No one wants them and yet they've persisted for more than 350 million years despite attempts to get rid of them. without control, one pair of German roaches can multiply to more than 2 million in less than a year.
Roaches are found in every part of the U.S. They like nearly any area humans like, especially where food, moisture and warmth are abundant. Cockroaches prefer darkness and crawl into amazingly small crevices as tiny as the thickness of a dime! An adult cockroach can live for a month without food, as long as water or moisture is present.
Roaches carry and spread diseases. It's not unusual for bacteriologists to find salmonella bacteria (which causes food poisoning in humans) on the bodies of cockroaches. Additionally, cockroaches are believed to spread viruses and their presence can cause allergic reactions for many people, especially asthmatic children.
What can you do if you find cockroaches in your living environment? The most important method of cockroach prevention and control is sanitation. Even a few crumbs that slip down beside a stove, for example, can serve as a gourmet dinner for several cockroaches for some time.
© National Pest Management Association
