Brown Banded Cockroaches

Brown-banded cockroaches usually measure roughly ½ inch in size, and in color range from dark brown to dark red. Both male and female brown-banded roaches possess wings, but only the males are capable of flying. Both genders have a light brown band that runs across the base of the wings. Brown-banded cockroach nymphs will take three to six months to develop. Unlike American or German cockroaches (who prefer to infest kitchen and bathroom areas), brown-banded roaches will infest any room inside a house. This makes them more difficult to control.

Brown Banded Cockroach Habits

Brown Banded Cockroaches will be found in large number in restaurants, multifamily housing structures, residential homes, and hospitals. American cockroaches are also found often in restaurants or other commercial structures where food is prepared or stored, but they will also attempt to gain access to multifamily or residential structures (often through sewer systems and piping).

Brown-banded roaches are more likely to infest private residential homes or multifamily housing structures than in commercial settings, but once inside will not discriminate between types of rooms. Oriental cockroaches will nest either indoors or outdoors, but have a strong preference for moist, humid areas. Their numbers don’t get nearly as high as with other species, but if the conditions are ideal then their populations may thrive.

Damage

Cockroaches are not a structural pest in that they do not do physical damage to buildings or surroundings; however, they can be a significant health concern and a difficult nuisance. Cockroaches can contaminate food products with their bodies or their waste products; they may also leave a disturbing odor in areas where infestation has taken place. Foraging cockroaches can also be vectors of disease, depositing germs or bacteria in areas that they infest and causing attacks of asthma in some people prone to reactions to cockroaches.

Preventing Brown Banded Cockroach Invasion

Cockroaches are a disgusting pest to have in one’s home; however, there are some great ways to limit the risk of cockroach infestation. Sanitation and cleanliness are the most important tools in your arsenal against cockroaches; cockroaches love to dwell in areas that are poorly cleaned, and will usually gravitate towards those areas where there is adequate food, water, and shelter for them. In restaurants that are not cleaned thoroughly, for example, it becomes nearly impossible to completely eradicate cockroaches.

Special attention to cleanliness and sanitation — particularly in the kitchen(s) and bathroom(s) — will be very beneficial. Caulking and sealing small gaps underneath doors and in windows as well interior molding, anywhere they can touch their front and backs is also a great way to keep roaches out. It is always harder to get cockroaches out of your home than it is to prevent them in the first place.