COCKROACHES IN AUSTRALIA

Cockroaches are insects belonging to the Order Blattodea. They represent a primitive and highly successful group of animals, whose origins extend back at least 300 million years.

Typically, infestations of cockroaches develop in and around buildings, and other structures that provide food, shelter, and often the preferred conditions of temperature and humidity. A commercial kitchen may support hundreds or even thousands of cockroaches.

Cockroaches may be carried from place to place as live individuals or as egg cases, in foods and food packaging, luggage, furniture, buses, trains, ships, and aeroplanes.

Common Species

German Cockroaches (Blatella germanica)

• Most commonly found indoors.
• Prefers wet, humid conditions.
• Typically found in kitchens, and bathrooms in homes, and commercial properties.

Smokey Brown Cockroaches (Periplaneta fuliginosa)

• Lives in tree hollows, under bark, under floors, and enters buildings at night.
• Nocturnal (hides during the day in cracks and crevices or any other dark warm places).
• Has a habit of entering houses and contaminating food with excrement, regurgitated salivary fluid and potentially harmful bacteria.

Oriental Cockroaches (Blatta orientalis)

• Highly adapted for surviving in the natural environment, Oriental cockroaches thrive in cool, damp areas such as basements, drains and openings beneath porches.
• Known for their preference for feeding on garbage and decay, these insects can most commonly be found in rubbish tips and leaf litters.
• Runs rather than flies

Australian Cockroaches (Periplaneta australasiae)

• Enter buildings at night from gardens/debris.
• Generally prevalent in areas where winters are relatively mild.
• Despite its name, it isn’t a native species.

American Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana)

Cockroach Control

Effective control of cockroaches often relies on a knowledge of their foraging and breeding habits. Many homeowners attempt to use a ‘do it yourself’ cockroach control remedy with the results often doing very little, or nothing at all.

Small problems such as the odd one or two cockroach in the kitchen can develop into larger numbers.

Treatments must be targeted to your specific cockroach species in order to solve the problem, whilst ensuring the safety of your family, and pets. A thorough knowledge of cockroach behaviour and biology is essential.