and can be found between the cerci. If you see the styli then you know you’re looking at a male American cockroach. Nymphs look pretty much the same as adults except they are wingless. Egg capsules are a light brown and around 1/3 inch long. If you’ve ever had to re-organize your attic, you may have noticed these eggs stuck to some of those old boxes. You may have also noticed the capsule looking eggs on baseboards. If you happen to notice any of this beware- an infestations of roaches is on the way!
(Penn State University's website photo under fair use laws.)
Where do these critters like to set up home? American cockroaches are ‘peridomestics’. That means they prefer to live outdoors. But that doesn’t exempt them from setting up home in your humble abode. So what climate do they prefer? They thrive on moist and humid climates. They have also been known to live in drier habitats if there is water nearby.They like warmer temperatures of around 70 degrees to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. These pests will not survive in colder climates, which explains why you won’t see the living in Alaska! The pesky insects can be seen frequenting restaurants, bakeries, basements, sewers, and grocery stores. Wherever there’s food, you can bet they’ll try to crawl through the cracks and holes of that establishment. You may also have witnessed seeing them in commercial or residential buildings. Infestations can occur in basements, bathrooms, crawl spaces, and out door landscaping.
By now you’re probably wondering how long these creepy crawlers live. Happily for us, their life span is around a year to a year and a half at best. That’s the good news! The bad news is that they can multiply rather quickly. Each egg can carry up to 14 embryos. In warm conditions the babies will emerge around 30 days later. An adult female American cockroach can produce an egg capsule every 7-9 days, which means 25-30 egg capsules during her life span. Let’s do the math. If there are 14 embryos per egg sack, then that equals 420 new born babies. If 50% of those newborn babies are female, then in one year you could have nearly 3000 more American cockroaches infesting your home, and so on and so on! I think you get the point!
There are many health risks that go hand in hand if you encounter an infestation. These insects can carry harmful bacteria that can be found on your food and other items that they can come in contact with. Illnesses such as food poisoning, dysentery, and diarrhea have not been uncommon in humans. Although there have been no proven facts that these insects have posed a major health threat, they have been known to cause illness as well as childhood asthma. All in all, they’re just plain nasty and no one wants to spend their extra time in the bathroom experiencing any of these unpleasant side effects.