It's a fact that cockroaches are afraid of humans and other mammals or animals that are bigger than them. They see us as predators and that fear triggers their instinct to scatter away. However, they dislike strong and distinctive scents such as citrus, peppermint, lavender and vinegar.
You may love the smell of fresh citrus, but cockroaches hate the scent. That means you can use citrus scented cleaners in your kitchen and bathroom to chase any lingering roaches away. You can also keep a few citrus peels around your home in strategic places.
Roach Repellents
Peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oil are essential oils that effectively keep cockroaches at bay. Additionally, these insects hate the smell of crushed bay leaves and steer clear of coffee grounds. If you want to try a natural way to kill them, combine powdered sugar and boric acid.
And it's not just artificial light that cockroaches dislike. They're not fond of natural light either. Because of this, you're unlikely to see them during the daytime. If you do notice one during the day, it may be because the roach got crowded out of its home or was forced out of hiding due to a lack of food.
In fact, most of them just don't like bright things because of their living behavior. Most Roach species are nocturnal,generally, they are latent during the daytime. They are active at night. one of the interesting fact that they will no go out for the looking for food unless they absolutely need to.
Interestingly, they found that wavelengths of light from ultraviolet (378 nanometers) to visible blue-green (508nm) killed off the bugs, whereas wavelengths of light in red and yellow had essentially no effect. Even more interestingly, the wavelength of light did not directly correspond to its lethalness.
Keep a Cold Home
Turning up the AC may not look good on your energy bill but at least your house will be cockroach-free. There's a reason why we see roaches in the summer, and they vanish during the winter – cockroaches hate the cold. Always turn up the AC.
It's instinctive: you see a cockroach and you crush it. Or you run away. However, entomologists advise against doing the former, because cockroaches can support 900 times their weight. Lightly stepping on the insect or swatting it with a newspaper is not the best plan.
Cockroaches are not likely to bite living humans, except perhaps in cases of extreme infestations where cockroach population are large, especially when food becomes limited. In most situations, cockroaches would not bite humans if there are other food sources such as in garbage cans or exposed food.
Cockroach Eliminating Method: Baking Soda and Sugar
The method: Mix equal parts baking soda and sugar in a shallow bowl and place near the site of your last cockroach sighting. The idea is that the sugar attracts the cockroaches and the baking soda will kill them.
Dusts – A few insecticides used for cockroach control are applied as dusts or powders. Most familiar to householders are boric acid and diatomaceous earth. For controlling cockroaches, boric acid tends to be more effective. Roaches succumb to boric acid after crawling over treated surfaces.
Two of the most common cockroach predators are toads and frogs! Both of these amphibians are known for eating insects like flies, but they also gladly welcome cockroaches. Because both frogs and toads tend to live in shady, moist environments, they frequently encounter cockroaches that also love the dark and damp.
Boric acid: Used correctly, boric acid is one of the most effective roach killers. It's odorless, has low toxicity to pets, and since it isn't repellent to roaches, they will not seek to avoid it, crawling through it repeatedly until it kills them.
Eucalyptus oil has a strong scent that seems to have some success in repelling roaches. You can dilute it with water and spray areas you think cockroaches might have nested.
Distilled vinegar does not kill or repel roaches, making it completely ineffective. Distilled vinegar will help keep your kitchen clean, giving cockroaches less to snack on. However, roaches can live for months at a time without any food at all, and they will eat almost anything to survive.
You may be wondering: "I saw one cockroach, should I be worried?" If you spot even one roach during the daytime, it can mean the infestation has been going on for some time or that it has progressed to the point where drastic action must be taken immediately.
If a roach crawls on you while you're sleeping, it may attempt to feed on dead skin in your eyelashes, eyebrows, or around your lips. While doing this, it could bite you. If it does, you're likely to know it, as dirty cockroaches immediately introduce bacteria into the wounds they cause.
Cockroach bites typically show up as small, red, raised bumps on the skin. In some cases, individuals can suffer from a severe allergic reaction to a cockroach bite. This can result in localized swelling, skin rash, shortness of breath, and even anaphylaxis.
By keeping a clean dwelling, you'll give roaches less of a reason to intrude upon your happy home. There is more to keeping roaches at bay than just having spotless floors, however. Let's look at potential trouble spots that you may have overlooked during your most recent cleaning spree or inspection.
Because cockroaches cannot survive temperatures above 115° F to 120° F, it is possible to use heat to eradicate cockroaches from restaurants and food service establishments. After heat- sensitive equipment is removed from the building, the temperature is increased to about 140-150° F for five to six hours.
Of all the colors of lights out there, red light repels the highest number of cockroaches. These pests are usually picky about the color of the light and are most sensitive to red light, which they will try to get away from it as fast as they can.
Will Sleeping With The Light On Keep Cockroaches Away? No, sleeping with the lights on will not deter and keep cockroaches away. Although they are nocturnal, they aren't afraid of the light and it won't keep them away from an area of your home.