Turk Infestation!!!`

[ArchiesFamily]

Good. Grief. We had Turks way back in the fall time I think it was. They were kept in the detached garage because they are incredibly fast. Since my 10 year old son pulls the roaches out I was just tooooooo afraid they would escape him inside the house. We kept them for about a month then had them exterminated. My husband took the tote full of Turks out far into the woods and emptied a bug spray can on them still inside the tote; sealed the tote up and left them way out there. Here it is MONTHS later and last month I found a Turk INSIDE the house. We are moving now and husband was cleaning out his storage shed (far from the detached garage, far from the place where he "killed" them) and there are probably 75-100 of them under the little rug he has in there!!! We are in NC so we've had 2 recent snows even!!! I canNOT believe those "tropical" guys have survived.

 

[patrickb]

There is a species of wood roach here in the states, Parcoblatta Zebra (Banded wood cockroach) that is visually identical to Turks as far as I can tell. I found a mess load of them in my backyard this pass summer before I even have the Turks on hand. Their habits are very similar, but the P. Zebra have a much more cyclical growth cycle relating to the seasons and time of year than the Turks do. I have them in culture currently and they still have yet to mature, as they usually begin to mature into adults in the springtime, while I am on my third of fourth generation of Turks from the same time frame.

NC is a part of their range and they are a very hardy species capable of overwintering in some pretty cold weather. Hopefully those are the ones you are seeing and that one you saw in the house was a stray (wood roaches sometimes wander indoors but never infest inside a home) I have seen how Turks respond to cold conditions and I just can't believe they could survive over winter with the temps you experience there.

Those that you saw out in the storage shed, were they moving at full speed? Or where they lifeless? If it was still fairly cool outside, the P. Zebra would still be moving at full speed and the Blatta Lateralis would be a bit more lifeless, probably still moving around just much slower. It is about that time of the year for the P. Zebra to start getting more active and a few warmer days could be bringing them out now.

 

[LJean]

(shivers) Do not want to feed roaches, LOL

 

[ArchiesFamily]

I will definitely check the zebra guy out. These were moving pretty fast. How sad is it that I'm hoping to have a zebra roach infestation instead of a turk? I'm off to find a picture........

 

[ArchiesFamily]

Patrick B, you are right! They look exactly like the Turks! I'm going with our special guests being the banded wood roach. You may have just saved me from a deep hatred of the Turks.

 

[patrickb]

8) It kinda freaked me out when I thought I had Turks in my backyard too. Amazing how two species from separate continents can evolve to the point they look identical! I know they are different since I am raising them both and the behaviors are different, but from looks alone one could never tell!

 

[clear]

OMG you killed off the turks! I live in NC and would have gladly taken them!

 

[ArchiesFamily]

OMG you killed off the turks! I live in NC and would have gladly taken them!

sorry?

 

[dawnki]

man, that's a really bad trip--------- definitely gives folks who raise roaches a b a d rap. i've been wondering how long it will be before roaches are illegal to raise in homes ------these 'tropical' guys are being introduced all over the united states----and surviving----roaches are incredibly hardy, adaptive creatures. are we upsetting the natural balance of things once again? Never, never, NEVER release roaches outside-------

good luck with your infestation...... :|

 

[ArchiesFamily]

man, that's a really bad trip--------- definitely gives folks who raise roaches a b a d rap. i've been wondering how long it will be before roaches are illegal to raise in homes ------these 'tropical' guys are being introduced all over the united states----and surviving----roaches are incredibly hardy, adaptive creatures. are we upsetting the natural balance of things once again? Never, never, NEVER release roaches outside-------

good luck with your infestation...... :|

Dawnki, we've realized they were not the Turks. I feel we disposed of them properly (other than passing them on to Clear, sorry). If you read a bit further up you can find a type of roach (the banded wood roach) that looks EXACTLY like the Turk. PatrickB's experience with the behaviors of both have cleared in my mind that these were not Turks, but were the wood roach.

I agree though about never releasing LIVE roaches outside (and Heaven forbid releasing live ones inside.)

 

[dawnki]

rock n roll~

best of luck!