Did you know there are 19 species of roaches in the state of Hawaii?
The most common of the 19 are the American roach, the brown-banded roach, the German roach, and the Oriental roach. Oh, you already knew that? Well, did you also know that roaches have been around for 400 million years! Yup, and through all those years roaches changed very little – only difference today is they are about half the size they once were. Maybe the old adage about “roaches never die” might just be true. These insects were a dominant species way back when; they made it through the Triassic period and were there to greet the first dinosaurs 240 million years ago or so!
Roaches are among the more important household and commercial pests. Not only is their presence a sign of dirtiness, but roaches are known to carry disease bacteria for food poisoning, bacteria that causes diarrhea, bacteria that causes dysentery, and hepatitis B antigens. Roaches might also carry the bacteria’s that cause polio, plague, and cholera, but because of good vaccinations today, these bacteria are no longer much of a concern.
In general, roaches are scavengers so they’ll eat a wide variety of stuff from rotting garbage, to soap and toothpaste, and even human hair, and finger and toenail clippings. Combining their carefree eating habits with their carefree living environments of moist or dry areas – to include wood or garbage piles, cracks and crevices, paper products, old appliances, etc. – just underscores the need for cleanliness and sanitation to keep any kinds of roaches at bay.
Roaches are predominantly nocturnal insects, so if you see signs of these nasty creatures during the day, you might have an infestation. Apartment living makes keeping roaches away even more challenging, especially when a close neighbor is not the cleanest of people. To eliminate a roach problem: Clean up old wood or garbage piles, eliminate damp areas in and around your property, seal cracks and crevices where roaches might be getting in, keep food stuffs put away, get rid of old appliances, check bags, boxes, and other paper products brought into your home, etc. If you need help with roach identification and/or roach control, please feel free to give us a call or check out our pest control page for more information. – Mahalo