How to get rid of American Cockroaches

American Cockroaches are also known as a "water bug" or "palmetto bug".

American Cockroach Appearance:

The American roach is reddish-brown, about 1.5 inches long or longer, winged, but seldom fly.

American Roach Diet:

American Cockroaches prefer decaying organic matter, but being scavengers will eat anything. Sweets are attractive to the American roach. They also will feed on starchy items like book bindings, and the back of wall paper.

Habits and Biology of American Cockroaches:

Females produce many egg capsules, having 14-16 eggs hatching in 50-55 days into grayish-brown "nymphs". As the American cockroaches mature they become more reddish-brown in appearance. Adults and nymphs can be found in a variety of places. In the North,they are commonly found in steam heat tunnels or in large institutional buildings.They more commonly congregate in open spaces instead of small crack and crevices.When indoors,they can be located in dark,moist areas like basements and crawl spaces.Other likely areas indoors would be around bathtubs, floor drains,and sewers. Outside the American roach can be found in moist, shady areas like:yards, hollow trees, woodpiles,and mulch. At times they can be found under roof shingles or attics. Usually they will live outside,but will wander inside in search for food and water or during extremes in weather conditions.

Recommendations for American Roach Control:

Caulk all penetrations through ground level walls. Stop water leaks, screen equipment overflow drains, and take overflow water away from buildings; keep drain traps full or capped. Remove rotting leaves from window wells. Move garbage cans out of preferred moist habitat. Ventilate moist spaces.

Generally speaking, control measures should concentrate on the outside of the building and points of entry. This is called a "perimeter or barrier" treatment. Use a good residual sprays such as :

Talstar *Top recommendation (Broader label and longer lasting-may be used on ornamentals as well.

MasterLine Bifenthrin 7.9 or DEMON WP can at times prevent these ants from entering the structures.

Cynoff WP, Cyper WP

You may use three residual sprays : MasterLine Bifenthrin 7.9 Cynoff WP(Cyper WP) or Demon WP inside or outside

Spray outside around doors, windows, pipe openings, and dryer vents. Apply also on the inside on the baseboards near the entry pts.

On the inside-apply around the plumbing under the sinks and washer and dryer connections. You don't have to spray all the interior baseboards, just the corners and baseboards inside the garage and basement areas.

For additional treatment you may apply granulars around the base of the house, particularly in areas of pine straw and mulched areas.

Two recommended granulars are : *Top recommendation(longer lasting)Talstar One (Bifen IT) Granulars or Delta Guard Granulars

Bifen Granulars Talstar or Bifen Granulars
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If you have these larger cockroaches entering inside your home from the attic area (due to trees that overhang the attic or gutters that are not clean) using baits like Maxforce Bait Granulars, would give you very good results.

Maxforce Bait Granulars

Maxforce Bait Granulars would also be excellent choices for crawl spaces and or attics.

The residual insecticides : MasterLine Bifenthrin 7.9 or DEMON WP as well as the residual granulars: Talstar Granules should be repeated every three months during the season.