What Attracts Cockroaches? The most obvious thing that attracts cockroaches is food because it is food that helps them to thrive and keep them alive. Storing food properly in restaurants, homes, offices, shops, and factories is the number one deterrent against roaches, plus ensuring your environment is kept pristinely clean after using the services of a professional pest control company will ensure these nasty bugs will be kept at under control.

No matter how fastidious we are, there are times when these tenacious creatures simply won’t die! Calling in pest control experts is the only way to get rid of these clever creatures, plus it will take time and patience before roaches are eliminated – hence the need for continuing keeping your immediate environment clean. 

Here are a few tips to keep cockroaches away 

Never leave food out on counters and rinse out any empty containers if you are recycling to keep your environment bug-free. Never leave garbage overnight (cockroaches are nocturnal creatures); throw away rubbish every day. 

When retiring at night it is advisable to wipe down all countertops and to clean floors. Any appliances on countertops need to be wiped down. 

Ensure the spaces under counters, under refrigerators and freezers and stoves are also kept clean. 

Always store all food in airtight containers off floors – this applies to pet food as well.  

Fridges and freezers should seal properly. 

Never leave old magazines, newspapers or cardboard boxes lying around as cockroaches love to feed on these and breed inside these. 

Cockroaches are attracted to warm spots for shelter 

Keep your environment clutter-free, and ensure your doors and windows are sealed. 

Remember that cockroaches communicate through pheromones; that is why it is advisable to keep wooden surfaces clean (the pheromones soak into these surfaces) and to remove any cardboard. 

Cockroaches love water and damp areas 

Repair leaks and drips and ensure that the spaces between your sink and bath are kept dry with sealant and grouting.  

Standing water attracts roaches to pets drinking water and avoid stagnant water in pot plants. 

Keep bathmats, sponges, towels and dishcloths dry. 

Cockroaches breed throughout the year and are therefore problematic all year round – they are not seasonal breeders. It is difficult to gauge what the cockroaches were attracted to in the first instance, but once they start breeding it is tough to get rid of an infestation. 

Because most DIY treatments are often ineffective, it is far wiser to seek the services of your professional pest control experts to assist with the elimination of these problematic pests. 

It is a surprising fact for most of us that there are thousands of cockroach species – there are in the region of 4 600 of these creatures. However, only about 30 of these species are viewed as being common pests. The most common cockroaches are between 15 mm and 300 mm in length. Some unusual and less common cockroaches can grow as much as 97 mm in length but thankfully these are native to remote parts of South America! 

The colours typically range from light brown to a dark, red-brown and some are grey or white with characteristic markings. 

Having evolved over thousands of years, these nocturnal creatures are highly adaptable and resourceful and can prove to be a nightmare to get rid of once they start breeding in your home or place of work. 

In South Africa, alone, there are over 3 000 different cockroach species although the most common are the German Cockroach, the Oriental Cockroach, the Brown Banded Cockroach and the American Cockroach. 

Cockroaches are carriers of several diseases including poliomyelitis, salmonella, diarrhoea, typhoid, gastroenteritis and dysentery, to name a few of the many. 

The German Cockroach (Blatella Germanica) 

• This roach is between 12 to 15 mm in length 
• The German Cockroach is yellowish and brownish and has two distinct longitudinal black streaks on the pronotum.  
• They have wings, although they don’t fly 

• The female carries the ootheca which is attached to her abdomen until her nymphs reaching hatching stage and live from 100 to 200 days. The females produce between 4 to 8 ootheca (egg cases) throughout their lives  
• They are nocturnal creatures 

The Brown Banded Cockroach (Supella Longipalpa) 

• These cockroaches are between 10 to 15 mm in length (adults) 
• The Brown Banded roach is reddish/brown and has a yellow halo around the pronotum edge; furthermore, they have two light yellow/brown bands across their bodies, have a flat shape with prickly legs and longish antennae 

• The males can fly 
• The females glue their egg cases in closets and furniture and produce between 10 to 14 eggs cases with each case containing between 10 to 18 eggs  

The Oriental Cockroach (Blatta Orientalis) 

• Between 17 to 30 mm in length (adult) 
• The Oriental Cockroach is very dark – almost black 

• They have wings and do not fly 
• They can live up to 500 days 

The American Cockroach (Periplaneta Americana) 

• The American Cockroach reaches 25 to 40 mm in length 
• The American Cockroach has wings that are reddish which cover the abdomen – they have a yellow band around the pronotum 

• They can fly  
• They live for 450 days 
• The females produce between 9 and 10 cases during their lifetime with each containing between 12 to 16 eggs 

It is advisable to call in pest control experts regardless of what species infiltrates your premises, whether it is your home or place of work. 

