SA cockroach ‘pandemic’: know your roaches

There is no cockroach pandemic sweeping the country, says the South African National Department of Health.

CropLife SA, an NPO that advocates for use of legal pesticides among other agricultural-related issues, said on March 31 that there was a “near pandemic” outbreak of German cockroaches throughout the country.

The organisation said Gauteng, Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were most affected due to the unusually lengthy humid and wet conditions experienced this summer.

However, departmental spokesperson Foster Mohale said the department’s monitoring teams had not reported an outbreak.

“The department has received multiple media enquiries on this and we would have announced an outbreak of any nature and this is done by no-one else but the minister. No private organisation can announce an outbreak,” he said.

CropLife SA’s operational manager Gerhard Verdoorn said CropLife’s research had found a problem, particularly in densely populated areas, with research statistics emanating primarily from members of the community complaining about an increase of cockroaches in homes and businesses.

Whatever the case is, we should know about which cockroaches we’re dealing with. Although there are around 4 000 different species of roaches acrossd the world, we only come across a relatively small number of species within urban settings.

These are the three species of roaches in our homes, according to leading pest control companies:

Oriental Cockroach

The smaller and lesser-known oriental roach is dark brown or black. It grows to from around 20mm to 25mm in length. Its wings are undeveloped in the female of the species and cover just over half the abdomen in the male. They’re not common in South Africa but can be found scurrying around drains or other moist areas.

American Cockroach

This bugger is the most common in South African households and probably the most disliked of the three due to its ability to take off and fly around a room randomly, usually directly into the face of the person attempting to dispatch the winged beast.

The American cockroach can grow from between 35mm and 40mm long, has a red–brown colouring with wings longer than the body in male and only just overlapping the abdomen in females. It can run like hell and fly when temperatures are warm enough.

German Cockroach

Notorious for their worldwide distribution, German cockroaches are easily identifiable by two dark vertical stripes on their pronotum, a part of the body just below the head. Adults can grow to around 12mm and 15mm in length. Thankfully, they cannot fly but are gross.

A direct hit with the Doom should sort any of these buggers out in a minute but prevention is better than cure. Do not leave any food out or uncovered, make sure damp areas around the home are cleaned regularly. If you see small roaches, then you may have a breeding colony. It’s best to sell your house if you do. Kidding, just do a thorough deep clean or get a professional pest service to fumigate your home.

IOL