The German cockroach is the most common species in British Columbia, found where moisture, food and shelter are available.Cockroaches are most often brought in usually by a persons belongings, luggage, boxes or packages. They have three stages in their life cycle: eggs, nymph and adult. Adults are 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch long, light brown to a darker amber with two dark distinctive stripes behind the head.
The young cockroaches are wingless and usually only a few millimetres in length and within a few hours the white hatchlings take on their notorious amber colour. They become full grown after several months but some species take up to a year to reach adulthood.
Females can reproduce, on average, one egg capsule every 3-4 weeks. Each egg capsule contains 25-45 eggs and she will carry that capsule with her until the moment the young are ready to hatch. The new born females will be able to breed in as little as 36 days. Roaches are mostly active at night, hiding in cracks and crevices in walls during the day. They don’t stop with just the walls, a roach will hide in your door frames and furniture, secure places in your bathrooms, cupboards and even your electronic devices. If your seeing roaches during the day it is most likely due to their hiding spots being over crowded by other roaches.
Infestations are generally found in bathrooms and kitchens but can inhabit other areas if there is a large population. Cockroaches eat a great variety of food, including all food consumed by humans. They love starchy and sugary items but will eat cheese and sip on milk. Cockroaches also feed on other stuff, cardboard, book bindings, ceiling boards containing starch and much more.
Cockroaches carry pathogenic bacteria onto food which is responsible for food poisoning outbreaks due where they travel, like garbage, wash rooms, sewers and lots of other places where bacteria festers.
The most conclusive evidence that there is a cockroach infestation is simply seeing them in your home. Although it is not easy to spot them during the day because they are nocturnal creatures. A distinguishable and pungent odour would also be left behind by the roaches which makes it easy to identify their presence.
If the infestation is severe you will see them in the day time due to overcrowding of their habitat. Another way to identify a cockroach infestation is discovery of something known as shell cases, these are the egg casings of recently hatched roaches.
