Can you tell me about cockroaches in Virginia Beach? (Chesapeake: hardwood floors, city hall)

[Alicia64]

Hi Everyone,

We stayed in a nice camp site by the beach in very nice, upscale cabins that even had bathrooms, small kitchens and hardwood floors.

You could hardly call it camping. Just my style.

Around 9 p.m., a huge spider appeared out of nowhere on the tall ceiling. Okay, no big deal. But while my husband was getting the spider a cockroach about two inches in length -- I'm not exaggerating in the least -- walked over the front door.

My husband tried to get it. It fell and as we were deciding what to do a second cockroach came scurrying on the floor towards three of us!

What?? I thought cockroaches only came out at night, in the dark, when everyone was sleeping. What does it mean that one was running right at us?

Can you shed light on the cockroach situation in VB?

Thank you!

Alley

[randomlikeme]

They're huge and everywhere.... but I've seen them at all times of day.

[Alicia64]

Originally Posted by randomlikeme

They're huge and everywhere.... but I've seen them at all times of day.

Would a regular exterminator work if I lived at VB? Does it help? Or not help at all?

Alley

[citydweller]

They are a type of roach but the big ones are known as water bugs. They usually seek the moisture loving areas. You might try some of those roach traps. I personally don't equate them with the small nasty ones but that's just me.

[xGrendelx]

Certain areas seem to get them worse than others. My mother's neighborhood in the Bayside area has always had an issue with them. She lives in an older neighborhood, and I heard they like the trees. She does a decent job of keeping them out of the house, but I see them on her front porch pretty often.

And it's true, some people call them "water bugs" instead of roaches, but when one is running at you it doesn't matter much!

Spraying Raid around the bugs' entry spots seems to help. I imagine an exterminator would help too, but if you're in a neighborhood that the bugs like they'll eventually work their way back in your house for sure. The people in my mom's neighborhood just kinda deal with it, it seems. It's not like the houses are infested or anything.

[Geork]

Lived in NN.

They were everywhere. First moved in went out back to have a beer and enjoy the new back yard, went in for a sec, went back out, there were 3 on my bottle I left outside. Looked around, saw 20-30 on the back porch. No joke. We lived in a very nice, clean house. They were everywhere, inside, outside, etc. Took 3 trips from exterminator and me buying a metric crap ton of pesticides I mixed and pretty much sprayed everywhere.

Still had a bunch around the house.

You pretty much need a service out regularly or spray yourself monthly. You need growth regulator in addition to more traditional pesticides. Don't even ask what the growth regulator does to the local insect ecology and what the long term effects are for the local flora and fauna (its completely safe for humans and pets), you're not gonna like the answer.

They are commonly misclassified as "palmetto bugs" and sometimes called "waterbugs" but they are American Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana). They typically grow to 1.5 - 2 inches and can fly (the adults). Checkout wikipedia, I think this site eat links, so check it yourself. They are usually nocturnal, if you see them during the day you have a BIG infestation (we did). They also typically live outdoors, but near your house, if you see them indoors, its also another sign of a BIG infestation (again, we had one).

The real bad news is, like mosquitos (more specifically the non-nocturnal and aggressive "tiger mosquito" Aedes albopictus), these fun critters are your neighbors in this part of the country. There are steps you can take to mitigate (have a "moat" of lawn around your house), but in general you're going to need a ton of "better living through chemistry".

The good news, is that they are not the more difficult to get rid of strain that is typically seen in dwellings, the German Cockroach (Blattella germanica), which are smaller, don't fly, and much tougher to get out of your house.

Good Luck!

Source: someone who moved away in part because the insane bugs in HR makes it near impossible to enjoy the outdoors

EDIT: forgot to answer one of your questions, yes an exterminator will help, but you will need one regularly if you are in a particularly "cockroachy" area. Gets really expensive tho, which is why we went DIY, if you are meticulous in your spraying and pretty much don't give a crap for the environment you're leaving your kids (again because of the growth regulators), you will get a good result. In 6 months we only saw a live one in the house about once a month and the ones we found were dead, the outside still had some, but we just stopped going in the back yard at night.

[citydweller]

It may depend too on just where you live. I lived in a condo near a canal and during the summer sometimes I would water a few plants outside in the garden area. Watering would bring them out, ugh! Occasionally they would get inside too. When I moved to my house I think I only saw one. My house was not right on the water.

[Coconut1]

I know there's a boatload of them at city hall... oops.

I never saw roaches in my home. Ants were another story.

[RcHydro]

I use to have a problem with them when I lived in Chesapeake. I made a trap I heard about. Cut the top out of a 2 litre soda bottle, so it looks like a nice funnel. Put a piece of banana in the bottle. On the top, on the outside, put something slippery like vasoline on it, Invert the top, and tape it back on. Put it up against the house and put a stick or something for them to crawl up on and into the bottle. They like the smell of bananas. Use something else if you like. They will crawl up and into the bottle and cant get out, the inside of the bottle is too slippery. You will have a bunch in there by morning.

[artistatheart]

Before trying an exterminator, I would try these:

Harris Pest Control Products since 1922, Roach Tablets, Ant Killer, Bed Bug Killer, Stink Bug Killer and Plumbing Drain products

Between filling in a hole behind our dishwasher and placing these in a few strategic spots throughout the house, we haven't seen a roach all summer.