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The German cockroach

German cockroach
German cockroach
Season for German cockroach
Season for German cockroach

Latin: Blatella germanica.

This is the most common of the cockroaches that occur in connection with food in Northern European countries. It is approximately 12 mm long and have well-developed elytrons that cover the entire abdomen. The breast is yellowish brown with two dark stripes. Under the elytrons are quite well-developed flying wings. They are not used to fly, but is on rare occasions used as a kind of gliders when the cockroach jumps from tables and shelves onto the floor. Cockroaches are omnivorous, but you rarely find them in food. They are active when it is dark. When it is bright, they sit in cracks and crevices near furnaces, heating pipes, refrigerator motors and other places where they can find temperatures between 25 and 33 ° C, as they prefer.

Cockroaches are social insects. A substance that attracts and unifies them is secreted from glands in the intestine and released later from the excrement. Mating behaviour is also controlled by scent signals. The female secretes fragrances which in low concentration attract males, while higher concentrations of the same odorant triggers the mating game. These pheromones are used in some cockroach traps. Females lay their eggs in brown capsules. These capsules are divided into 30-40 small compartments, each containing an egg. The female carries around the capsule – sticking out of the vulva – until offspring begins to swarm out. Development is progressing through 6 -7 nymphal stages which are relatively wider and darker coloured than the adults. The small nymphs can hide in crevices, which are only 1.6 mm wide (a pregnant female needs 4.5 mm). The development takes about 2 months at 30 ° C, whereas it takes six months at 21 ° C.

German cockroach, female with egg capsule
German cockroach, female with egg capsule

German cockroaches are most comfortable in moist, warm areas with access to water. They climb well and can be found throughout the rooms from floor to ceiling. Dispersal of the cockroach is quite passive. The insects are transported around in goods or empty packaging. The voids in beer cases for example are good hiding places for cockroaches. Cockroaches can damage food by chewing them, by contaminating them with their droppings and by the unpleasant odour that cockroaches have. In addition, it is generally poor advertising that cockroaches come with a company’s goods.

Food Pests
Introduction
An old problem
Competition for food
Pests can ruin stored goods
Why not just eat the insects
Some insects are unhealthy to eat
Allergy to pests
Transmission of infectious diseases
Where do pests come from?
Synanthrope species
(1) The house dust mite and the sugar mite
(2) The firebrat and the silverfish
(3) The German cockroach and the forest cockroach
(4) The rust-red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle
(5) The merchant grain beetle and the saw-toothed grain beetle
(6) The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle
(7) The rice weevil and the granary weevil
(8) The pharaoh ant and the common black ant
History of the dark flour beetle
Pests in bird’s nests
Mould fauna
The Look and Behaviour of pests
Insect appearance
Internal
Insect development
Insect senses
Behaviour
Water and Moisture
Temperature
What insects live off and live in
The Air
Mites
Bug Indentification
The various species
Mites
The flour mite
The sugar mite
The common house mite
The Lardoglyphus zacheri
The prune mite
The cheese mite
The house dust mite
The Cheyletus eruditus
Silverfish
The Silverfish
The firebrat
Cockroaches
The German cockroach
The Oriental cockroach
The brown-banded cockroach
The American cockroach
The extermination of cockroaches
Crickets
Earwigs
Booklice
Butterflies
The Mediterranean flour moth
The warehouse moth
Tropical warehouse moth
The brown house moth
The Indian meal moth
Grain beetles
The saw-toothed grain beetle
The merchant grain beetle
The rust-red grain beetle
Flour beetles
The yellow mealworm beetle
The lesser mealworm beetle
The dark flour beetle
The confused flour beetle
The rust-red flour beetle
The bolting cloth beetle
Furniture beetles
The drugstore beetle
The cigarette beetle
Bostrychidae
The lesser grain borer
True weevils snout beetles
The granary weevil
The rice weevil
The corn weevil
Bean weevils
The common bean weevil
The coffee bean weevil
Skin beetles
The bacon beetle
The dermestid beetle
The leather beetle
The khapra beetle
The reesa vespulae
Chequered beetles
The red-legged ham beetle
The red-breasted copra beetle
The black-legged ham beetle
Spider beetles
The Australian spider beetle
The white-marked spider beetle
The golden spider beetle
The smooth spider beetle
Plaster beetles
Flies
The common house fly
The lesser house fly
Blowflies
The grey flesh fly
The cheese skipper
Fruit flies
Hymenoptera
The common black ant
The pharaoh ant
Wasps
Birds
The domestic pigeon
The house sparrow
Prevention and control of birds
Rodents
The house mouse
The yellow-necked mouse
Mouse prevention
Mouse control
The brown rat
The black rat
Rat prevention
Rat control
Imaginary pests
Niches of food pests
A: The Waste Niche
B: The seed niche
C: The dead plant niche
D: The sugary excrement niche
E: The carrion niche
Prevention and Control, Integrated Control
A. Inspection of the company and its environment
The environment
The premises
Examination of raw materials and food on site
Sampling
Laboratory methods for detection of pests in food
B. Statement of the problem
C. Prevention and control
1. Proper organisation of the company
2. Proper operation
3. Exclusion, proofing buildings
4. Packaging
5. Non-chemical control measures
6. Chemical control
D: Effective monitoring and communication
Practical information
Index

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