About German Cockroach
The German cockroach is the world’s most common cockroach species. While German cockroach infestations can develop in any human-occupied location, they are most commonly seen in restaurants, food processing plants, hotels, nursing homes, and other institutional settings. Continue reading to discover more about German cockroaches and how to get rid of them.
The adult is 10 to 15 mm long, with two distinct parallel stripes extending the length of the pronotum. Two black, virtually parallel stripes distinguish the light brown to tan colour of adult German cockroaches on their backs. Female German cockroaches have a darker coloration than males. The nymphs of German cockroaches are dark brown to black in appearance, with dark stripes on their backs. Despite having wings, German cockroaches rarely fly. Rather, they choose to flee.
Habits
German cockroaches, unlike some of their relatives, prefer to live indoors. They will spend more time outside in warm and tropical climates. Expect to locate them around or in human constructions to live and breed due to their incapacity to tolerate harsher and colder conditions.
The German cockroach is the truest of scavengers among the several cockroach species, consuming practically anything they can get their figurative paws on. In addition to any meals and crumbs left by people, this includes soap, booking bindings, glue, toothpaste, and pet foods.
Habitats
Cockroaches from Germany like to live in warm, humid environments near food and moisture sources. They are commonly found in household and commercial kitchen facilities, as well as bathrooms, making them the two most likely locations for an infestation. German cockroach droppings are also likely to be seen in regions where they congregate. Droppings can take the form of a tiny, black, “pepper-like” substance left on counters or in drawers. Fecal staining, which shows as black patches or streaks in the corners of rooms, or around cracks and gaps in walls, is also a possibility.
Threats
German cockroaches contaminate food and food products with their faeces and defensive secretions, physically transport and often harbour pathogenic organisms, can cause severe allergic reactions, and have been known to bite humans and feed on food residues on sleeping humans’ faces in extremely heavy infestations. Infestations of German cockroaches may create psychological stress in humans, and the stigma associated with infestations may influence human behaviour. People who live in infested dwellings, for example, entertain less and avoid the kitchen at night for fear of being bitten by a cockroach.
Prevention
The easiest way to keep German cockroaches at bay is to have a clean environment. Cleaning up crumbs and vacuuming often are all effective ways to prevent German cockroaches from infesting a house or office. Dishes should not be left to build up in the sink. To avoid moisture accumulation, all openings to the structure should be sealed, especially around utility pipes, and crawl areas should be ventilated.
