Cockroaches are terrible insects. They can get into your house and contaminate your food supplies and food preparation surfaces. These insects love our kitchens and bathrooms and can make their homes inside our walls. Getting rid of them is very important. Your Broken Arrow Pest Control company can help you eliminate them if you’re having a problem. Let’s take a good look at cockroaches and their effects on us.

Cockroaches use incomplete metamorphosis to develop into full-grown adults. This means that a female lays eggs, usually inside an egg case called an ootheca. Depending on the species, she may hide the egg case or carry it with her. The German cockroach is notable because the female carries the egg case attached to the end of her abdomen until shortly before the eggs hatch.

Eventually, nymphs emerge from the eggs. These are smaller versions of adult cockroaches, but they don’t yet have fully developed wings. They molt many times before reaching adulthood. Molting happens when their current exoskeleton can no longer accommodate their growth, so they shed it and form a new one. Cockroaches repeat this process until they become adults.

Cockroaches of different ages may leave their hiding places to look for food. Younger nymphs often stay closer to their hiding places and may feed on nearby food particles or droppings from other cockroaches. Cockroaches can sometimes eat one another, particularly when resources are scarce, but this doesn’t reliably control an infestation.

If your home has excessive food particles available to these insects, that’s going to give them the smorgasbord they need to feed themselves and their young. Dirty dishes in the sink and food left out are places where these insects can feed. Keeping those food sources to a minimum will help make your home less attractive to cockroaches.

When cockroaches molt, they leave behind shed exoskeletons. As those materials break down, particles can become part of household dust. Cockroach droppings and body fragments can also contain allergens. This dust is not good for people who are sensitive to it. In fact, buildings with large cockroach populations can have problems with asthma symptoms, especially among people with cockroach allergies.

In addition, cockroaches can carry bacteria and other germs from unsanitary places onto surfaces and food. That’s why it’s important to get rid of cockroaches if you think you have them.

If you’re dealing with these insects or any other pest problems, it’s time to call a Broken Arrow Pest Control company to get them taken care of. TermMax Pest Control can handle cockroaches and other pest control issues quickly and affordably. Call us today.