Cockroach

Cockroaches are one of the most common and undesirable insect species that invade our residential, recreational and commercial properties throughout Ontario. The cockroach colony is constantly increasing in size and will continue to thrive unless the space it lives in becomes uninhabitable or there is a loss of food.  They prefer dark and damp environments.  When foraging for food, cockroaches leave chemical trails in their feces and emit airborne pheromones for swarming and mating. These chemical trails transmit bacteria on surfaces. Other cockroaches will follow these trails to discover sources of food and water, and also discover where other cockroaches are hiding. Cockroaches are very quick and can climb any structure very easily.  As cockroaches grow, they shed their skin.  They will often gain access to properties through holes, cracks, and plumbing and also by being transported via grocery bags, boxes, furniture and on humans. Most cockroaches are nocturnal and active at night. Therefore, they are extremely difficult to detect until you have a serious infestation.

Although they are not known to cause significant structural damage, cockroaches travel through garbage and sewage and then contaminate food and spread disease bacteria on to food and food preparation areas, surfaces and equipment.  Because cockroaches prefer warm, damp environments where food, water and shelter are plentiful, they nest in residential/recreational properties such as homes, apartment complexes and cottages and in business/commercial properties such as hospitals, schools, hotels/motels, restaurants, food-handling establishments and grocery stores. They normally construct their nests and contaminate areas in wall voids, under floors, behind baseboards and can also be found nesting in several other undisturbed dark and damp spaces.  They can be found in dark, warm areas near hot water pipes, heating tanks, toilets and drains, in bathrooms, kitchens, basements and so forth.