Palmetto Bug | Facts & How To Get Rid of Them in House or Car

Palmetto Bug - What is Palmetto bug? Maybe, you are not familiar with this insect name, but Palmetto bug actually can be found around your house. The definition of the palmetto bug is just similar to cockroaches, but this term is commonly used in the southeastern United States. Basically, a palmetto bug is just a nickname of a cockroach.

Anyway, in this article, we would like to talk about palmetto bug or cockroaches including the cockroach eggs and the baby cockroaches and how it can be so dangerous for the human.

Why do cockroaches / Palmetto bug come into your house?

Of course, cockroaches will not come to your house without any reasons. A cockroach is an insect that likes anything. Somehow, you never realize where they are coming from and why they get inside your house. You probably need to know several reasons why Palmetto bugs may come into your house.

1. Disposal of the bathroom which leads directly to the river and sewer

As we all know, the place most often used by cockroaches to enter our homes is the bathroom. Cockroaches that come from dirty rivers and gutters will easily enter our bathroom if the drain hole directly leads to rivers and gutters.

To avoid the arrival of cockroaches in the bathroom, you can clean the Bathroom Floor by using Bathroom Cleaners so that these insects do not get into your bathroom. Moreover, you can also try to make filters and a floor drain in the drain hole to block the way.

2. The floor drain hole is not covered properly and dirty

It is still related to the first causal factor, You have installed a floor drain in the bathroom, but the floor drain has large holes or is damaged due to cracking. Cockroaches can use this damage or holes to enter the house. Dirty floor drain will also cause odors that will attract cockroaches to come. So, you need to check and clean the drain hole and floor drain of the bathroom regularly to avoid this.

3. Your house is dirty and smelly

You may be too busy or too lazy until you cannot clean your home. As a result, the house becomes dirty or even produces unpleasant odors. Food crumbs and dirt scattered on the floor can invite cockroaches into the house. Thus, you actually need to make sure that your backyard and front yard are clean so that no cockroaches will come to your house. Simply, you can sweep the floor, mop it, clean the kitchen cabinet and others.

4. Too much-scattered food leftover

After eating, we usually do not clean up the remaining food immediately. As a result, the leftovers will be everywhere, such as in the kitchen, on the dining table or even in the living room. If we leave it for a long time, cockroaches will come and use it as a food source while you do not realize it. So, we recommend you to immediately clean and dispose of your leftovers after eating.

5. You forget to check and clean your bookshelves, clothes racks, or storage boxes

Cockroaches do not only need food and drinks, but cockroaches also need shelter to live. Therefore, Cockroaches utilize places in our homes, especially bookshelves, boxes, and clothes racks. They like these places because they will not get exposed to the light that they really do not like. Therefore, it is important for you to check and clean those places on regular basis.

6. You eat too much junk food / unhealthy food

Although cockroaches actually like to eat anything, a research shows that they do not like to eat vegetables such as cucumbers and green vegetables, unless there are no other options. In fact, they prefer to eat the remaining toothpaste and cardboard rather than vegetables. From now on, you can try to reduce junk food and eat healthy food instead. In addition to eradicating cockroaches, you will also have a healthier lifestyle.

How do cockroaches / Palmetto bug reproduce?

Surprisingly, it turns out that female cockroaches are able to reproduce without the need for male cockroaches. That fact was revealed thanks to the results of a study by Hokkaido University scientists in Japan on 15 female American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana). For three years, the cockroaches were placed in one place. The result was that all female cockroaches could breed and produce colonies of females baby cockroaches.

This type of cockroach reproduction is considered as parthenogenesis. The hatching egg belongs to the offspring that develops from the mother’s own egg so that it will produce female cockroaches. The condition is triggered by a lack of males. Male populations are usually limited because male cockroaches have low survival.

According to research published in the journal Zoological Letters, female cockroaches are able to take into account the possibility of finding a partner in a particular population.

An experiment was carried out by placing female cockroaches in a variety of different situations. They were placed with males, males that have been sterilized, and placed with other females. The researchers then calculated the number of eggs produced by each condition and how long it took for the female cockroach to lay eggs. Researchers found that cockroaches that have never mate would spawn asexually on average after 13 days.

However, female cockroaches stored in one place with other female cockroach groups will significantly parthenogenesis. They will lay eggs on average in 10 days.

Meanwhile, female cockroaches placed with male cockroaches that have been sterilized preferred to delay the laying process compared to if they are placed in containers along with female cockroaches. Researchers believe that females synchronize parthenogenesis to maximize the number of offspring that survive.

What types of cockroaches / Palmetto bug do we usually see at home?

Among the many common species of cockroaches that exist, there are 2 types of cockroaches that are most commonly found in most homes, they are American cockroaches and German cockroaches. Are there physical differences between these two types? Where are these two cockroach species hiding in your house? Check out the brief explanation below!

