In ancient times, cockroaches were treated with reverence. Baleen insects were considered a sign of prosperity in the house. Nowadays, the situation has changed dramatically. Everyone knows that dangerous pests not only spoil food, but are also able to carry harmful bacteria and germs. A cockroach can get into your ear, bite a person, and even damage the wiring.
The saddest thing is that to remove insects is half the trouble, you must definitely deal with their offspring. Otherwise, a couple of weeks after the destruction of the pest, a cockroach larva will crawl out of the egg hidden by the female. And all the problems will start over.
What do cockroach larvae look like?
All "mustachioed saboteurs" go through three stages of development:
- egg;
- nymph;
- sexually mature individual.
An adult female carries eggs on herself right up to their maturation. Then he puts them in a secluded place (for example, under the baseboard). A few weeks later, nymphs hatch from the masonry. These are the larvae of cockroaches. The photo shows that young pests are born white, but after a couple of hours they darken.
Nymphs live with adult insects. Their food is joint, their behavior is similar. The only difference is that they do not breed.
It is possible to reduce the population of “kitchen raiders” by destroying precisely the younger generation. To do this, you need to know how the larvae of cockroaches look. It turns out very simple. They look like adults. Only nymphs are smaller and darker in color. Moreover, during growth, they throw off their carapace, that is, they molt 5-6 times.
Cockroaches become adults at the age of 2-3 months, depending on their type.
Ginger pests
In our latitudes, red cockroaches - Prusaks - are most often found. Although initially it was tropical insects. They even have wings. What pleases - mustachioed pests do not fly. The maximum they can balance with their help when falling from a height.
The red cockroach larva also has wings and a mustache. By the way, it is the mustache that allows insects to receive information about the outside world. Damaging this tactile organ, the insect will not be able to fully live.
Adults usually grow to 1-1.5 centimeters in length. Nymphs, respectively, are even smaller. It is miniature that allows the barbel to quickly hide from human eyes. Skirting board, cracks in the wall, ventilation, space under the stove are ideal places for red pests.
Like an adult, the domestic cockroach larva eats leftovers, bread and sugar crumbs. During the day, the insect “sits” in a shelter, and goes on a “hunt” at night.
Currently, red cockroaches are common on all continents. The main condition for their survival is the plus temperature.
Black cockroaches in the kitchen
Black cockroaches are much less common in living quarters . They are also called American or kitchen.
These insects are almost twice as large as the Prussians. They also differ in coal color. The larva of the black cockroach is also larger than the red nymph.
"Americans" also have small wings. Young individuals and females do not use them. Males, in turn, have rather long wings; they help them to jump long distances.
It is believed that the destruction of black cockroaches is easier than the Prussians. Females laying eggs leave their offspring unattended. Two weeks later, larvae should appear from the masonry. If during this time the eggs find other types of cockroaches, they will feast on "relatives".
By the way, black insects, like red ones, prefer to breed indoors. Although it may well live in nature. The main thing is that the temperature does not fall below 0 degrees.
How many larvae should be expected from one insect?
People say: "I saw one cockroach, which means there are at least ten of them." It is the rapid reproduction of baleen pests that scares. To understand the scale of the problem, you need to know the answer to the question: how many larvae does the cockroach lay?
It is impossible to calculate the exact amount. With an average standard of living, the number of nymphs in the clutch will correspond to the number of eggs. If the female thinks that the conditions for procreation are unfavorable, then she drops capsules with the offspring in advance.
At a good temperature and sufficient nutrition, several insect larvae can ripen in the egg. In addition, cockroaches are able to regulate the number of offspring themselves.
The number of clutches depends on the type of insect:
- The Prussians lay 25-50 eggs at a time, during the life they are able to leave offspring up to 12 times.
- Black cockroaches break almost 2 times less eggs - 12-18, but leave 22 clutches in their lifetime.
The most dangerous insect is a pregnant female pest. Killing herself, she manages to discard eggs, which are almost impossible to destroy. Another sad fact is that the cockroach larva is born into the world already as an independent individual. Thus, the struggle with kitchen saboteurs turns into an endless marathon.
