Cockroaches in Missouri
Roaches, Possibly The Most Hated Pest In The World, Thrive In The Kansas City Area Climate
The bad news is that cockroaches in Missouri overwhelm any home, and most Kansas City area homeowners with roach infestations won’t see cockroaches until they are well established. Over one year, female cockroaches in Missouri can produce between 3 to 5 generations of offspring. The roach population explodes in the short time it takes for Missouri to get warm.
However, there will be signs when cockroaches in Missouri are inside a home. Aside from the occasional cockroach wing or leg left behind, they’ll mark their territory with waste. Where there are roaches, there are roach droppings left behind — on counters, sinks, cabinets, and kitchen drawers. Roaches lurk behind dishwashers and under refrigerators and ovens. They are infamous for their ability to survive without food or water for extended periods. Hanging out in the comfort of your home, these nasty insects wait for you to leave a dirty dish in the sink or drop a few crumbs on the floor to feed and reproduce.
Roach Infestation Potential
Let’s say a female roach hides in one of your grocery bags, and you carry her into your kitchen. You set the bags on your counter, and the roach runs for cover while you’re not looking. Under your kitchen counters, it finds some food and hooks up with a male roach that took the same route.
Let’s do some math: The female lays about forty eggs at a time and can lay eggs about four times a year. Consider that half of those eggs are female and can lay more eggs.
One roach, 40 eggs, producing 20 females four times a year
That single roach is responsible for eighty female roaches in a given year. Of course, each of those females then starts laying eggs. Picture eighty females laying eighty more females each four times a year, with those new roaches able to multiply at this same staggering rate. You can end up with tens of thousands of roaches in just a short time. Gross.
Roaches Live And Eat Where People Do – And Then Leave Their Waste All Over Counters, Tables, Dishes, Utensils, And More
The Missouri climate is ideal for pests, and cockroaches take full advantage of food, water, and warmth. These insects seem to be omnipresent because they can thrive nearly everywhere. A 1976 Texas Monthly article stated, “The cockroach will probably outlast human presence on the planet; besides being able to resist most chemicals, the cockroach has shown an ability to survive massive amounts of radiation and will thus be a likely candidate to inherit the earth after a nuclear holocaust.” There are an estimated 4,500 species of cockroaches, and the same Texas Monthly article cited a claim that one home had a record number of roaches – 50,000. Sit with that for a moment.
The Reality of Cockroaches in Missouri
It has been said, “If you see a roach, then there’s a thousand in your home that you don’t see.” the reality is that even if you keep an immaculately clean house and work diligently to ensure no food is left out for weeks, they will still live on. This is because cockroaches don’t need much; they are so efficient and feed on nearly anything…bread crumbs, your trash, dog or cat food, bits of food dropped under the kitchen table or spilled in the pantry. It’s all fuel for a roach. If you fail to clean up even the smallest crumbs, they will smell it, find it, eat it, and use it to multiply.
Common Species of Cockroaches in Missouri
- German Cockroach (Blattella germanica)
- Brown-banded Cockroach (Supella longipalpa)
- American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
- Wood Cockroach (Parcoblatta pensylvanica)
- Oriental Cockroach (Blatta orientalis)
Homes That Are On A Pest Control Plan Have A Strong Defense Against Roaches
For your own sake, if you see a roach in your home, please, PLEASE don’t wait. Call ZipZap Termite & Pest Control. Have our professionals identify your roach type, and then let us deliver an effective treatment method. Some store-bought products can provide short-term, localized solutions. But in the end, those homes treated with off-the-shelf chemicals are still overrun with roaches. Let our team of experts create a cockroach control plan specifically for you and eliminate these pests from your home. In our industry, you must know your enemy; ZipZap Termite & Pest Control know roaches. We know how to find them and create a defensive barrier that prevents them from multiplying and infesting your home.
Jeffery Preece, BCE,PHE
Jeffery is a Board Certified Entomologist at ZipZap Termite & Pest Control
