Know Your Enemy
Accurate identification of pests is as important as choosing the best preventive pest management available on the market today. Preventive Pest Control has compiled a list of most common pests to help you identify the problem.
Smokybrown Cockroach
(Periplaneta fuliginosa)
Characteristics
The smokybrown cockroach has wings that are longer than their bodies. They are mahogany brown with no unique colorations. They are 1.5 inches in length and have a dark shiny thorax.
Habitat
When the smokybrown cockroach is found outdoors, this cockroach will be residing in shrubs, trees, wood piles, flowers, and the likes. When it stays near or in the perimeter of a home, this cockroach may reside in garages, crawl spaces, attics, basements, rain gutters, gardens, and greenhouses.
They prefer places where they can easily acquire moisture as they require water every two to three days. During the day, these cockroaches will prefer to stay in dark, moist, and warm places. They like to search for damp, dark places where they will not be disturbed and they can populate.
Behavior
This cockroach is a nocturnal insect that mostly shows up during the night to search for food. Although they mostly live outdoors, the smokybrown can get inside a home by entering under loose-fitting doors and windows. They can also fly long distances, which enables them to find their way through roof tops and inside chimneys.
Food
The smokybrown cockroach may be seen searching for food and water at night when other insects are also searching for food. These cockroaches, just like any other cockroach species will feed on any type of food available to them. They will eat dead insects, decaying plants, human food, and even fecal matter. Since they easily get dehydrated, they will also search for water to drink.
Life Cycle
The life cycle of a smokybrown cockroach begins as an egg in a capsule. A capsule or an ootheca can have 24 eggs with a female being able to create 17 capsules during her life. Once the ootheca is created, it will be attached to a protected place, until the time it hatches. After the eggs hatch, these young cockroaches will have 10 to 12 months before they become adults. In a favorable setting the smokybrown cockroach can live for up to 1 to 2 years.
Other Information and Tips
There are different ways of getting rid of this cockroach. It may require non-chemical and chemical procedures to effectively control them. Non-chemical procedures include proper sanitation of the premises, and exclusion by caulking and placing mesh screens on doors and windows. Chemical methods include the use of dust, baits and granules. If all else fails, call a professional pest control service to get rid of this pest for you.
Photo: Smokybrown Cockroach (Matsudo, Chiba, Japan) by t-mizo, used under CC BY 2.0/ resized from original