Why are cockroaches so tenacious?
Scientists believe that cockroaches appeared on Earth more than 350 million years ago. And, probably, they will live as many more.
The survivability of insects is explained by the following facts:
- To continue the race, heterosexual cockroaches only need to mate once. Male reproductive cells can be stored in the female body for up to 4 years.
- Without water, the pest can live a week, without food - a month. For a full life, "barbel" will have enough drops from the tap, and they can eat with ordinary paper or cardboard.
- For about 40 minutes, the cockroach may not breathe.
- The insect can live at temperatures up to -5 degrees.
- A cockroach is able to live and carry the infection, even if it tears off its head. Such an individual dies of thirst and hunger.
- They are not afraid of radiation. Ancient pests have a very slow cell division cycle.
Everyone who has ever tried to catch a cockroach remembers that this is a very fast creature. And not surprisingly, insects run at a speed of almost 5 kilometers per hour. Among other things, adults have learned to pass on their life experience to relatives.
The picture becomes even hopeless, if you remember that the eggs are almost impossible to destroy. Neither cold nor chemicals take them.
We get rid of the larvae by means of the store
It turns out that first you need to get rid of adults, wait 2-3 weeks until the nymphs hatch from the eggs. And only after that start the fight with the young generation. It is worthwhile to figure out how to get rid of the larvae of cockroaches and adults. There are several methods.
First of all, it is recommended to try a variety of traps for insects. It can be a box with 2-3 outputs. The bait is placed inside, the pest eats it, it infects itself, runs to relatives and spreads a deadly infection in its colony.
Sticky and electric traps can destroy only insects that run into them. However, these methods are considered the safest.
What can not be said about sprays against cockroaches. Chemicals can only be used if there are no children or pets in the room. You should also protect yourself by wearing gloves, a mask and safety glasses in advance.
Poisonous gels and powders are considered effective. Nymphs disappear in less than a week. At the same time, the famous crayons cannot get rid of a large number of cockroaches and their larvae.
Ultrasonic repellers help well. People and animals do not hear them, but insects do not tolerate ultrasound. The price, however, of such funds is quite high.
Traditional methods of pest control
For those who are afraid to use the store "chemistry", folk methods will come to the rescue. It turns out that the cockroach larva and the adult insect cannot tolerate ordinary chamomile flowers. It is recommended to grind the plant to a powder and scatter it around the apartment.
A more radical method would be freezing the apartment. Cockroaches die at temperatures below -5 degrees.
In addition, pests have a developed sense of smell. They do not tolerate the smell of gasoline and ammonia. Flammable liquid can cover the skirting boards and corners. And with ammonia to wash floors.
Boric acid against larvae
For several generations, they have been eliminating larvae and adults with boric acid. This is an effective and cheap way. For an apartment you will need about 100 grams of acid.
The powder can be scattered near the sink and around the perimeter of the baseboard. The infected cockroach will not only die itself, but also have time to infect several relatives from the colony.
True, insects quickly realize that this powder is worth avoiding. Therefore, our grandmothers and great-grandmothers at one time came up with a little trick. They took chicken yolks, mixed them with boric acid powder and sculpted small balls from them. A bright new bait attracted nymphs and cockroaches, insects ran to the "food" and died.
Of course, ideally, it is worth calling specialists to their house, they will be able to completely disinfect the room. Unfortunately, none of these methods guarantees that the cockroaches will not return, but for the time being they will relieve the pests.
Barbel Prevention
To prevent uninvited guests from appearing in the house, it is recommended to observe preventive measures:
- keep the apartment clean;
- Do not leave leftover food or drink on the table;
- carry out general cleaning (inspect secluded places).
In addition, you can take note that an adult pest, as well as a cockroach larva, can not stand the smells of geranium and lemon. That is, so that insects do not appear, you can put several flower pots on the windowsill. Lemon peels, unlike other food debris, can be left overnight on the kitchen table and in the sink.