Sultry heat and not exactly clean cities: the ideal environment for the cockroaches that multiply in city areas, master of the nightthe moment they leave their hiding places and the risk of running into these is high insects that are a source of disgust for most people, as well as a health risk. “Cockroaches – he explains to Adnkronos Salute Emanuele Mazzoni, professor of agricultural entomology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Piacenza – they tend to love the heat, so the higher the temperatures, the more they grow. If they find food, of course. The issue, therefore, is also environmental hygiene”.
The species in Italy: “Different behaviors and aspects, but if out and about during the day the situation is much more than dramatic”
In our country “we have at least 4-5 species, each with its own peculiarities and very different behaviors and aspects”, describes Mazzoni.
If we talk about “the common black cockroach, the oriental cockroachoften lives outside buildings and then, in its wanderings, also enters houses. There are other species that are more tied to the domestic environment”. The ‘American’ one, Periplaneta Americana“it is the largest of all, reddish in color, it is mainly linked to sewage systems, from there it then moves and can also enter houses”. In general, however, all “cockroaches love closed environments, they love the dark, they tend to move only at night. If you see them around during the day it means that the situation is not dramatic, but more“, warns the expert.
What to do to keep them away
To keep them away, “it would be important to avoid, for example, the stagnation of waste, with proper urban management and constant removal. But attention is also needed from individual citizens, who must not leave food lying around: a piece of half-eaten sandwich is enough to attract them, just as it can attract mice, pigeons, various birds. Everyone must do their part to keep cities clean”, recommends Mazzoni. With food available “it is easy to see, at night, cockroaches walking on the walls because they come up from the manholes, the manholes, the sewers. While during the day they remain hidden, taking refuge in those humid environments, including gardens”. And the issue is not only the disgust they provoke, warns the specialist, but also the health risks they entail.
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