You want…

• To quickly eliminate a cockroach infestation, stop the reproduction of this invasive pest...

• An affordable, professional, honest and warrantied cockroach exterminator.

• An environmentally conscious treatment that is safe for the whole family, including your pets.

Here’s what to expect:

• Answers to all of your questions

• A no-obligation quote over the phone in seconds

• Flexible scheduling with 24/7 same-day service throughout the GTA.

• No hidden service fees or follow up costs.

Addison has...

• Decades of experience

• A trusted track record

• All-inclusive warranty

• Comprehensive customer service

• Rigorously trained technicians

• Tried and tested extermination methods

• The safest, most effective insecticides

Key Facts about Cockroaches

• Cockroaches are a resilient pest that can feed on almost anything in the house including soap, toothpaste, crumbs, oil splatter and food residue.

• Yes, cockroaches do bite humans, though they will only do so in famine conditions.

• Cockroach infestations follow a 10-to-1 rule. If you see one cockroach it means there are at least 10 that you can’t see.

Here’s how you know if you have a cockroach infestation

• Spotting an infestation in its early stages gives you a better chance of quickly eliminating every cockroach from your home for good.

Click here for some cockroach prevention and monitoring tips

• A professional integrated pest management plan is the best way to quickly and completely kill every last cockroach, eradicate a cockroach infestation and give you safe, long-lasting protection.

Step 1: Cockroach Spray Treatment

Category:

• Chemical + Residual

Equipment:

• Precision surface sprayer

Method:

• A fine mist of residual spray is applied to the backs, sides and bottoms of kitchen appliances, the inside and outside of kitchen and bathroom cabinets and drawers, underneath counters, sinks, radiators as well as the door jambs and floors throughout the home.

Strengths:

• Kills cockroaches on contact and remains active as a protective surface treatment to continue to kill cockroaches as they come out of hiding.

• Keeps your home and furniture protected for up to 6 months.

• Fully approved by Ontario Ministry of Environment, safe and non-toxic for humans and animals of all shapes and sizes.

Weakness:

• If used improperly, may promote pesticide resistance

Step 2: Cockroach Powder Treatment

Category:

• Physical + Chemical

Equipment:

• Power duster

Method:

• A fine silica dust insecticide is injected into all crevices and wall cavities through electrical sockets, gaps underneath baseboards and gaps around pipes under the sink, bathtub or toilet.

Strengths:

• Cuts up the cockroach abdomen

• Coats the insides of the wall cavities to create a protective powder barrier around your home

• No cockroaches can spread to or from attached houses, adjacent apartments or condo units.

• Essential lasting protection

• Fully approved by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, safe and non-toxic for humans and animals of all shapes and sizes.

Weakness:

• Only suitable for crack and crevice treatment.

• Easily washed or vacuumed away.

Step 3: Cockroach Gel Bait Treatment

Category:

• Chemical

Equipment:

• Gel bait gun

Method:

• A small bead of bait droplets is applied on the back of kitchen appliances, underneath sinks, and toilets, on the hinges and tracks of kitchen and bathroom cabinets and drawers.

• The white bait is very discreet, it is distributed in drops about the size of a grain of rice very discreet.

Strength:

• effective, discreet and safe method to eliminate a cockroach infestation

• Cockroaches are a cannibalistic species. This means that more and more cockroaches will be exposed to the bait as their dead bodies are consumed in the harbourage.

Weakness:

• Must be implemented in conjunction with rigorous cleaning and sealing to elinitae other food sources and draw cockroaches to the bait.

Beware of Discount Pest Control

• These companies use low quality or low concentration surface sprays with only 10 to 14 days of protection.

• Cockroaches are one of the most resilient and adaptable insect species. They haven't undergone significant evolution for over 250 million years

• A treatment that is not sufficiently thorough and aggressive will lead to frustrating reinfestations.

When it comes to cockroaches, being proactive is the key to a successfully eliminating this dangerous and persistent pest.

