Big Brown Flying Cockroaches (aka Palmetto Bug) Prefer the Forest not Your Home

Those big brown cockroaches you see scurrying across the floor are forest insects – they feed on decaying organic matter found on forest floors. Sometimes while foraging for food and water in your landscape, they find their way into your home. And when they do, the big brown cockroaches can be very unsettling when seen crossing the kitchen floor and worse when they fly!

The Biology of the Florida Big Brown Cockroach

The American Cockroach [Periplaneta americana] is very common in the humid southern areas of the US and all of Florida. They are forest insects feeding on decaying organic matter. During their travels looking for food and water they end up in your home. The good news is the American cockroach, also called the palmetto bug, does not nest or reproduce in your home – they are just passing thru. In their travels, a cockroach can live almost a month without food and about two weeks without water.

Life and Times of the Brown Cockroach – aka Palmetto Bug

These brown, creepy crawlers have even been known to live for up to one week without their head! Cockroaches do not get their wings until they become adults, and the female roach can hatch up to 150 offspring a year! American cockroaches are also know as “water bugs" because they are commonly found near water sources. That is one reason you often find them in your kitchen and bathrooms, they are searching for water sources. They are nocturnal - they rest by day and search for food at night. Unfortunately, cockroaches forage through dirty areas and carry germs and bacteria into our homes. Their shed skin and waste products can contaminate food and trigger asthma, especially in children.

Control of the American Cockroach

The American cockroach is easily controlled by treating the inside and outside of your home. I have found that a perimeter spray – that is a spray that places a barrier all around the outside of your home keeps those foraging buggers out. Plus for those that do make into the house an indoor perimeter spray works really really good (oh well you get the point) For the professional this is an easy task with modern insecticides but for the DIY, you should concentrate your efforts on the outside  perimeter (don’t expect perfect results with the weak watered down products from the big box stores). Most professionals offer a guarantee or a retreatment should you need it. Our policy at Dean A. Sole Pest Control is to make every effort to achieve 100% customer satisfaction.