The real scourge of housewives is cockroaches. They are distinguished by their endurance and adaptability, multiply quickly, and can crawl into the narrowest gap.
These disgusting insects inhabit not only garbage chutes, but also apartments and basements of high-rise buildings. Even the cleanest country house, located far from civilization, is not immune from the invasion of mustachioed and voracious parasites.
Reasons for the appearance of cockroaches in the house
When cockroaches appear in the kitchen, residents of apartment buildings are upset, but not surprised. Insects can come from the garbage chute, sewer, basement, or neighboring apartment. It would seem that in private houses located outside the city at a considerable distance (for insects) from each other, there is nowhere for insects to come from. So where do cockroaches come from in a country house:
- come from neighbors (yes, this path is much more difficult than moving from apartment to apartment, but in the warm season insects are capable of such feats for the sake of food and comfort);
- they come with purchases , for example, household appliances (cockroaches are regulars in many warehouse complexes, where they settle in secluded places, which include the back walls of TVs and microwaves, ovens, etc.);
- moving with things from the apartment (if parasites are noticed in a city dwelling, when packing things for a trip to the country, you need to be vigilant so as not to take the mustachioed residents with you).
Moving
You can also bring the cockroach on your clothes or in your bag from work or the grocery store.
Traps
If there are few cockroaches in the apartment, they did not have time to give birth and there is a suspicion that some individuals simply snuck into your house, traps will be an effective means of control.
They are very comfortable, safe for animals and children.
The trap is a small box containing poisonous bait inside.
Climbing inside, the cockroach eats the bait, and carries its pieces with it on its paws to its relatives, after which mass poisoning occurs. There are baits with a sticky base . The bottom of the box is impregnated with super-sticky scented glue. The cockroach gets inside, sticks and becomes motionless. All you have to do is throw away the filled bait and buy a new one as needed. Popular traps:
- "Combat";
- "Raptor";
- "Dohlox."
How can you tell if there are cockroaches?
The surest way to understand that cockroaches have appeared in the house is to see the insect with your own eyes. It is a well-known fact that if one insect is discovered, then in fact there are already dozens, if not hundreds, of them. However, cockroaches are excellent at camouflage and are active in the dark, so meeting them for the time being is not so easy.
You can determine that cockroaches live in private houses by the following signs:
- the appearance of small black dots (insect excrement);
- particles of chitinous cover, wings, an ootheca shell or a capsule full of eggs.
Traces of human activity can most often be found on the kitchen table, near the sink, in the corners of cabinets, behind baseboards, under the bathtub.
Stage one: preparing the premises
Treatment should not be carried out in a contaminated area. Numerous cockroaches leave substances on surfaces that attract other cockroaches. This is one of the reasons why it is recommended to carry out cleaning before starting pest control.
There are others: dead insects are removed, the room is prepared, unnecessary things are thrown away, everything that is used by the residents is packed up and taken out of the room. In addition, cleaning helps to find pest nests. The result is more effective pest control.
Everything unnecessary is taken out of the apartment
General cleaning of the premises including cleaning of all trouble spots
At this stage, wet cleaning is performed. Remove traces of insect activity. They also inspect all items in the bathroom: furniture, appliances. Insects live mainly on the back wall, sometimes inside cabinets.
It is important to perform general cleaning before disinfestation.
Treating surfaces with bleach or any other caustic chemical
Aggressive, strong-smelling preparations mask the secretions secreted by cockroaches. Insects communicate with each other through smells.
Products containing bleach can easily cope with traces of pest activity.
“Dehydrating” the room: eliminating leaks and maintaining dryness
Water is the source of life for barbels; it is more important to them than food. To remove pests, turn off leaking faucets and wipe the bathtub and sink before going to bed. Lack of water will force pests to look for a new home.
There should be no leaks in the plumbing
Blocking all possible ways of entering the home
Cockroaches enter the bathtub through the drain of plumbing fixtures. The holes must be sealed with plugs every night. Then the pests will not be able to crawl out. In addition, tile seams and floor cracks are sealed.
