While it is often joked that cockroaches could survive a nuclear war, the bottom line is that cockroaches are true survivors.
Once your home has a cockroach infestation, it can be very difficult to get rid of them. Cockroaches multiply extremely fast and have an ability to adapt quickly. This makes it imperative to talk to a pest control agency quickly if you notice them in your home or business.
There are over 4,000 different varieties of cockroaches, but only about 30 of them can cohabitate comfortably with humans. This number can be further reduced to only four varieties that are the main cause of problems in homes and businesses in the United States.
The four main varieties are the American, the German, the Asian, and the Oriental cockroaches. They vary in size from about 1/2" (the German) up to 2" (the American). In America, the most common visitor to homes is the German variety.
The German cockroach female lives about 200 days. With each egg case that she lays, there will be between 30-50 eggs. In her lifetime, she will produce between four and six egg cases, which means up to 300 more cockroaches. The German cockroach produces young at a faster rate than most other cockroaches.
Once cockroaches infest a home, they are rarely seen. This is because they are nocturnal and because they tend to hide. They can live up to a month with little or no food, but can also survive by eating book bindings, furniture glue, soap, dead insects, shoe linings, and much more.