Cockroach Prevention and Monitoring

As part of our service, a trained Addison technician will:

• Identify and seal up potential cockroach entry points

• Give cleaning tips and strategies to keep the highest risk areas free of food and debris that could draw in new cockroaches

• Install baited glue board traps to monitor the population of cockroaches

• By using high quality residual insecticides Addison treatments keep your home protected from cockroaches for up to 6 months

Addison's Quarterly Cockroach Prevention Program

Since Cockroaches can live within the structure of a multi-unit building or row townhouses, an infestation can move throughout the building and lead to a never-ending cycle of reoccurrences.

If your adjacent neighbour has a serious cockroach infestation that they refuse to adequately deal with or your building managers are unable to effectively deal with a building wide infestation, it may be most effective to begin an ongoing program of cockroach prevention.

This treatment plan will offer:

• complete protection against a variety of insects including bed bugs, cockroaches, carpet beetles, ants, meal moths and other invasive pests.

• New application of complete cockroach treatment 3-4 times/year

• Regular inspections to identify potential new entry points or structural insecurities

• Professional monitoring of glue boards and pheromone traps

• We revisit your home whenever you need a further inspection or treatment at no extra charge.

Having clear and complete information about the life cycle, foraging and reproductive habits of cockroaches will help you get the most out of a cockroach treatment.

How to identify cockroaches

Cockroach species vary widely in colour, shape, size and behaviour. The most common cockroach species in North America are the Oriental, German and American cockroach varieties.

Here are a few general characteristics of cockroaches to help you identify if you have a cockroach infestation.

Cockroach Colour

• caramel brown to black.

Cockroach Shape

• dorsoventrally flattened

• Oval shape

• antennae that are as long or longer than their body.

Cockroach Size

• range in size from 5mm nymphs to 53mm adult American cockroaches

• Nymphs have the same body morphology as adults but are darker in colour and lack the wing pads of adults

Cockroach Behaviour and Characteristics

• Most species are incapable of self-powered flight

• Cockroaches have vestigial wings that cover most of their dorsal abdomen.

• Strong legs permit quick running and even short jumps.

Cockroach Reproduction Habits

• Cockroaches reproduce by way of ootheca or egg sacks

• Egg hatching and nymphal development is highly dependent on environmental conditions and food availability.

• At higher temperatures of 35°C the eggs of the German cockroach will hatch in as little as 14 days whereas the eggs of a the Oriental cockroach can take up to 81 days to hatch at temperatures of 21°C or below.

• Eggs of most cockroach species lose viability below 0°C.

Usually the best person to tell if their are cockroaches in your home is YOU.

Since they can live deep inside the walls, and only emerge when it is time to forage for food, spotting any of the following signs is a good reason to believe you have an cockroach infestation.

If you discover you have a cockroach infestation, call Addison today to get rid of the problem as quickly and effectively as possible.

Cockroach Sightings

• 10-to-1 rule. If you see one live adult or nymph cockroach it means there are at least ten that you can’t see

• Cockroaches are nocturnal insects. Be most vigilant after dark.

• You may spot them scurrying for shelter when startled by a light or loud noises.

• Use baited sticky traps to effectively gauge the severity of a cockroach infestation.

• Pheromones on the traps attract cockroaches from a surrounding radius.

• Evaluation of insects caught in these traps can give a very accurate picture of the number of pests, and the timeline of the infestation.

Cockroach Droppings

• Cockroach fecal matter is a common early warning sign of a cockroach infestation

• droppings are the size and colour of coarse coffee grounds.

• Normally concentrated in the kitchen and bathroom found in clusters on cabinet and door hinges, under the lip of a countertop, around pipes and radiators or anywhere that is dark, moist and warm.

• Droppings may contain pathogens such as salmonella, E.Coli, Staphylococcus and other harmful bacteria.

Cockroach Ootheca (Egg Sacs)

• Mother cockroaches deposit these egg sacks in a dark, sheltered areas close to feeding or water sources

• Mothers may chew up the material and cover the egg sack with debris as a means of camouflage.

• Ootheca are about the size and shape of a grain of rice and vary in colour from dark black to golden brown

• These egg casings may contain up to 50 eggs

Cockroach Odour

• This sign of infestation is normally only detectable in more severe infestations when other indicators of infestation are in plain sight.

