Subject: Changes around the house
Geographic location of the bug: Northern New Jersey
Date: 08/26/2018
Time: 06:41 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Recently, we’ve been having a lot of construction done at our house and the house has been completely open to the outside. Over the past couple of days, we’ve seen some of these sharing our home with us. We haven’t seen them before. We live in a forested, semi-rural area.
It would be great to understand what these are so we can understand their habits.
Thank you.
How you want your letter signed: Jim Jacobson
Dear Jim,
As you can see from this BugGuide image, you have a German Cockroach nymph, Blattella germanica. This is one of the species of Cockroaches that will infest homes and businesses. It is possible that they were already in your home and the construction has caused them to flee into the open, as they are generally nocturnal feeders that shun light. It is also possible that they were somehow transported to your home with construction materials or personal belongings of the construction workers, but if you are finding them in large numbers, they are likely reproducing in your home.
Dear Daniel,
Thank you very much for this information. I truly appreciate it. I would guess that somehow they were transported into the house. We’ve lived here 6 years and this is the first time we’ve seen any. We have only seen two.
Thanks again,
Jim Jacobson