Why is there such a stigma of having cockroaches in one’s home?
Cockroaches earn their stigma because of their association with unsanitary conditions – crumbs or open food in kitchens and pantry, open pet food, leaky faucets, unsealed areas around pluming pipes, for example. Cockroaches damage property and contaminate the food they touch and spread diseases including viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoans. In fact, they are the number one cause of childhood asthma in the U.S. In large numbers they have a distinctive odor from their feces and oral secretions. In large numbers then can feed on people. Pest management professionals use roach baits strategically where cockroaches crawl and colonies can be eliminated. Sanitation too is a component in further roach control and elimination. Cockroaches have a sentry system that detects low frequency wind different form normal air movements. When the insect detects suspicious wind, like a shoe about to step on it, it takes off. Cockroaches have tiny hairs on their cerci or jointed tail prongs that sense c
