1. You know those little brown specks that you noticed on the wall behind the toaster and along the inside of your kitchen cabinet doors? That’s our poop and vomit! And if you look behind that calendar on the wall, you’ll find some there, too.

When cockroaches find a protected place to hide, they excrete semiliquid globs from their mouth and butt that also contain pheromones. German cockroaches can detect the pheromones with their antennae from up to 10 feet away. The pheromones attract other roaches to the area, and then they leave more globs that attract more roaches, and…well, you get the picture.

2. We know that you bought that “Ultra-sonic Roach Buster!” because it promised to drive us away forever. Sorry that you wasted your money but we really like it, thanks. There’s enough room in this little box for our whole family and it’s nice and dark in here, if only that red flashing light would stop.

If you have a cockroach problem, don’t waste your money on so-called ultrasonic devices or electromagnetic or electronic pest repellers. These boxlike devices plug into an electrical outlet and claim to use high frequency sound waves, seismic vibrations, or electromagnetic output to repel insects and rodents from your home. They don’t work (see Do Electronic Pest Repellers Actually Work?).

3. You know those big black “water bugs” that you’ve been finding in the basement? Ha! Fooled you. They’re not water bugs at all, they’re cockroaches, too!

Large oriental cockroaches are often incorrectly called water bugs, possibly because they are found outside around foundations or inside on the lowest levels of buildings near floor drains, laundry sinks, and other cool, damp places. In other parts of the country, American cockroaches or smoky brown cockroaches are sometimes known as water bugs. Guess people just don’t want to call a roach a roach.

4. We’ve been watching how carefully you clean up your kitchen every evening. You even take the garbage out to the trash chute. We hate that you do that, but we love that you leave the cat’s food bowl sitting out overnight.

Cockroaches are nocturnal, they search for food at night and will feed on just about anything they find. One of their favorite foods is dry pet food. In fact, entomologists that study cockroaches rear them on pet food because it’s convenient and supplies all of the necessary vitamins to keep cockroaches happy and healthy. Do yourself a favor and pick up the pet food at night (see Why Pests Like Pet Food).

For more insider tips from cockroaches, see our earlier blog Five Things Cockroaches Don’t Want You to Know!

Photo credit: Drew Avery / iW / CC BY

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