Cockroach Identification & Control

Appearance

Cockroaches all follow the same blueprint: flattened oval bodies with those long antennae constantly twitching around. Six spiny legs carry them everywhere, plus there’s that distinctive shield-like section (pronotum) covering part of their head when you look down. Most problem species tend toward brown or reddish-brown colors, though each has its own pattern that sets it apart. The babies (we call them nymphs) look like tiny, pale versions of their parents minus the wings.

Size ranges dramatically, from half an inch (penny-sized) up to nearly 2 inches—as big as your thumb. With their flat bodies, cockroaches can slip through gaps as narrow as a credit card, roughly 1.6 mm (1/16″).

German Cockroach

Blattella germanica

These are light brown to tan with two dark parallel lines running down the back of their head shield. They’ve got wings but prefer scurrying to flying when indoors.

They’re completely domestic. Winter kills them outside, so they spend their whole lives in heated buildings. They’re drawn to warm, wet spots close to food—under your fridge, behind the stove, tucked into cabinet cracks, anywhere around sinks.

Here’s what makes treatment tricky: females carry those brown egg pouches around for three weeks straight. Thirty to forty babies develop inside, completely protected from sprays.

American Cockroach

Periplaneta americana

The biggest roaches you’ll find in houses. Deep reddish-brown with a yellowish figure-8 marking or pale border sits behind their head.

Both males and females have wings that stick out past their bodies. When it gets really hot—over 85°F—males actually take short flights.

American roaches love heat and moisture. Think basements, boiler rooms, crawlspaces, sewers, storm drains. In cities, whole colonies live underground in steam tunnels and utility areas before moving into buildings through pipes, cracks, or gaps around doors. They usually show up on lower floors first, then spread upward.

Oriental Cockroach

Blatta orientalis

Shiny, dark brown to black roaches where the sexes look completely different. Males have short wings that cover maybe three-quarters of their body. Females look almost wingless—just tiny wing stubs. Neither one flies.

Big infestations smell awful—you’ll know when you’ve got a problem. People call them “water bugs” since they go crazy for cool, damp, dark places like basements, crawlspaces, floor drains, and sump pumps.

These guys only produce one generation a year. Most adults die off by late summer, leaving the young ones to find warm spots when fall hits.

Brown-Banded Cockroach

Supella longipalpa

The light bands crossing their dark brown bodies give these roaches their name. Overall coloring ranges from brown to tan with yellowish-brown stripes decorating both wings and body.

Males sport long wings extending past their body tip and can manage short flights, while females have stubby wings that leave part of their abdomen exposed; flight is impossible for them.

Heat and dry conditions suit these cockroaches perfectly. They scatter throughout living rooms, bedrooms, closets, and offices, always seeking elevated hiding spots. Picture frames, ceiling corners, lamp fixtures, and electronics like televisions or radios become their preferred real estate.

Females cement their egg cases way down in cracks where you can’t reach them.

How to Get Rid of Cockroaches

A common mistake people make is turning to pesticides first. You’ll kill a few, but without tackling the real problems, they’re back in weeks. Real cockroach control comes down to cutting off what keeps them alive: food, water, and hiding spots.

Cleaning and Decluttering

• That grease coating your stovetop? It’s basically a cockroach magnet. Germans especially crave fatty food because they need those nutrients for making egg cases. Clean your stovetop, toaster, and microwave interior weekly.
• Everything edible needs sealed containers. Germans chew through cardboard boxes, plastic bags, even flimsy plastic containers. We’ve seen them gnaw through materials up to 3 mm thick and actually lay eggs in the corrugated layers of cereal boxes. Glass jars work best, but heavy-duty plastic with rubber seals does the trick too.
• Pet food sitting out overnight is like leaving a buffet open. Store it sealed and stick to regular feeding times.
• Dirty dishes are the perfect cockroach buffet. Germans get active 2 – 4 hours after lights go out, so either wash dishes right away or load them in the dishwasher.

Eliminating Water Sources

• Fix leaky faucets immediately. One drip every few seconds gives roaches all the water they need to thrive.
• Run bathroom fans during showers and keep them going 15 minutes after. Cockroaches love high humidity, making steamy bathrooms prime territory. No fan installed? Crack open a window.
• Check guest bathrooms and unused sinks. When those P-traps dry out, you’ve created a direct route from the sewer into your house. American roaches love sewer systems—most infestations start there. Either add water to keep traps sealed or get drain covers installed.