The big question is – what happens to termites, ants and flies when the spring rains arrive in South Africa? With the warmer weather fast approaching and the relief of spring rains arriving, some insects become more active; these include flies, ants, fleas and numerous other creepy crawlies. It is best to tackle a problem of this magnitude by calling in pest control exterminators to give advice and to address this problem before it gets out of control. 

Ants belong to the hymenopteran species which live in highly organised nests and belong to a wingless caste. There are in the region of 8800 species of ants found throughout the world and make their home in numerous habitats, except in the freezing Arctic regions and extremely high altitudes. 

The ants that are found in our homes throughout South Africa are referred to as black or red ants and are very different from white ants or termites. They also belong to a different sub-species, and although the lifecycles differ, a similar programme is implemented to control them that will be applied by your pest-control expert company. 

Black ants generally become problematic in homes and if the problem is not tackled correctly, they can and will become more than just a nuisance as they are known to cause damage to paving areas and can cause the soil to collapse. 

In some instances, these colonies, when multiplied in vast numbers, can damage plants and lawns. 

In South Africa, we have two species of ants that are most common; they are Pharaoh ants and the common black ant (The former belongs to the Monomorium Pharaonis species, and the latter to the Lasius Niger species). Of the two species, the Pharaoh ant is the species that could pose the most risk to the health of humans as they are found in unhygienic areas such as garbage and drains and can, in turn, carry harmful pathogens.

DIY methods of getting rid of ants are often unsuccessful – it is advisable to call in pest control experts to eradicate the problem regardless of what time of the year it is. 

We live with different ant species in South Africa – although we might think that we have two main types of ants in this country, we actually have 550 species that are known to us, and only a handful are viewed as being “pests”. 

Some of the ant species that are commonly known to us include the Coastal Brown Ant, the Argentine Ant, the Black House Ant (perhaps the most problematic of them all), the Pavement Ant, The Garden Ant and The Fire Ant (we know how it hurts when one of these little fellers bite us). 

South Africa enjoys a diverse and rich wildlife animal species; we have abundant creatures both large and small, and we have as many ant species as we have wildlife. 

 Here are a couple of examples of the prolific ant species we have living amongst us: 

About the Argentine Ant 

• They are dark brown in colour 
• The worker ants of this species are almost 1.6 mm in length 
• The queens and kings have wings which means that they can fly to find a mate 
• The worker ants travel for extensive distances  

• Their diet consists of dead or alive insects as well as sweet things, meat, cereals and grains 

About the Coastal Brown Ant 

• The Coastal Brown Ant is either yellow or brown in colour 
• Coastal Brown Ants range in size from 1.5 mm to 2.5 mm in length 
• They form small eggs and larvae which are fed by the adult ants 

• The wingless ants are the workers and are sterile 
• The males have wings which assist in finding mates 
• The females are larger in size and enjoy longevity 
• Nesting takes place in the soil 
• Coastal Brown ants exist on a diet of fruit, sweet food and greasy food as well as meat 

About Fire Ants 

• The Fire Ants have copper heads and upper bodies, with darker abdomens 
• The worker Fire Ants are between three to six mm in length 
• The females can lay up to 125 eggs every spring 
• The larvae are fed via the salivary glands of the queen ants 

• Fire Ants destroy crops and invade both indoor and outdoor areas 
• Fire Ants feed on dead animals as well as other insects and worms 

About Pharaoh Ants 

• The Pharaoh Ant workers are a brownish-yellow in colour with a brown abdomen 
• Pharaoh Ant males are equipped with black wings which assist in the mating process 

• Males are 3 mm in length, and the workers are between 1.5 mm and 2 mm in length; the queens, on the other hand, are 3.5 and 6 mm long  
• These ants enjoy a diet rich in protein such as fat, meat, blood and dead insects 
• Queens can produce as many as 3 500 eggs during their lifetime  
• Colonies are large and consist of between a couple of hundred to 300 000 ants 

The above descriptions include only a handful of ant species found in South Africa. There are, however, numerous other species that can be found in our environment and vary in size and colour. However, all ants enjoy phenomenal teamwork regardless of their species.