Cockroaches in Toronto

Is there anything more horrifying than finding a cockroach in your kitchen when you are about to prepare a meal?

Cockroaches are more active now that we have had many months of warm weather in Toronto. Heat and humidity is the environment that they thrive best in. In tropical environments, cockroaches are very active all year round, however in Toronto we see an increase in their population throughout the summer months, even extending into the early fall.

In Toronto, the two most common cockroaches we encounter are the German cockroach and the Oriental Cockroach. Let’s have a look at both of them and give you some ideas of how to avoid these unwanted guests into your home.

This cockroach is the most common cockroach found worldwide and the most common cockroach we come across in Toronto and the GTA. German cockroaches readily infest homes, restaurants, food processing facilities, nursing homes and other places where many people congregate.

An adult German cockroach can be easily recognized; it is about 5/8’ long and it has 2 parallel dark stripes on it’s back just below it’s head. They are light brown-to-tan in colour, with the males tending to be lighter in colour than the females. While they can fly, they mostly run and rarely fly.

German cockroaches are scavengers so they will eat almost anything; however, they prefer sweets, grease, starches, and meats. When food is scarce, they will eat almost anything including soap, toothpaste, hair, and excrement.

These cockroaches are found in moist environments, often coming from outdoors to inside. Once inside they are normally found near drains, leaky water pipes, under refrigerators, sinks, washing machines, and floors. They are normally in places where there is moisture and decaying organic matter, both a requirement for survival.

An adult oriental cockroach can be easily recognized as it is approximately 1 inch in length. Oriental -cockroaches are a shiny black to a dark reddish-brown colour. While both the male and female adult oriental cockroach are large, the male is smaller than the female with shortened three-quarter length wings. The Oriental cockroach cannot fly.