What Is Up with These Roaches?

If you just moved to Melbourne, Florida from the North there are a few things that may pique your interest and draw your attention. One thing is the frequency with which you see Pest Control specialists visiting your neighbor’s homes. You don’t want to ask your neighbor about it because typically in the North, the need for regular pest control is seen as a problem caused by bad housekeeping or poor upkeep. Well, welcome to Florida. Here, pest control is a way of life.
Florida has an environment that encourages insect growth. It is warm and humid with a lot of vegetation in which these insects and other pests can live and reproduce comfortably and for the most part, without challenge. As you know, certain species of bugs are more prevalent in some areas than in others. In Florida, the prevalent cockroach is not the German cockroach as it is in most parts of the country, but are the Florida wood cockroach and the American cockroach.

You probably noticed that any roach that enters your home is much larger than what you are accustomed to. The Florida wood cockroach and the American cockroach are about 1 ¼” to 1 ½” in size. The German cockroach, on the other hand, is only 5/8” in size. This is a huge difference and is probably one of the most disconcerting moments for people who migrate to Cocoa, Florida from other parts of the country. That’s the bad news, your roaches are bigger. The good news is that they don’t really want to live in your house, they like it better outside. One other bit of good news is that the large cockroaches don’t reproduce at the same rate as their smaller cousins. A German cockroach carries between 30 – 48 eggs, but the larger varieties carry only 10 – 28 eggs. That can make a huge difference in infestation and eradication.

If you want to get rid of the cockroach problem, you need an integrated pest management approach. This type of approach includes the services of a Pest Control specialist and requires both prevention and sanitation. Chemicals alone won’t solve your problem and could make it harder to eradicate. When homeowners use only insecticides sold at consumer strengths, you could have the effect of the roaches developing an immunity to the insecticide rendering it worthless. Contact a pest control specialist today.