What cockroaches eat
In most cases, the transmission of diseases occurs through contact with items that cockroaches have contaminated. Transmission usually occurs by eating or drinking something that has recently been in contact with cockroaches or by putting cutlery or objects in our mouths that may have cockroach saliva or droppings on them.
Because of their poor eating habits, cockroaches can transmit harmful pathogens through their droppings. When a cockroach eats something contaminated, it enters its body and can remain in its digestive tract. The pathogen stays there and appears in the cockroaches’ feces, passing on to surfaces or food on which these insects excrete.
Saliva or vomit is one of the means by which cockroaches can also spread disease. A very similar way to that of cockroach feces, as saliva or vomit can harbor pathogens accumulated from eating spoiled food.
What happens if I eat a cockroach
Low-risk control tactics have a reduced risk to the applicator and/or people and pets in the home, while still being effective in controlling cockroaches. If additional insecticide controls are needed, see Chapters 7-9.
Sticky bait traps should be placed near walls, under appliances and in hidden areas. Don’t forget to place traps high up, in cabinets, above suspended ceilings, as well as on the floor. You will need to move the traps often and replace them when necessary.
Because they are cold-blooded organisms, insects do not survive very well in extremes of heat or cold. Each insect species has certain temperature and humidity conditions in which they can thrive. Although there are some differences between species, it should come as no surprise that our house cockroaches are better adapted to the temperatures we maintain in our homes. They do not develop or reproduce when temperatures are too cold (less than 45° F, or 7° C) or too hot (more than 115° F, or 46° C).
Cockroaches eat plastic
It is a well-known fact that cockroaches are not picky about what they eat. If you leave potatoes out, roaches will consume them. That’s because they contain several nutrients these pests need, including starch.
Potatoes are best stored in a cool, dry place where they are exposed to air. Unfortunately, this means cockroaches can eat them. To keep them safe, place them in an airtight plastic or metal container. Choose a container without vents, as cockroaches can get through them. Plastic bags are a short-term solution if you use potatoes soon after buying them, but they will accumulate moisture and rot if they remain there for too long.
Potatoes always taste best fresh, but pre-cooking them and placing them in the freezer until you need them is a good way to protect them until you’ve solved the roach problem. That’s because most cockroaches can’t acclimate to freezing temperatures.
Why you should not crush cockroaches
Allergies can occur when these insects are touched with the hands; by inhalation of the substances they emit; when they accidentally walk on a person’s skin and by ingestion of allergens when food partially digested by them is consumed.
Although approximately 3,500 species of cockroaches have been catalogued to date, of which one third live in neotropical regions and have diurnal habits, it is the domestic species that become a nuisance pest.
Bright reddish or chocolate-brown in color, the Periplaneta americana, also known as the flying, warm-earth or tree cockroach, prefers to live in places where the average temperature is 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit).
They usually measure 30 to 35 millimeters in length and have an average adult life span of 14 to 15 months. After mating, the females of this species develop a capsule known as an ootheca, inside which there may be between 14 and 16 eggs.