• Some species of cockroach emit a foul odour when they are frightened or disturbed

• Secreting oleic acid a distinct oily musky odour can be offensive and overpowering

• This smell can remain on foods or in harbourage areas even after an infestation has been controlled or eliminated.

How did cockroaches get into my home?

Cockroaches can enter a home in a variety of ways:

• Paper products from food distribution centres such as a box from the grocery store

• Used appliances, furniture or clothing can also carry eggs, nymphs or adults into the home

• Through insecurities in the foundation or the window and door closures of a house

• Through the ducting and wall cavities of an apartment building, row of townhouses or attached houses

Cockroaches are capable of travelling within a neighbourhood. Species of German cockroaches have been found to travel up to 1km to find favourable foraging or harbourage sites

Cockroach Pheromones

Cockroaches have powerful aggregation pheromones, which can cause the rapid exponential growth of a cockroach infestation.

Aggregation is the chemical systems that insects use to attract similar species to favourable nesting and feeding areas

Here’s how aggregation works:

• a chemical pheromone is present in cockroach droppings

• at low concentrations this pheromone acts as an attractant

• new cockroaches are attracted to an area that is good for feeding and reproducing

• at high concentrations this pheromone has deterrent effect

• new cockroaches are discouraged from over-saturating a feeding a breeding site

• this deterrent effect, however, can cause cockroach nymphs to leave the harbourage and infest new areas in the home or apartment building

Cockroach traps exploit this pheromone to attract cockroaches to sticky pads to monitor the population of cockroaches within a home.

What do cockroaches eat?

Many species of cockroach live in the wild, in self-sustaining ecosystems with adequate food and harbourage sites.

Cockroach species become a pest threat when they adapt to the climatic conditions and foraging opportunities in human environments.

Cockroaches have a relatively long life cycle and a high reproductive potential, which means they can invade and reproduce in a home very quickly.

Most cockroach species are vegetarian omnivores native to Northern Africa and Southern Asia,

• Cockroaches able to survive and thrive in a range of extreme conditions.

• Cockroaches can survive long periods without food or water and

• Prefer food scraps high in fat or carbohydrate like cheese, bread, rice, chips, cereal, meat etc.

• In famine conditions they have been known to feed on soap, glue or even toothpaste.

How serious are cockroaches?

Cockroaches can pose serious risks to human health through the spread of pathogens and bacteria that contaminate food preparation and work surfaces.

Cockroaches are highly adaptive, long lived and rapid reproducers

If they have ample feeding sources and a warm and moist conditions they will reproduce faster and live longer.

Cockroaches can also cause aggravation of asthmatic sensitivity and are an unsightly nuisance to many homeowners.

Here’s how cockroaches pick up and spread bacteria:

• During their foraging cockroaches come into contact with a variety of organic matter including garbage, sewage and other refuse.

• Bacteria and pathogens attach to the hairs on the insect’s legs and abdomen and are deposited in a bacteria trail wherever they move.

• Cockroaches regularly regurgitate and defecate on surfaces where they are hiding or feeding.

• Since cockroaches are largely nocturnal, they may walk over food preparation, and other work surfaces without your knowledge

• Bacteria and pathogens from cockraoches can cause gastroenteritis, typhoid, dysentery, poliomyelitis, salmonella, e.coli, staph infection and other illnesses.

Do cockroaches bite humans?

Yes, cockroaches have been known to bite humans, though this is not common behaviour.

Under famine conditions, cockroaches will even feed on hair and nail cuticle as well as callused skin on our hands and feet while we sleep.

Some infants have shown repeated cockroach bites in the facial area, as cockroaches are known to feed on the bits of food around an infant’s mouth.

This gruesome behaviour of the insect is a major concern for the health and safety of people living in infested homes.

Cockroaches walk over a variety of organic material in their foraging activities and carry harmful bacteria in the setae (fine hairs) on their legs and abdomen. These bacteria can cause gastroenteritis, typhoid, dysentery, poliomyelitis, salmonella, e.coli, staph infection and other illnesses.