Massachusetts is home to the American, German, Oriental and brown-banded cockroach species, all of which are among the five most commonly controlled cockroach pests of homes and buildings in the United States. American and Oriental cockroaches dwell primarily outdoors, but they often move indoors where they can reproduce and establish extensive infestations. American cockroaches are encountered indoors more often than Oriental cockroaches, but American cockroach infestations are more common in restaurants and commercial buildings than in residential homes. German and brown-banded cockroaches both dwell primarily indoors, but the former is far more abundant in the US than the latter. German cockroaches are responsible for a majority of the infestations managed by pest control professionals in Massachusetts, and they are easily the most difficult cockroach pests to control.
German cockroaches are accustomed to living in close association with humans, and their survival depends on human activity. German cockroaches spend between 70 to 95 percent of their time hidden within indoor harborages, which include well concealed crevices, dark spaces beneath floorboards, and most common of all, wall voids. However, due to their small size and preference for inhabiting dark, tight and crowded spaces, there are numerous indoor areas where German cockroaches can establish harborages, including ventilation ducts, inside electronic devices and appliances, and even within the insulating liner on refrigerator doors. Only a small group of adults from an indoor German cockroach population leave their harborages at night to forage, and a few crumbs of food found beneath a kitchen appliance is enough to provide numerous cockroaches with lasting sustenance. Even the most immaculate homes contain enough food scraps to maintain a large German cockroach presence. German cockroaches are outfitted with sticky pads on their feet, which enables them to climb smooth vertical surfaces like glass and stainless steel. These sticky pads allow German cockroaches to take a variety of escape routes when being pursued by humans, and it also allows them to access food within cupboards and on the upper shelves of pantries. German cockroach infestations usually require professional pest control intervention to be eliminated.
Have you ever witnessed a cockroach emerge from the inside of a TV, or any other electronic device?
