Cockroaches

Background Information – Cockroaches

There are three cockroach species that we commonly see in Colorado including the German, American and Oriental cockroach.   

• The German cockroach is the most common of the three and is found both in residential homes and businesses.  They are the smallest of the three species we usually see, and the adults are 1.1 to 1.6 cm long, tan to black in color with two dark roughly parallel streaks on the pronotum.  Nymphs are smaller and lack wings.   
• The American cockroach is the second most common cockroach we encounter, and we rarely see them in residential housing.  These cockroaches are more common in buildings, restaurants, steam tunnels, and pipe chases.  They are the largest of the cockroach species in Colorado and the adults are 1.25 to 2.125 inches in length, reddish-brown with a yellow band that outlines the area behind their head.  Nymphs are smaller and again lack wings.  
  

  

• The Oriental cockroach is not very common, but when we do find them, they are generally associated with pipe chases, mechanical closets, restaurants, basements, etc.  They are rare to find inside residential homes, but it can happen.  These cockroaches are 18-29 mm in length, are dark brown or black in color, and have a glossy body.   

All these cockroaches like their environment to be warm and humid (tropical).  Therefore, they are typically found in the kitchen, under the sinks, behind the refrigerator, behind the stove, microwave, baseboard heating, dishwashers, etc.  Cockroaches can be brought home from stores in produce bags, from neighboring apartments in multi-unit complexes, on stored belongings from another house; they can appear in restaurants from food delivery, or in front of adjacent restaurants.  They can also come from steam tunnels, sewers, drains, etc.   

Treatments for Cockroaches

Treatment always begins with a thorough inspection to identify the type of cockroach and the location of the nests inside the home, business, or restaurant.  The technician will place insect monitors and perform crack and crevice treatment around the area.  The service includes flushing, which moves the cockroaches out of their hiding areas, and the technician might also put out cockroach bait and an insect growth regulator to stop the cockroach breeding cycle.  Most infestations can be eliminated within three services provided that the customer follows the prep-sheet provided by our company.  After the initial service, we follow up every 10-14 days until the infestation has been eliminated.  The frequency coincides with the amount of time the cockroach egg takes to hatch.  Multi-unit complexes like apartments can be quite challenging because the infestation can be coming from neighboring units.  In this case, we always recommend to property managers that we perform a 3D inspection of surrounding units to limit the chance of a re-infestation and to make sure that we have found the source of the problem.   

Service Expectations 

All cockroach services come with a 30-day warranty unless otherwise noted by the service technician.  Cockroach services are a team effort between the customer and the service technician.  The insecticides can only work so much with competing food sources as sanitation is a major factor with regards to the time it takes to get control of an infestation.  Certain situations might warrant a monthly service to gain control or a monthly preventative service to make sure that you do not get an outbreak.