Pest Briefs: Cockroaches 101 (A World-Class Pest)
By: Robert (Bob) Batman

NATURAL ENTOMOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION

Phylum Arthropoda
Class Hexapoda or Insecta
Order Orthoptera or Dictyoptera (depending on the age of reference material)
Family Blattellidae and/or Blattidae
Genus/species Various

Morphosis: Gradual metamorphosis (change in form from egg to nymph to adult): newly hatched, although smaller, resemble mom and dad in form (shape) only without wings.

MORE THAN ONE SPECIES: There are approximately 4,000 species of cockroaches, however only 20 or so species are considered pests of either residential or working environments. In our area of operation the most common cockroach species are the following: 1) Blattella germanicia [Linn.] commonly referred to as the German roach; 2) Supella longipalpa [Serville] known commonly as the brown-banded roach; 3) Periplaneta americana [Linn,] or more popularly known as the American roach; 4) Blatta orientalis [Linn.], the oriental roach; and 5) Parcoblatta pensylvanica [DeGeer], which in our part of the country, is simply called a wood-roach (not to be confused with the Florida woods roach).

ROACHES TRANSMIT DISEASE: Actually, all one should have to say about this common household pest is; "it transmits disease." This one fact alone should be adequate to motivate a person of average intelligence to do whatever necessary to rid his/her residential working environments of this pest. One text book in my possession takes five (5) pages of small print simply to list the different pathogenic organisms transmitted by roaches and the diseases they cause. Many of the diseases are what medical associations have referred to as life threatening. If you think roaches are not serious pests, you need to revisit the facts and think again. I'd recommend professional pest control services for this World-Class pest, whichever species it might be.

If you live in the Greater Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas) Metropolitan Area, call Best at (816) 765-8844 weekdays between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM. Best Exterminators, Inc. Main Office Number: (816) 765-8844.