How to Get Rid of Roaches in Florida Homes: German, American or Woods Roach?

If you want to know how to get rid of roaches in Florida homes in Brevard County, start by working out which roach you have. A small tan roach in the kitchen means an infestation living in your house. A big dark roach on the lanai or the garage floor is usually a visitor from outside.

TL;DR

• The German roach is small, tan, and lives only indoors. Seeing one means a colony nearby.
• The American roach (what many people call a palmetto bug) is big and mostly lives outside. It wanders in.
• The Florida woods roach is big, dark, slow and cannot really fly. It comes in from mulch and leaf piles.
• Big roaches are fixed from the outside: seal, dry out, clear the yard edge. Small roaches need a real treatment.
• Nobody should guess. Look at the size first.

German roach: the one that means an infestation

The German roach is the only one of the three that lives its whole life inside your house. UF/IFAS says it cannot survive away from people. The adult is about 3/8 to 9/16 of an inch long and brown, and the female carries a small egg case holding 30 to 40 eggs.

So if you see a small tan roach, you are not looking at a stray. You are looking at one that was born in your walls. They hide behind the fridge, under the sink, inside the dishwasher base and around the stove. You see them at night, or when you open a dark cabinet.

Other signs are black specks like pepper in the cabinets and small brown egg cases. We covered what happens after a treatment in why you see more bugs after pest control treatment.

American roach: the "palmetto bug" that wanders in

Many people say palmetto bug and mean the American roach. It is the largest of the common house roaches, about an inch and a half long, reddish brown. UF/IFAS notes it is rarely found in houses, and that it can turn up inside after heavy rain.

That fits what a Brevard summer looks like. Storm drains, sewer lines and wet mulch push them toward your door. One in the garage after a big storm is not a sign your house is infested. A few every week, in the kitchen or bathrooms, is a sign something inside is feeding them or letting them in.

Florida woods roach: big, slow, and a stinker

The Florida woods roach is a different animal. UF/IFAS lists it at about 30 to 40 mm long, which is an inch and a quarter or more, and says it is slow moving with no effective flight wings. It is an occasional invader of the home. When it is scared it can release a strong smell from glands on its body.

It lives outdoors in leaf litter, woodpiles, mulch and storage areas. It gets inside when it follows moisture or finds a gap. One in a bathroom is a lost roach. It does not build up in your kitchen the way the German roach does.

What we see in Brevard

Warm weather means all three are active almost all year here. Block homes in Melbourne and Palm Bay have gaps at plumbing lines, garage doors and sliding door tracks that big roaches use. Lanais and screened porches give them damp, shaded cover close to the door.

In the kitchen, the small tan roach is the one that comes in with groceries, boxes and used appliances. Rentals and snowbird homes that sit closed up with a dripping tap can have a quiet German roach population when the owner comes back. Beachside homes get plenty of big roaches after wet weather.

Our full roach advice is on the general pest control page.

What to do now

1. Measure what you saw. Under an inch is probably a German roach. Over an inch and a quarter is probably an outdoor species.
2. For big roaches, seal gaps at the garage door, door sweeps and around pipes. Pull mulch and leaf litter back from the foundation and keep woodpiles off the wall.
3. Fix leaks, wipe the sink dry at night and take pet food up after meals. All three roaches want water first.
4. For small roaches, clean grease from the stove and the cabinet edges, and take out cardboard boxes you do not need.
5. Do not set off store foggers. We see them scatter roaches deeper into the walls.

When to call somebody

Call if you see small tan roaches more than once, in daylight, or in more than one room. That points to a colony, and sprays from the store rarely reach it. Call if a few big roaches keep turning up inside after you sealed the obvious gaps. We can find where they get in. See service areas to check we cover your town.

Sources

• UF/IFAS: German cockroach
• UF/IFAS: American cockroach
• UF/IFAS: Florida woods cockroach

Frequently Asked Questions