Managing Waste

• Empty kitchen trash every night, especially in summer when garbage rots faster.
• Get tight-fitting lids, those flip-top garbage cans don’t cut it. Clean monthly with bleach water to kill odors that linger.
• Rinse food containers before tossing them in recycling. Even leftover smells draw foraging roaches.

Exclusion and Sealing

• Look for entry points thinner than a credit card. Check baseboards, spaces behind appliances, around tub and sink installations, anywhere plumbing enters walls.
• Seal everything up. Small cracks get caulk—latex or silicone both work fine. Bigger gaps need expanding foam. For holes larger than half an inch, stuff steel wool in first, then foam over it. Don’t bother with copper mesh; it corrodes in 12 – 18 months and roaches chew through the rust eventually.
• Install door sweeps under exterior doors. No gap should be bigger than 1.6 mm.
• Inspect everything before bringing it inside. Roaches hitchhike in cardboard boxes, electronics, old appliances, etc.

Boric Acid and Diatomaceous Earth

These powders kill roaches differently but both get results. Boric acid sticks to their bodies when they crawl through treated areas. Since roaches constantly clean their legs and antennae, they swallow the powder, which attacks their digestive and nervous systems. Diatomaceous earth works like microscopic razor blades, slicing through the waxy coating. The result? Fatal dehydration.

• Use light dusting, about a gram per square meter. Pile it thick and they walk around it instead. 
• Put it where kids and pets can’t reach: inside wall spaces, behind outlet covers (turn power off first), under insulation.
• Wear an N95 mask and nitrile gloves when applying. Only buy food-grade diatomaceous earth with EPA registration numbers

Gel Baits and Bait Stations

Modern gel baits kill slowly, letting poisoned roaches return to their hiding spots before dying. Then other roaches eat their vomit and droppings, spreading poison through the entire colony. Good gel baits wipe out 90 – 95% of populations within days.

• Put pea-sized dabs along their travel routes: inside cabinets, under sinks, behind appliances.
• Replace bait every 2 – 4 weeks to keep them interested. The gel stays active 60 – 90 days but becomes less appealing after a month. 
• Switch active ingredients every three months. Fipronil and indoxacarb work through different biological pathways, helping prevent resistance.
• Only use products labeled for food areas if you’re baiting kitchens. Keep bait away from anywhere you’ve sprayed pesticides.

Glue Traps

Don’t count on these solving your problem. They’re best for finding where activity is heaviest. Set traps along walls near suspected hiding spots and check weekly. Catching more roaches each week means baits aren’t working or new ones are getting inside. Toss traps when full or too dusty to stay sticky.

Pesticides

Save spray cans for serious infestations when you’re seeing roaches during daylight; that usually means overcrowding. Spraying too early or in wrong spots creates resistance problems and ruins bait strategies.

• Follow label amounts exactly. More isn’t better.
• Use crack-and-crevice formulas only, never broadcast sprays.
• Target baseboards, pipe chases, similar hiding spots. Avoid anywhere you’ve placed gel baits.

Lock all pesticides away from kids and pets. Watch for poisoning symptoms: headaches, nausea, dizziness, muscle twitches mean someone needs medical help immediately.

Where Do Cockroaches Come From?

Gaps around windows and doors work like highways for these pests. They also squeeze through wall cracks and slip in wherever pipes and wires enter your house.

Apartment living creates extra problems. That roach issue might not even be yours: they travel between units through shared walls, ceiling spaces, or plumbing connections. One infested apartment can seed an entire building.

Germans are notorious hitchhikers. Amazon packages, grocery bags, luggage, secondhand furniture from online marketplaces regularly carry stowaways. One pregnant female hidden in a cardboard box becomes hundreds of roaches in 4 – 6 weeks.

Need help getting rid of cockroaches? Our experts can handle even the toughest of infestations, keeping your home or business free of these unsanitary pests.

Cockroach Control Services

• Treatment and Assessment
• Spraying, Baiting, and Trapping
• ULV Treatment (Aggressive)
• Proofing (Exclusion)