Do Cockroaches Fly? Plus the Best Ways to Completely Eliminate Cockroaches in Summer and Whether What They Crawl Over Is Toxic
In our daily lives, summer is fairly humid and extremely prone to breeding cockroaches, yet cockroaches always seem impossible to kill off completely - after exterminating them, they come back again before long. So what are the best ways to completely eliminate cockroaches in summer? Do they fly? Is what they crawl over toxic?
Cockroaches, broadly speaking, refer to insects belonging to the “Blattodea” order (scientific name), belonging to the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Blattodea, commonly known as cockroaches, and are common medical insects . Of these, only about a few dozen species invade human homes, and a few species are kept by humans as pets or as food for pets, while the vast majority of species can only be seen in wild mountain streams and forests or in insect museums. Among the most common household cockroaches, the large ones include the American cockroach, Australian cockroach and the short-winged smoky brown cockroach, with a body length of about 5.0 cm (1.97 inches); the small ones include the German cockroach, Japanese cockroach and Asian cockroach, with a body length of about 1.5 cm (0.59 inches); cockroaches in tropical regions are generally relatively gigantic. Household cockroaches are generally nocturnal and photophobic, while wild cockroaches vary by species, with phototaxis that can be either positive or negative.
Good ways to completely eliminate cockroaches
Household prevention and control
1. Pay attention to environmental hygiene
First of all, when we discover cockroaches at home, we must hurry and clean the home thoroughly, with no garbage left around, because in a clean environment this kind of insect finds it very hard to survive.
2. Drying method
Cockroaches like damp places, so when you are at home, be sure to remember to turn off the taps, and do not let your home get wet anywhere; if it does, remember to wipe it dry with a cloth.
3. Laundry detergent
Wherever you find cockroaches in the home, sprinkle some laundry detergent there. Many people may not know that besides washing clothes, laundry detergent is also a great helper for eliminating pests.
4. Bottle trapping method
Find an unused bottle, such as a beer bottle, then pour some oil into the bottle - everyone knows cockroaches like to eat oil - and place it where there are cockroaches. That way they go into the bottle to eat the oil and then fall into the bottle. Pretty clever, isn't it?
5. Orange, pomelo and lemon peel method for repelling cockroaches
Buy some oranges, pomelos and other fruits, then place their peels at the various ventilation points in the home - a window, for example, is a good choice. After the orange and pomelo peels air-dry, they give off a distinctive fragrance, and this fragrance can drive cockroaches away.
6. Hot soapy water method for killing cockroaches
Boil some water, then put a piece of soap into it. After the soap melts in the boiling water, pour the water into a sprayer, then wherever you see cockroaches, spray there, and you can kill them.
7. Baking soda method for eliminating cockroaches
Mix equal parts sugar and baking soda and place it where cockroaches appear. After about 3-14 days, the cockroaches will disappear. It is said that this is also the secret recipe Americans most commonly use to prevent cockroaches.
8. Boric acid mopping method for preventing cockroaches
After dissolving an appropriate amount of boric acid in hot water, wipe the floor with a mop or cloth. Once dry, the white boric acid crystals seep into the floor gaps, which can prevent cockroaches, ants and the like.
9. Borax, flour, sesame oil and sugar method
Mix a little borax with flour, then drip in a few drops of sesame oil. Form it into a ball. Roll paper into a tube shape, then place the prepared bait ball inside the paper tube.
10. Sugar water bottle method for catching cockroaches
Take 1-2 tin cans, put in 3 spoonfuls of sugar water, add half a bowl of boiling water to dissolve it into bait, and place the bottle where cockroaches are active. After the cockroaches smell the sweet fragrance, they will crawl into the tin can “trap”.
11. Tung oil method for catching cockroaches
Buy 100-150 g of tung oil, heat it into a sticky gel, and spread it around a 15 cm square wooden board or cardboard, with oily, fragrant food placed in the middle as bait, and other food covered so they cannot steal it. When cockroaches forage, as long as they crawl onto the tung oil, they get stuck.
12. Use cockroach sticky traps to kill cockroaches
Besides buying cockroach-killing pesticides on the market now, there are also cockroach sticky traps. Placed where cockroaches often crawl, they directly attract cockroaches and then stick them fast. But personally, I think this approach cannot root out cockroaches and can only reduce them to a certain extent. However, it is less harmful than pesticides.
Chemical prevention and control
1. Poisonous cockroach bait to kill cockroaches
Buy poisonous cockroach bait and place it in places where they often appear. Nowadays there is a huge amount of cockroach bait sold outside and it can be bought anywhere. In fact, this also shows how rampant cockroaches are. This method is very fast and direct.
2. Spray insecticide to kill cockroaches
Spray insecticide is the fastest and quickest to show results. Close the doors and windows, and spray the insecticide directly into the corners where cockroaches appear and hide. Remember you must wear a mask; with the doors closed, this insecticide is still quite uncomfortable and harmful to the human body.
Biological prevention and control
Cockroaches like darkness and fear light, preferring to hide by day and come out at night, and are occasionally seen during the day. Their main natural enemies are spiders, scorpions, centipedes, ants, toads, lizards, geckos and the like, and there is also a kind of bird that preys on cockroaches. In addition, cats, monkeys and rats also prey on cockroaches. Among all prevention and control methods, biological control is the most effective way to eliminate cockroaches.
Precautions
Cockroaches are omnivorous insects, and they can endure hunger but not thirst.
When eliminating cockroaches at home, block off water sources, turn the taps off tightly, and wipe away water traces. Around the sink, toilet and refrigerator base, draw lines with a medicine pen or place poisonous bait so that cockroaches come into contact with the poison when they go to get water or food.
Do cockroaches fly?
Actually, most cockroaches are not good at flying, but they can run fast. Female cockroaches can only, during the production period, use their false wings to vibrate and glide from a high place. You should know that cockroaches run very fast, and cockroaches have already adapted to life on the ground - the reason their bodies are so very flat is to make it easy to squeeze into cracks.
Is the place a cockroach has crawled over toxic?
Clothes and bedding that cockroaches have crawled over are not toxic.
Cockroaches themselves have no toxin, but the problem is that cockroaches carry many germs on their bodies, and contact can easily spread disease. Places a cockroach has crawled over may transmit disease, but only intestinal infectious diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera; once infected, these diseases generally come on acutely, and if no symptoms appear after about a week, then there is nothing to worry about.
How to suppress cockroaches at home?
1. Keep the house clean
If you do not want to see ugly cockroaches at home, keeping the house clean is the first priority. Cleaning the house on a fixed weekly basis can reduce cockroach infestations in your home.
2. Empty the kitchen garbage
Empty the kitchen garbage regularly, and make sure it is covered. A pile of open garbage is practically an invitation to cockroaches. Be sure to wash the sink and food preparation area before going to bed.
3. Do not leave food lying around
At night before sleeping, it is best to put all food away and store it in sealed jars to prevent contamination. Clean the refrigerator at least once a week to avoid food spoiling and attracting cockroaches.
4. Do not pile up newspapers
It is best not to leave newspapers, magazines and old books lying around openly at home; cockroaches love to linger among these items. You can sprinkle some boric acid into cracks in the home to drive cockroaches away.