The gaps between the tiles are filled with sealant
Effective ways to get rid of cockroaches in the house
Both traditional recipes and special preparations will help you get rid of cockroaches in a private home. The best results can be obtained by combining these methods. A big advantage of fighting cockroaches in a private home is the absence of neighbors, and therefore the danger that insects can wait out the dangerous period of disinfestation and then return. The positive aspects include the fact that there is no need to coordinate your actions with anyone and you can use any suitable means.
Chemicals for cockroaches
The use of special preparations is the most effective way to get rid of cockroaches. All products contain an active substance that causes the death of parasites. These can be insecticides of intestinal, contact or contact-intestinal action. That is, they enter the cockroach’s body when it swallows the drug, or when it touches it.
If cockroaches appear in the house, all that remains is to choose the drug and release form.
Aerosols
Aerosols are one of the most popular ways to remove domestic cockroaches. Most often, sprays are chosen because of their ease of use and effectiveness, but they also have negative sides. These include a short duration of exposure, an unpleasant odor (not for everyone), and the need to leave the room for a while after treatment.
When choosing how to poison cockroaches at home, you should pay attention to aerosols:
- Raptor;
- Dichlorvos;
- Raid;
- Battalion commander
Gels
When deciding how to remove cockroaches from the house, many choose the drug in gel form. They are easy to use, safe for people and pets, odorless, easy to apply to all surfaces, but leave no marks. Another plus is the prolonged action. Gels are effective from 2-3 to 8-9 months, which means one treatment will be enough to get rid of cockroaches.
Gel Raptor
The most popular gels:
- Raptor;
- Clean house;
- Global;
- Dohlox.
Traps
Absolutely safe for people and pets, an effective and convenient way to remove cockroaches at home is to use traps. Most often, insecticidal traps are used, which contain poison mixed with bait. The insect comes into contact with the poison, which acts gradually, so before it dies, the cockroach manages to infect several more (or even several dozen) relatives.
In addition to insecticidal traps, glue or electric traps can help get rid of cockroaches in the house. The first ones act mechanically - they are covered from the inside with a sticky substance, and in the center there is bait. The parasite follows the smell, sticks and dies from thirst and exhaustion. The principle of operation of the latter is based on the fact that a cockroach that gets inside the device is killed by a discharge of current.
Crayons
The use of crayons is the answer to the question of how to deal with cockroaches in a private house without expelling the residents from it. Crayons are contact media. After the pest crawls along the trail left by the chalk, the active substance has a nerve-paralytic effect and leads to death.
Crayons will not be able to completely get rid of cockroaches on their own, but in combination with other means they will make the fight more effective.
Powders
Powders are another form of medication that helps get rid of insects. Most often, the products are used to poison cockroaches in rooms where household members rarely visit, for example, in the basement or pantry. It is inconvenient to sprinkle powders in living rooms or in the kitchen, as they will interfere and may get into food or dishes.
What repels cockroaches?
Plants or substances with a strong odor are an effective way to control cockroaches. These methods will not kill pests, but they may drive them out of your home. The most effective:
- essential oils of eucalyptus, mint, lemongrass;
- wormwood and bay leaf;
- turpentine, ammonia, vinegar.
The main thing to remember is that these cockroach repellents are only effective as long as the aroma remains.
Traditional methods
Traditional methods of fighting cockroaches have been used for a long time and have proven themselves well, especially if they are used as an addition to special medications. The most popular home remedies for cockroaches are:
- boric acid - powder is mixed with mashed potatoes or egg yolk and vegetable oil, balls are formed, dried and laid out in the kitchen;
- ammonia - spray along baseboards, behind cabinets, in cracks and joints; when going to clean the house, you can add it to the water for washing floors (vinegar is also suitable);
- baking soda and granulated sugar are a simple and effective way to kill insects; the mixture is scattered near the sink, sink, or under furniture.
