Next to termites and rodents, cockroaches are probably the most disgusting critters you can find in your homes. Do you want to know what’s even worse than roaches? Flying cockroaches! As if being germs on six legs wasn’t enough, God decided to give them wings to spread their bacteria-infested insect bodies all the more.
Flying roaches are known to make even the toughest, most macho of men run and scream like little sissy girls when they flutter in their presence. Macho or not, if cockroaches are fluttering all over the place, maybe it’s best to call pest control services.
But sometimes, there is no quick fix to a flying roach infestation. The root cause is, ultimately, the habits we develop. An unclean kitchen or room may be the reason why flying roaches have developed a preference for your home amongst others. In order to eliminate flying roaches for good, here are 7 good habits you need to develop.
Just like any other pest, flying cockroaches are attracted to the scents of improperly stored food and drink. Make sure your kitchen and room is free from food crumbs and stains. Also, store food and drink in airtight containers, so flying roaches cannot infect them. As an added precaution, do store your leftovers in the refrigerator, since cold temperatures repel cockroaches and other insects.
Since flying roaches are small, they can fit in through cracks or other openings they may find in your home. Make that all windows and doors leading outside are closed so that flying cockroaches and other pests don’t find their way in your home. Seal any holes you find around your home with screen mesh or cracks with silicone sealant.
Flying roaches like tall grass, wet wood, and other damp places they can find in your garden. Getting rid of places where these insects, and other pests, frequently inhabit will reduce their infestations in your home.
If you definitely see flying roaches in your house, one effective way of catching them is purchasing a Roach Motel trap. Place near wall corners (especially in the kitchen) and beneath appliances. Roach Motels attract and trap/kill roaches with glucose bait (laced with poison) inside or a sticky substance inside.
Another effective method to do this is purchase sticky paper and leave them in the same places at night. Chances are, you might find a roach or two the next day.
Roaches and termites love making homes in piles of newspaper, paper bags, and cardboard. Be sure you take these out of your house so these pests don’t have an open invitation to stay in your house.
Because let’s face it, when all the D-I-Y methods don’t work anymore, it’s time to call in specialists to deal with your flying cockroach problem.
Generally, cockroaches fly when they are disturbed. This is why is it terrifying to try to kill them because the slightest irritation could lead them to take flight. However, the very first thing you could do to make sure that they don’t fly is to spray them with water or, better yet, to douse them with a small cup of it. Cockroach wings are very light and they cannot function if it is drenched in water. When the roach cannot fly, it will be vulnerable and you can kill it easily.
Cockroaches tend to fly more often when the temperature is hot. The Chairperson of the Biology Department of the University of Texas, Srini Kambhampati, said that “Because of the extreme heat, they may be trying to find a more comfortable place in which to live”. In search of said place, they desperately scour for it which why they resort to flying.
If ever your preventive measures have failed and you see cockroaches inside your home, then try to keep the temperature low so that they don’t fly and become difficult to kill.
Primarily, you want to minimize the amount of wood in your home to discourage termites from infesting your home. However, for flying cockroaches, you want to minimize this amount that is outside your home. This is because most of the roaches that are capable of flying are of the wooden variety. These types of roaches prefer to live outdoors, moist sources of wood such as wood piles, inside decaying logs, and under the loose bark of trees, logs or branches.
When it comes time to mate, these critters will find their way into your home. Once they do get to reproduce inside your home, they will quickly infest your space.
Also, be careful when bringing in firewood from the outside. These roaches may hitch a ride on these pieces of wood and get to enter your home. When you have the time, seal any holes and openings in your pile of firewood.
From wood roaches, the males are the more active flyers. The males have also been shown to be more attracted to light than females. When they see bright sources of light from your home, they will try to find cracks and openings so they can enter and find this source. To prevent or minimize this, use dimmers on your lights or don’t open too much light at night.
You will be able to prevent a good number of flying cockroaches from entering your home just by practicing general preventive measures for pest control. These include general cleanliness, the right pest traps, and proper food storage. But to prevent flying cockroaches in particular, the amount cellulose and wood in and around the home should be reduced. Also, less lights should be used at night in order for your home to not appear so attractive to male wood cockroaches.
If they have already found their way into your home, then keep the temperature low and have a water spray ready to quickly and easily kill them.
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