If you’ve noticed some cockroaches in your home lately, don’t worry. You are not alone. Well, OK, you should worry a bit, but cockroaches are one of the most common pests you will find in your home, and for many Londoners, they are practically inevitable. With big apartment buildings all around, highly dense residential areas, and the amount of garbage we as a society produce, it’s genuinely a miracle that you haven’t had cockroaches until now.
You may think that cockroaches might be yucky, but at least they are not as dangerous as rats or mice. Well, not exactly. Cockroaches are practically walking biological weapons that can sneak into your home without notice and poison your food. Not literally, but since they carry a ton of diseases, they will practically render any food they touch a health hazard.
So, to start dealing with the problem, first, we need to understand our enemy. How many are there, how they act, how to notice them, and most importantly, just like good Daleks, how to exterminate them.
Are cockroaches common in the UK?
The short answer is yes – very common. While there was a significant reduction in the cockroach population during the pandemic, mainly because there was far less restaurant food and scavenging in homes was much more complicated due to the Lockdowns, these days, the population of this rather nasty pest is returning to its pre-pandemic norms. Naturally, with the rat and mouse population exploding during the lockdowns, cockroaches can’t compete for their traditional food sources from dumpsters and waste, so they are forced to seek sustenance in more dangerous places, like your home. That’s why this year, there are much more pest control calls regarding cockroaches, reports one of the biggest cockroach control service providers in the UK, Fantastic Services. They point out that the main targets are households where owners don’t regularly clean or have a lot of clutter inside their homes. Unfortunately, this affects their neighbours as well, as cockroaches are scavengers and will try their luck wherever they can find an accessible entrance.
Which cockroach types are common in the UK?
Seven types of cockroaches dwell within the UK. However, three of them, the Tawny, the Dusky, and the Lesser cockroach, prefer to stay in the wild. They are typically seen around coastal areas in southern England and Wales. Those, who are native to all the countries within the UK, are the same that one can find in their home.
German cockroaches
The German cockroach is the most common species you can find in your home. Actually, most commercial products against cockroach infestation are based on researching these bugs. Typically they are 13-16 millimetres long with light-brown bodies and two dark stripes on their head. The reason they are so common is that they are the most prolific when it comes to breeding. During their lifespan of up to 12 months, they lay between 120 and 384 eggs divided into several 30-48 capsules.
These are the most common species of cockroach not only in the UK but worldwide. They are extremely hard to kill, making them even tougher because they operate predominantly at night. The worst part about the German cockroach is that it can sustain itself on almost any organic matter.
Oriental cockroaches
These are the second most common and the second biggest cockroach in the UK. Typically, this species is about 35mm long, though some roaches can grow much larger. The Oriental cockroach is black or dark brown, depending on its age, and can be distinguished by their more giant rounded head. Thankfully these gigantic roaches can’t fly and live only around half a year. They prefer rotting organic material, so if you keep your home clean and your trash sealed, you almost ensure you won’t have them as visitors.
American cockroaches
The American cockroach is almost entirely situated in the south of England and can rarely be seen inside homes. Due to their vast sizes (52mm on average), they are highly distinctive and easily spotted. Moreover, they can more easily compete for food in the wild, which drives them more toward business outside dumpsters rather than private homes.
The most horrific part is that the American cockroach can actually glide with its wings. They have a significantly longer lifespan as well – around two years. The good news is that they have far smaller offspring.
Brown-banded cockroaches
The brown-banded cockroach is the smallest invasive species of roaches in the UK. They have a distinctive dark-brown colour, which becomes lighter towards the tip of the wings, and soft yellow bands across their bodies. The females can also be reddish-brown.
The brown-banded cockroach lives up to 11 months. Usually, you will find these cockroaches in boiler rooms or the bathroom, as they prefer humid and warm habitats. However, it’s common to see them in kitchen appliances like ovens and fridges as well.
What attracts cockroaches to homes?
Just like any other pest, the cockroach seeks three primary things when coming into your home. Seeking food is their main drive. If you leave food unsealed, keep uncleaned plates in the sink overnight, or fail to throw out your garbage before you go to bed, you may attract the cockroaches’ attention. Moreover, if you fail to keep your home clean, they will find sustenance in almost any organic residue inside your home. If you have leaky pipes or your drainage is clogged, water would satisfy their second need.
Finally, cockroaches look for security. If they have places to hide, this will make your home more attractive. For example, cluttered homes have many spaces where they can hide and wait for the opportunity to attack your food.
Thus, if you keep your home clean and tidy, make sure you don’t leave food out in the open, and you don’t offer an abundance of water, roaches are likely to skip your home in search of a suitable place to nest.
Cockroach infestation signs
There are a ton of signs you have a cockroach infestation. Counterintuitively, if you see a single cockroach, that doesn’t mean you are in trouble yet. As scavengers, cockroaches will send a scout to check if your home is good enough for a colony. However, if seeing cockroaches becomes a regular occurrence, you have already failed to prevent the infestation.
On the other hand, you can determine there is a roach problem if you start noticing cockroach droppings. They are usually like tiny black dots, and you can find them near shelf edges, beneath appliances, and anywhere roaches can hide.
Moreover, roaches often leave their shredded skin. When growing, cockroaches leave their exoskeleton. Depending on the species, this may happen between 5 and 8 times during their lifetime.
Finally, a perfect sign you already have a problem is to find a cockroach egg capsule. German cockroaches are record-holders in this regard, as they not only lay up to 48 of them over their lifetime, but each one can have up to 18 eggs.
How to prevent a cockroach infestation (with bullet list)
That might prove hard, as cockroaches are well-known for their resilience. They can survive long times without food or water and can rapidly multiply to the point that you won’t be able to stop them on your own. So before you get to this point, a better idea is to just prevent them from entering your home in the first place. There are several things you can do about that:
- Keep your house clean – Not only will you deter pests from getting inside your home, but you will feel better altogether.
- Keep your food sealed – No food means no pests.
- Keep your home decluttered – the fewer places to hide, the harder it will be for cockroaches to get a foothold in your home.
- No leaking pipes – Preventing pests from having a comfortable water source is the first step towards denying them entrance into your home.
- Seal all entry points – outside cracks, window gaps, and anything in-between. Cockroaches don’t need much space to crawl into your home, so ensure you have all entry points tightly sealed.
Following these simple steps, you will ensure you will never have an actual cockroach infestation. And if you do, you can always call for some backup in the form of a professional pest control crew. They will ensure you have some pieces from the pesky bugs, at least for a while.
