Spring Pest Control Advice So Cockroaches Don't Take Over Your Kitchen

There are very few people who don't think cockroaches are gross. After a mild Queensland winter, insects are already breeding ahead of Spring. As a first-time homeowner, you haven't experienced the correlation between seasons and bugs before. Cockroaches start mating in Spring, and if you don't want them to be invading your summer picnic, these are the important facts you need to know.

Life cycle of Australian cockroaches

According to the Australian Pest Control Association, female Australian cockroaches produce 12-15 eggs cases which incubate for an average period of 40 days. Each egg case has 24-28 cockroaches growing inside it. Once born, the nymph takes 200 days to develop to adulthood, and then lives for a further 240 days. That means each of the 24-28 cockroaches growing inside the egg case will spend up to 440 days in your home.

Evidence of Australian cockroaches

One of the reasons cockroaches are common in Queensland is their love of warm climates. You may not have realised cockroaches were in your property when you first moved in, but the most visible signs there are is if you see one. Cockroaches don't like humans, so you are more likely to stumble across a cockroach at night when they think you have gone to bed. Turning on the light in your kitchen in the dead of night can confirm the presence of a cockroach as it tries to scuttle away.

There are other signs of cockroach infestation though. Have a look at the back of the cupboards where you keep your pots and pans for signs of cockroach droppings. The droppings look like small flakes of pepper or coffee grounds. Additionally, cockroaches have a musty odour about them which you can smell when you open up your cupboard.

Do-It-Yourself Pest Control

While buying a home is taxing on the budget, cockroach pest control is not an area where 'do-it-yourself' methods are successful. The reason for this lack of success is you have to remove all the cockroaches in the home to stop them breeding. Because cockroaches like to stay well away from people, you need to be a trained professional to know all the spots where the cockroaches are hiding.

Successful cockroach control means removing all existing cockroaches and creating a barrier, so they don't come back. Talk to your local pest management company and arrange a pest management plan now so that when the Spring cockroach breeding season takes hold, it will be happening at someone else's home and not yours.

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