American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

Physical appearance: Adult American cockroaches are shiny with a reddish brown color, with a yellow line behind their heads. The length of this type of cockroach is approximately 35-40 mm

Reproduction: On average, female American cockroaches can produce 10-90 cockroach eggs (ootheca) during their lifetime, and each ootheca contains 14 to 28 eggs.

Hiding places: This type of cockroach is the most widely found species at home, and they prefer to hide in a humid and warm place like in the bathroom and sewer.

German Cockroach (Blattella germanica)

Physical appearance: German cockroaches are the smallest type of cockroach among all existing cockroach species. German cockroaches have a wide and flat body with a length of approximately 10-15 mm.

Reproduction: The average female German cockroach can produce 4-9 ootheca during its lifetime, and each ootheca contains 37 to 44 eggs.

Hiding places: This type of cockroach generally attacks areas where there is food processing. German cockroaches usually hide in cracks, in moist and warm areas with narrow openings, such as behind a refrigerator or stove, under a sink and behind a kitchen cabinet.

Why are cockroaches or Palmetto bug are dangerous for our health?

Many people believe exposure to cockroaches urine can harm the human body. Not only the urine, but its body already has a stack of bacteria due to nesting in ditches and other dirty places. Here are a few reasons why palmetto bugs are really dangerous for our health.

1. Cockroach dirt

Salmonella in the stomach of cockroaches becomes a dangerous bacterium because the number of salmonella in the stomach of cockroaches is quite large. Unlike humans, cockroaches can pup anywhere they want and they have great potential to pollute where you sit, sleep, or even eat. Once you get exposed to cockroach dirt, there is a strong possibility that you can suffer from diseases or infections due to the cockroach dirt.

2. Vomiting of cockroaches

Vomiting of cockroaches in the form of liquid from the stomach of cockroaches will cause serious health problems just in case this vomiting liquid drops on your food. So, it is really important to cover our food and store the food in a safe place where cockroaches cannot get into it. You never realize that cockroaches have been on your food before while you do not care about it and just eat the contaminated foods.

3. The Urine of cockroaches

Just like feces, cockroach urine also contains various diseases that endanger the human body. Even when your hands are exposed to cockroach urine, it can cause allergy and other diseases. So, it is important to immediately eradicate cockroaches in your house and never touch the cockroaches directly to avoid urine exposure.

4. Entering the human body

It is not impossible that a cockroach can get inside your body, especially in the nostril and ear. There are so many cases where cockroaches get inside somebody’s ear and this may happen to you when you are sleeping at night.

What should you do to eradicate cockroaches or Palmetto bug?

Somehow, you know that cockroaches are very dangerous for human health. You should never keep the cockroaches at home. You should eradicate the cockroaches in order to avoid diseases. What should you do to get rid of palmetto bugs from your house?

Keep the house clean

The first thing you have to do is clean all parts of the house. Cockroaches like to nest in a dirty, narrow, dark and humid place. Instead, they do not like a clean area. Therefore, clean every corner of your house, especially the kitchen area or storage cabinet for cooking utensils, food cabinets, and food storage cabinets. By maintaining the cleanliness of the house, these cockroaches will never come into your house anymore.

Break the chain of life

You may not know that a cockroach can produce cockroach eggs that contain 35,000 baby cockroaches or nymphs in one year. That’s must be so scary. Therefore, the best step to eradicate cockroach is to destroy the eggs. Find the nest of cockroaches in your home.

They usually leave hatched eggshells around and the eggshell resembles coffee powder with it also smells bad. Once you find the nest, you must immediately remove it by spraying insecticides or cockroach poison directly into the nest. Never step on the cockroach eggs because they baby cockroaches may still survive.

Make a trap

You can actually make cockroach traps using coffee or oil. In this case, you can use a used plastic bottle which has been cut. Then, you can put some foods they like and trap material into the bottle. You can use coffee mixed with water or oil.

Cockroaches like the smell of coffee, they will crawl up and look for the smell of coffee. After that, they will get stuck in the water or oil and will not be able to climb again. Next, you can put them into a container and just burn them so they will die.

Use camphor and natural ingredients

Camphor is a popular thing that you can use to repel cockroaches. You can spread camphor in the corners of the room. Cockroach really does not like the smell of camphor. But, you must be careful and never use camphor near food. Or You can also replace it using natural ingredients, such as bay leaves that are safer while cockroaches also do not like these leaves.

Clean the sewer and the drainage

As it is mentioned above, cockroaches may come and get inside your house through sewers and drainages that are connected directly to your sink and bathroom. They prefer these two places because the sewer and the drainage are so dirty and humid. They also like the bad smell that comes from the drainage. So, you have to regularly clean it to avoid the emergence of cockroaches or palmetto bugs. If possible, you can also a cover to block the way.

Finally, that’s all you need to know all about Palmetto bugs and how they can bring some diseases to our life. So, it is really important to always clean your house and never let cockroaches live in our house.