Cockroach Management Inside and Out

A cockroach control plan should address the pest inside and out. But the first step is to identify which type of the species is entering the grounds, because behaviors of the two top offenders are quite different. American cockroaches mostly live outdoors and are more avid “travelers,” while German cockroaches are indoor pests that find their way into facilities mostly by hitching a ride — from an employee or a delivery, for example.

You probably won’t find German cockroaches outdoors. But American and Oriental cockroaches that thrive outdoors can enter facilities through utility lines, sewers and infrastructural crevices. Because of this, interior pest control is a must. You also have to look around the building, said Scott Green, an associate certified entomologist and technical service manager for Rentokil Terminix.

Outside. “Get a good handle on landscaping, making sure leaf debris is properly taken away at a regular cadence,” Green said. Dispose of garbage in a timely manner.

An “arbitrary perimeter treatment” isn’t going to kick out cockroaches, said Dan Collins, president, Independent Pest Management Consulting in Evansville, Ind. “Treat the areas where cockroaches are living, particularly if a municipality will let you treat sanitary sewers and associated catch basins.” If treating those spaces is off-limits, put in place one-way drain valves.

Inside. A range of indoor controls can help manage a cockroach problem and prevent them from entering. Baits are highly effective, Collins said, and the No. 2 method of control by food and beverage processors who responded to QA magazine’s State of the Cockroach Market survey. Thirty-four percent use baits inside and 35 percent set out traps. Close behind this comes residual treatments at 23 percent. IGRs (8 percent) and vacuuming (7 percent) followed those. Most use multiple control methods.

Without exclusion efforts and sanitation protocols inside and out, you’re fighting a losing battle. Above all, “You need a very strong relationship with your pest control provider,” Collins said. “That person needs to be seeking out and finding cockroaches and explaining why the facility has them. And, you need to be trained to find them and have a strong self-inspection in place inside the plant.”