Cockroach control

Page last updated: Thursday, 11 December 2014 - 9:14am

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Cockroaches are primitive and highly successful animals and their general body form has changed little in the past 300 million years. They have adapted well to human habitations and live in most human communities around the world.

Their wide distribution is due to their ability to be transported via human-aided transport. They are highly adaptable and are typically found in decaying leaf litter, under bark, in caves and burrows, on the foliage of shrubs, in the nests of social insects, in rotting wood and in semi aquatic environments.

About cockroaches

They are known as a pest insect because they cohabit with humans in dwellings, especially in kitchens, where some species can carry disease organisms like Salmonella, which may cause gastroenteritis, dysentery, tuberculosis, hepatitis and typhoid fever.

Cockroaches can also carry viruses and eggs of worm parasites and the health threat posed by cockroach populations closely cohabiting with humans justifies their control.

Most native Australian cockroaches are found among the vegetation, leaf litter and soil of undisturbed habitats. There are only a small number of pest cockroaches, most are introduced species and this article describes the main pest cockroaches and suggests preventative and practical control methods.

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