Cockroach Control

The German Cockroach, Blattella germanica, is the cockroach most frequently encountered by Georgia exterminators.

If there's anything that most people agree on, it's that they hate cockroaches — and not without good reason. Cockroaches are filthy insects that are implicated in the transmission of serious diseases including dysentery, typhoid, poliomyelitis, gastroenteritis, and other illnesses whose pathogens they pick up on their bodies while walking across filth. Their shed skins and droppings also can trigger asthma and other respiratory problems, and they give off a distinctive, unpleasant odor that can permeate food and other stored products.

Roaches also reproduce prolifically. Under ideal circumstances, if a single female cockroach carrying an ootheca (egg sack) gets into your home or business, her progeny may number in the hundreds of cockroaches within a few months, and in the thousands within a year.

Georgia Cockroach Species

German Cockroaches

The German Cockroach, Blattella Germanica (pictured on the upper right), is the cockroach most frequently encountered by Georgia pest control operators. German cockroaches average between one-half and three-quarters of an inch in length (not counting the antennae) and are reddish-brown in color. They also have a distinct, dark-colored longitudinal stripe on the top of the pronotum. Adults have fully-developed wings and seem to possess all the muscles and nerves necessary for flight, but they don't fly.

German cockroaches require a warm, somewhat damp environment with ready access to food and water. They are most commonly encountered in or near kitchens and bathrooms, but they also can be found in other areas where suitable conditions exist. Although they are not social insects — there is no division of labor and a solitary cockroach can survive just fine on its own — German cockroaches can often be found in large groups living in close proximity to each other where suitable conditions exist. They also leave pheromone trails — chemical markers that can help other roaches find food and water and may be involved in mating.

German cockroaches are averse to light and will scurry into their hiding places when the lights are turned on in a darkened room. They usually live in cracks, crevices, and other protected places, and like to have surfaces touching both their feet and their bodies when they're not actively foraging. This habit is called thigmotaxis and is one of the reasons why effective control of German cockroach requires a high level of skill and precise application.

American Cockroaches (a/k/a "Palmetto Bugs")

The American Cockroach, most commonly referred to as the "Palmetto bug" in Georgia, is the largest cockroach in North America.

The American Cockroach, Periplaneta Americana (pictured to the right), is often called the "Palmetto bug" in Georgia and elsewhere in the South, and the "waterbug" in the North. American cockroaches are the largest cockroaches in North America, sometimes reaching lengths of almost two inches. They're also among the fastest-moving of all terrestrial insects: In a 1991 experiment at the University of California at Berkeley, an American cockroach was clocked running at the blazing speed of 3.4 mph — the equivalent of a human being running at 205 mph.

Palmetto bugs favor dark, moist areas close to sources of food, but they can survive in dry areas if they have ready access to water. Their diet consists of decaying organic matter. They're commonly found in basements, sewers, utility tunnels and chaseways, in voids under bathtubs, and similar dark areas close to sources of food and water. Like most roaches, they are averse to light and will rapidly scurry away from light; so many people don't even know they have a Palmetto bug problem (or don't know how extensive the problem is) until they happen to walk into their basement at night and turn the lights on.

Cockroach control in Atlanta and North-Central Georgia

Rid-A-Critter provides cockroach extermination services to home and businesses in Atlanta and throughout Northern and Central Georgia. We utilize a combination of conventional and environmental methods to rapidly reduce cockroach populations, and ongoing monitoring and maintenance services to provide long-term protection. Please contact us for more information or to arrange a prompt service call.

Cockroach Control Gallery (More to come -- stay tuned!)