Ammonia
You can cool the room to a temperature below -10⁰С, but you need to take care of the safety of the heating system.
What species are found?
Cockroaches in the house
Our people are most familiar with the red Prussian, which grows up to 16 mm in length. Not many people know that individuals, albeit at short distances, fly well. There are more than 4 thousand species of this “beast” in the world. In the Russian Federation you may encounter the following:
- Madagascar - spotted in the capital and St. Petersburg. Huge - up to 10 cm;
- American - elongated, beetle-like;
- Furniture - lives in offices, loves to eat paper;
- Black is the second most popular, looks like a Prussian;
- White is an individual of any species that has shed its shell.
These are just the most common classes.
Interesting: in the old days, when people did not have enough food, the presence of a black cockroach in the house was a sign of a positive sense. It was believed that it drives away evil spirits and improves financial condition.
Mistakes in the fight against cockroaches
Getting rid of cockroaches from the house once and for all is hindered by mistakes that owners often make in the process of fighting parasites. The most common of them:
- There is no general cleaning of the premises before treatment with insecticides;
- repeated use of the same drug (cockroaches quickly get used to it, and the poison no longer affects them);
- one-time treatment of the premises (most products do not affect eggs, so 2-3 weeks after the destruction of adult individuals, a new generation of cockroaches appears).
Thorough cleaning before and after disinsection, mandatory re-treatment, and maintaining cleanliness will help you forget about cockroaches.
Gels
Gels are convenient and advisable to use if it is not possible to leave the room after it has been treated with aerosols.
The gels are colorless, devoid of unpleasant odor and are easily washed off from almost all surfaces. They are safe for pets. A component is specially introduced into their composition, which gives an unpleasant bitterness when it enters the oral cavity. The composition is applied to the surfaces where cockroaches most often appear in dotted lines or drops at a distance of 10-15 mm. The effect after using the gels occurs only after 7-10 days. The disadvantages of the drug include the inability to treat hard-to-reach places and the entire room as a whole, and ineffectiveness against egg laying. Gels are recommended for use in combination with drugs of a different release form and action. The most popular gels are:
- "Clean house";
- "Dohloks";
- "Raptor";
- "Global".
Sudden disappearance phenomenon
Over the past ten years, there has been a significant decrease in the number of cockroaches (we are talking about synanthropic species that lived next to people in apartments and private houses). Scientists put forward several versions to explain this phenomenon:
- the emergence of more advanced insecticides;
- improving the sanitary condition of residential premises;
- reducing the amount of food stored in homes;
- better packaging of products, reducing paper packaging in favor of plastic;
- timely cleaning of garbage chutes and waste removal.
Garbage removal
Among the possible reasons for the decline in the cockroach population are also the widespread use of genetically modified foods and widespread radio frequency radiation.
Ultrasonic repeller
The repeller is a rather expensive device, which in turn does not kill insects, but only helps create unacceptable living conditions for them.
The device creates an ultrasonic field of a certain radius, safe for people and animals. However, the effect of such exposure is very controversial. Ultrasonic waves do have some effect on cockroaches, but only when their level becomes noticeable to animals and people. The devices use low frequency ultrasound. This is probably why the instructions for many devices indicate that repellers are recommended to be used in conjunction with other products, and the effect of their use does not occur immediately. In other words, the manufacturer is betting that a certain number of insects have already been poisoned, and the reduction in their number is supposedly a consequence of the use of a repeller. However, some users report positive results. Popular models are:
- "Typhoon";
- "Banzai";
- Zenet;
- "Ixus";
- "Pest Project";
- Air Comfort.
Prevention of cockroaches
There are several ways to protect your home from cockroaches. For those who live in a country house, the following tips will be useful:
- maintain cleanliness (do not leave dirty dishes, scraps, wipe the table);
- do not leave garbage overnight, empty the trash can every evening;
- After use, wipe the bathroom, sink and sink dry;
- place food and leftover prepared food in hermetically sealed containers;
- When purchasing new things, check the packaging for cockroaches;
- periodically inspect the premises (especially the kitchen and bathroom) for the presence of insects, paying special attention to cracks, joints, the space behind the baseboards and under the furniture.
