Cockroach infestation need not take down your home or place of business. Although you can take preventative measures including dealing with entry points, removing clutter and cleaning up after meals and spills, there comes a point where your home, health and business is at serious risk. Cockroach infestation need not take down your home or place of business. If the cockroach has produced an egg sack, 30 new baby cockroaches could be born. They can infest the kitchen, the elevator and just about everywhere.

Cockroach Control in Peterborough and the Kawarthas

Home remedies don't work for cockroach removal. You need a professional pest control service to get to the heart of the problem. Dave's Quality Pest Control is the most trusted pest removal service in Peterborough and the Kawartha Lakes region.

You might find cockroaches under your fridge, in sinks, on stoves, or in household appliances and draining systems. If you see them, you can even snap a couple of pictures or videos and send them to us. We can get started identifying and assessing and deal with them immediately.

German Cockroach

The most notorious cockroach and frequent invader in our homes is the German Cockroach (actually originating from southern Asia), Blattella germanica. A light brown or tan in colour with black stripes, the German is 1.3 to 1.6cm long and are winged insects but rarely fly, preferring to quickly scutter. German roaches are often found living grouped together, close to kitchens but also bathrooms and basements but not often seen during the day, liking to scavenge for food at night. In addition to typical food and garbage, they will also eat cardboard, paper and books and sometime even soap and toothpaste. The German cockroach breeds very quickly, their colonies growing to impressive numbers if left untreated. If you detect a musty or foul odour coming from the areas they congregate, it is likely that you have a large population on your hands.
German Cockroach

American Cockroach

American Cockroaches are medium to dark reddish-brown and have a lighter, tan or yellow band on the back of the head. Growing to 4cm in length, they are the larger cockroach often depicted in cartoons and advertisements but not as commonly seen indoors. They are winged and though more likely to fly than than German Cockroaches, they like temperatures to be warm enough for the task. American cockroaches prefer dark, warm and moist areas like basements, foundations and sewers (they are sometimes referred to as waterbugs or sewer roaches). While more typically seen outdoors, they will enter buildings in search of food, preferring spilled food and droppings, crumbs, garbage or other decaying waste.
American Cockroach

Oriental Cockroach

At about 2.5 to 3.2cm long, the Oriental Cockroach is shiny, black or dark reddish brown and is more similar in habitat and feeding to the American than the German, preferring the same dark and damp conditions. More often living outdoors, they typically live under mulch and leaf litter or debris in yards and gardens eating decaying organic matter. As a result, they can thrive under porches and in storm drains, sometimes entering homes in wall crevices but prefer areas that are undisturbed.
Oriental Cockroach
There are 3 common types of cockroaches in Ontario and any of them can carry bacteria. Cockroaches can also be an allergen source or trigger asthma symptoms and reactions. The WHO characterized them as "unhygienic scavengers in human settlements.”

Preventative measures can take the edge off of cockroach invasion but it can become a full-fledged infestation very suddenly.

When that happens, you need an inspection immediately.
There are two main reasons. They can enter your house looking for shelter drawn to dark and moist places but more commonly when you bring infested items into your house. Furniture, electronics, and or groceries could be (carriers) as cockroaches can survive where most don’t, won’t or can’t.
In central Ontario, you are likely to see roaches classified as German, American or Oriental.

German cockroaches can breed extremely fast with colonies exploding in number, especially in dark, moist places. Scavenging during the night, they are the creatures you see scurrying away from all forms of light.