People often sell Turkestan cockroaches as food for pet reptiles because they reproduce very quickly. However, transporting these roaches across the country regularly allows them to continuously invade and infest new structures. These roaches like to live outside. When their population reaches its peak in the summer, they are more likely to find their way inside while out and about to look for food sources. So, here is the guide for Turkestan cockroaches control in house.
The Characteristics of Turkestan Cockroach
Turkestan cockroaches are not considered as indoor pests. These cockroaches are primarily outdoor insects. They nest in a warm and relatively dry environment. They just stay outside, live with colonies in and around your garden. There, the Turkestan cockroaches invade the space in outdoor electrical boxes and water meter boxes, and for sheltering in the small cracks and crevices of concrete and brick.
Habitat
The colonies might be living in your garden, darting across your compost pile, or hiding in the potted plants atop your deck. This cockroach might enter your house even it is a foreign environment to them because of food, moisture, light, and harsh weather.
Usually, cockroaches live in a dark space. However, the male Turkestan cockroach has an attraction to lights and will glide through an open window to reach the light source. The bad news is that they are not only interested in light but also are active at night. This makes it easier for them to search their way into a home through spaces around windows and doors.
Breeding
On the other side, female Turkestan cockroach can hatch 14-18 nymphs at a time and she can live for a year or more. She is capable of producing as many as 350 baby cockroaches over her lifetime. Those numbers aren’t without natural world consequences. Turkestan cockroaches multiply very quickly that they’re forcing out other cockroach species from regions they’ve existed in for decades. Can you imagine how much cockroaches will infest your garden?
Health Risk
Like other cockroaches, they are omnivores, they eat everything from human food crumbs to unused materials like paper and cardboard. Also, they’ll spread germs on everything they touch, leaving a high risk for you and your family.
This risk can develop a phobia for some people, called Katsaridaphobia. Most of Katsaridaphobia people feared flying cockroach. Only adult male Turkestan cockroaches can fly. Their wings are long and yellow. They can fly in short distances. To prevent this triggering your phobia, you have to put screens on your windows before you leave them open.
Like other species of cockroaches, Turkestan cockroaches often found inside homes and can cause significant health problems for people. Their saliva and excrement can trigger allergies and asthma and they spread germs that can make people sick.
They will also contaminate food sources and kitchens. Turkestan cockroaches prefer to live outdoor and shelter in a dark and humid place. They are sheltering in compost piles, potted plants, leaf litter, in the small cracks of concrete, in sewers, inside electrical boxes, or in or around the perimeter of homes and other structures.
How to Get Rid of Turkestan Cockroach
So, how to get rid of Turkestan cockroach? Since this cockroach mainly lives in outdoor space—like a garden, here are some useful tips for you!
Remove Decaying Wood
Eliminate sources of decaying wood by disposing of it so cockroaches won’t inhabit. Sources of decaying wood are mulch, woodpiles, and decayed organic material. Cockroaches usually nest beneath the mulch. Don’t forget to check the mulch and get rid of it.
Use Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is a mechanical pesticide. It won’t affect your garden but drive the pests away, including cockroaches. Diatomaceous earth powder is sharp, abrasive, and breaks down the waxy layer of the cockroaches’ hard exoskeleton, killing it through dehydration.
The powder will be carried on cockroach’s tiny leg. Diatomaceous earth contained silicon that dehydrates insects to death. Insects’ exoskeleton is made from oil and wax that maintain their fluid. Silicon destroys insects from their exoskeleton by absorbing their fluid to death.
After watering plants, wait for a moment to dry, and then dust your garden with an applicator since it’s a powdered soil. The powder sticks to the plant surfaces. Don’t spray too much because there’s a probability that cockroach will scare and infest into other parts of your house.
You can see results within two weeks because it doesn’t put an easy quick death on insects. Diatomaceous earth kills the nymphs. However, this won’t apply in humidity. Also, don’t forget to use protection (goggles and a mask) because breathing an excessive amount of dust will cause coughing and sore your throat.
Use Borax
You can also use borax as a pesticide in place of diatomaceous earth if you wish. This chemical substance is surely dangerous for cockroaches.
- First, make your insecticide. Cockroach eats sugar and flour. So, you will be able to mix sugar or flour with borax. And put it inside a container.
- Second, dust it. Shake your container and apply enough powder to be just visible to the optic. Place the powder in small cracks and crevices near moisture and heat where cockroach hides. This tip is suitable for dry conditions.
- Third, replace it when necessary. Don’t forget to check your borax dust. If it gets wet or you cannot see the application, just re-apply!
But, there is another option using borax to get rid of cockroaches. You can make bait by mixing together the borax powder with sugar, cornstarch, onion, and water to make a paste. Roll the paste into small balls and place them into a sandwich bag.
Don’t forget to place the bait away from kids and pets. Keep the bait in the dark because cockroach prefers dark space. Also, change the bait when it runs out or has dried out.
Neither borax nor boric acid kills by contact, the cockroaches must ingest the powder. When they do, the compounds interfere with their digestive system and kill them. Here, you can turn the heat down from time to time. Turkestan cockroaches prefer warm places to live because they dislike the cold.
Those are tips for Turkestan cockroaches control in your garden. Preventing is better, right? Even the cockroach won’t eat your plants, it can get into your house spreading germs and diseases.