Plants will be an additional measure of protection. Honeysuckle and red elderberry can be planted near the house. Among indoor plants, geranium will be a good amulet against cockroaches.
Traditional methods
Any housewife will advise you to use boric acid to get rid of cockroaches. Some people pour it into metal caps, pour some water into them and place them in areas where pests have been spotted, while others add eggs or other products as bait instead of water. This is an old folk remedy. This explains its poor effectiveness. Over the years of its use, insects have developed resistance to boric acid.
Exterminators
The last and most effective measure is to call the appropriate services.
Professional exterminators will carry out high-quality treatment of premises with stronger and more effective preparations. Most offer at least a one-year warranty. But it is important to understand that all your attempts will be in vain, and the effect will be short-lived if you do not carry out prevention and destruction together with your neighbors .
Reproduction process
If you have ever found a cockroach nest at least once in your life, this picture will stay with you for a long time. How many of them are there: tens, hundreds, thousands? It seems that the population of these insects is growing literally before our eyes! But how quickly do cockroaches actually reproduce?
- In order for a new generation to appear, it is necessary to have two sexually mature individuals, male and female, since they reproduce sexually. The female is slightly larger in size and secretes odorous substances, inviting the male to mate, after which she lays eggs.
This is interesting!
Most species of cockroaches have wings, but the need to use them in an apartment has long ceased.
- Over about 2-3 weeks, the eggs develop into the first larval stage in a special protective capsule called an edema, which the female carries with her for a while and then leaves in a safe place.
- When the first stage of larval development is reached (and this can take more than 3 weeks), if environmental conditions are unfavorable, the juveniles leave the edema. If when you hear the word “larva” you imagine something inactive and worm-like, then cockroach larvae will surprise you. They are called nymphs and look like a miniature version of the adult. Accordingly, they eat and run around the apartment just as actively.
By the way
The older the domestic cockroach, the lighter its color: if adult individuals - imago - have a reddish color, then the larvae are almost black.
- Cockroaches undergo an incomplete process of metamorphosis: there is no pupation stage. And they grow with the help of molts, of which there are 5-7 throughout the life of the larvae. Each molt brings the individual closer to sexual maturity, but how quickly this process takes place depends only on external conditions. If the nymphs are in a warm and humid place with an abundance of food, they will be ready for fertilization after 4 months. The colder, drier and hungrier it is, the longer it will take the insect to reach sexual maturity.
- A sexually mature individual of a domestic pest lives for about 7 months. How often can she give birth to new offspring? The problem is that after the first fertilization, the female stores the male's reproductive cells for subsequent clutches and, under favorable conditions, will not miss the opportunity to lay eggs about twice a month. On average, during her life she manages to lay 10-15 clutches of 15-20 eggs in each edema.
By the way
There are viviparous species, such as Madagascar cockroaches, that can be kept as pets. This system is also characteristic of some other large tropical species.
It turns out that red cockroaches reproduce not too quickly, but in geometric progression. And in order to start a nest, all it takes is one sexually mature female, who accidentally wandered into your apartment and found the conditions in it suitable. Adding fuel to the fire are the larvae, which look almost the same as the adults. But why did they find your home attractive?
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Routes of penetration
Arthropod pests usually enter an apartment in various ways. It is important to know where the insects are coming from so that you can take appropriate action.
Main sources of penetration:
- Through a sewer pipe.
- Along the ventilation shaft.
- Through the entrance.
- Through holes or cracks that are present in windows and doors.
Pest nests are brought into the house along with used equipment or things. If you decide to buy a used laptop, then you should first inspect and clean it.
In multi-storey buildings, cockroaches have been observed to infiltrate from neighbors who do not comply with sanitary and hygienic standards. In this case, you must contact the appropriate organization that conducts inspections.
