American cockroaches are no stranger to the south and Rockwall is no exception. With hot and humid temperatures in Texas, American cockroaches thrive on these weather conditions.

Often found hiding out during the day and coming out at night, these mostly nocturnal insects can get up to 2” long with wings 1/8” longer than their body length. Their reddish-brown color separates them from other large cockroaches such as the oriental cockroach (black-brown) or the Cuban cockroach (pale green).

American cockroaches prefer warm humid areas such as: drains, sewers, pipes, or basements. You can also find them outside under mulch, in wood piles or hollowed out trees or in a moist shaded area. Their flat bodies allow them to crawl through small cracks and crevices to get inside your home or business.

The American cockroach droppings are also often mistaken for those of a mouse dropping. One way to tell the difference is an American cockroach dropping is shorter with a square tip as with the mouse dropping its larger and the tip is pointed.

An American cockroach has 3 stages of life. Egg, nymph and adult. The female can lay up to 100 egg capsules containing over 15 eggs per capsule at one time.
When the egg hatches a wingless nymph emerges and will go through multiple molt cycles over the next year before becoming an adult.

These insects will feed on most anything they can find. From meats, crumbs and dog food to book bindings and wallpaper paste. It’s important to keep food tightly sealed and food surfaces clean along with picking any books up off the floor. Having a professional treat the inside and outside perimeter of your home or business will also help keep them out as well as from getting behind cracks in the baseboards or openings within your wallpaper.

Call Safe Earth Pest Control today to start a preventative treatment plan to help with those summertime and year-round pests. 214-321-2847