Cockroaches are a dangerous infestation that can seriously affect your health. Cockroaches are born from eggs in egg sacks called an ootheca. These sacks coat the eggs to protect them from stomach acid as cockroaches have only one pathway through their body for food which is the same pathway they use to give birth. Cockroaches, like turtles, leave their egg sacks in places with access to food and water but do not raise the young. The young are expected to figure things out on their own. They will hatch as fully mobile tiny cockroaches and begin exploring.
Cockroach species
There are four main species in North America, two of which are native and two of which are not. The American cockroach comes from South America and is often worshiped or at least seen as a comical and idealized creature there. There are songs and stories about it in Mexico and it even has a dance called La Cucaracha. That being said having cockroaches in Mexico is just as bad as it is in Northern parts of North America like the US and Canada.
Brown Banded Cockroach
The brown-banded cockroach is also native to North America, unlike the American cockroach which can fly for short distances the brown-banded and other cockroaches only have imprints of vestigial wings they once had. The brown-banded cockroach is not as large and does not live as long as the American cockroach but can have a few more babies than them.
Oriental and German Cockroaches
The oriental cockroach is very dangerous as it comes from china and has no actual predators here. They came from ships like the German cockroaches and are a serious threat. While prenatal cockroaches are similar to native cockroaches in the life cycle and birth rate the German cockroach is not. They are much smaller with much shorter life cycles and can produce ten to twenty times more babies. While the average cockroach can produce five to ten eggs per ootheca the germans can produce up to sixty. This makes their infestation much worse and much harder to treat.
Cockroach entryways
Cockroaches can enter your home through sewers and even under doors. There is no way to stop them from getting into your home but you can do things that will make it less likely that they will show up. This can include using a drain cleaner to ensure there is no edible food in your drains and putting door sweeps on all your exterior doors. Keeping doors closed and windows closed tightly can also help but cockroaches most often come into your house through the sewer system.
Domestic Treatment
Domestic treatments are effective when dealing with larger cockroaches like the American and brown-banded but are all but useless against cockroaches like the German cockroach. They also do not treat the entire population often killing off adults but failing to kill the babies.
Commercial Treatment
Professional treatments do not involve bait. They are full multi-chemical treatments that involve a large number of commercial-grade pesticides that can kill off any infestation in as little as one treatment. If you are experiencing a severe infestation this is the only way to go.