WWIII: The German vs American Cockroach

You walk into your kitchen at night and turn on the light. Out of the corner of your eye, you see a dark shape skitter quickly under the counter. You know it must be one of those pesky cockroaches, but how can you tell if it’s a German cockroach or an American one? While it may seem trivial for some, it is important to understand which variety is in your home to properly eradicate it. The Orlando pest removal experts at Apex Pest Control can help with the following information.

• The American cockroach takes the prize for the largest domestic roach. With its reddish-brown coloring, these bugs are commonly identified as palmetto bugs or water bugs.
• American cockroaches are called “water bugs” for good reason: they thrive in moist, humid environments such as drains, swamps, sewers, and trash bins.
• Droppings from an American cockroach are noticeably large, much the size of a small mouse.
• Just when you think you have American cockroaches cornered, you find out they can fly. Fortunately, they cannot fly long distances; short distances are horrible enough.
• German cockroaches are much smaller than the American variety. They are light brown or tan with darker horizontal stripes on either side of their pronotum, or dorsal side.
• While the wings of a German cockroach are visible, these insects do not fly.
• The droppings of a German cockroach resemble black pepper.

Both types of cockroaches carry viruses and bacteria that can cause typhoid or cholera, food poisoning by distributing salmonella and shigella, and are blamed for asthma in young children and the elderly. American cockroaches can produce up to 800 young a year while the smaller German cockroaches produce 30,000 offspring annually. Once you understand which variety is infiltrating your home, contact the Orlando pest removal team at Apex at (866) 675-4070 for the correct treatment of these pesky, dangerous insects. Be sure to read our past blogs for additional information pertaining to insect identification and eradication.