Smoky Brown Cockroach Control: How To Get Rid of Smoky Brown Cockroaches

This page is a general smoky brown cockroach control guide. Using the products and methods suggested, you will get control of the smoky brown cockroach infestation. Follow this guide and use the recommended products to guarantee 100% control of smoky brown cockroaches.

Smoky brown cockroaches are not the typical roach you would expect to venture into your house, but their presence tends to alarm homeowners just the same. These cockroaches get their name due to the color of their body being smoky and brown. In regions such as Georgia, it is known in colloquial terms as a mountain roach. Nonetheless, the smoky brown cockroaches are a pest that can seriously spread diseases in your home and should not be taken lightly.

Moisture and hydration are crucial to the survival of the smoky brown cockroach. While most other roach species can go a couple of weeks without water, the smoky brown roach must drink water at least every two days, or it will die.

Smoky brown roaches tend to dehydrate quite easily, so they prefer to reside in more humid and warmer areas, such as in the southeastern US. They are prevalent in wooded outdoor areas like Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and East Texas, and other areas extending north along the Mississippi River.

While smoky brown cockroaches prefer to live in wooded areas outdoors, they will enter homes during cold weather to seek warmth and shelter. If they find enough food and water to satisfy them, they will likely stick around and make themselves at home, so that is when it would be time to implement some control measures.

If you have encountered smoky brown cockroaches in your home, our DIY treatment guide can equip you with the professional products and expert advice needed to eliminate them and keep them out of your home.

Identification 

To correctly approach pesticide treatment, you must ensure you're dealing with smoky brown roaches. Misidentification can lead to using the wrong products and wasting time and money. Knowing what the smoky brown roach looks like will help you with identification.

• The smoky brown roaches are among the larger roaches but smaller than the American cockroach. They are between a dark to almost black-brown color with a black pronotum.
• Both male and female smoky brown roaches have wings longer than their bodies.
• Both male and female smoky brown cockroaches are capable fliers and are a type of roach that uses its flying abilities perhaps more than any other roach species.

Use the description and image above to identify smoky brown cockroaches properly. If you are unsure, contact us, and we will try to assist you in correctly identifying the pest you are encountering.

Inspection

Once you are certain that you are encountering smoky brown cockroaches on your property, you need to know where they are active and gauge how severe of an infestation you have. During the inspection, you will focus on finding the areas where you will apply the treatment.

Where To Inspect

Smoky brown cockroaches are usually found outside, mainly in humid and moist areas. They need to be constantly hydrated, which is why they are usually found close to water sources like poorly drained lawns, sewers, or inside yard debris.

Outside in the yard, search for yard debris, such as leaf litter, woodpiles, logs, rocks, and areas where water does not drain. Also, check inside rain gutters, buckets full of rainwater, and near leaky faucets.

Smoky brown cockroaches usually invade homes when the weather outside turns harsh, especially in the winter. They can also infest homes and buildings when there are plenty of water sources nearby or standing water that attracts them.

Look in kitchens, bathrooms, attics, and utility rooms. Look in all the areas where moisture is created, such as underneath sinks. Indoors, check inside pantries, cabinets, shelves, drawers, and cracks and crevices that are usually undisturbed. Due to their strong ability to fly, they can also reach your home's attic or crawl spaces.

What To Look For

You're looking for smoky brown cockroaches and their activity. This includes finding feces (or droppings that look like black pepper) and the roaches themselves since they will eat theirs or other roaches' feces.

Most smoky brown roaches will be found near sources of water, so inspect the areas mentioned above. The areas most frequented by the smoky brown cockroaches will have signs of feces, shed skins, or sometimes a small, black egg sack since they like to lay their eggs near a source of water. 

Outside your home, look for common areas that the roaches could use for shelter, such as leaf litter, wood piles, underneath rock and slabs, tree cavities, rain gutters, or any voids, cracks, or crevices along the structure of your home. Smoky brown cockroaches will climb trees or branches over your house to access your residence.  

Treatment

Once you have pinpointed where the smoky brown cockroaches are most active, you can proceed with treatment. Remember to read all product labels, properly follow the label application instructions, and stay safe by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

To get rid of smoky brown roaches, apply a barrier treatment with a liquid insecticide concentrate with an active ingredient of bifenthrin for a long-lasting residual effect like Supreme IT Insecticide. This product has an active ingredient of 7.9% bifenthrin, which will begin killing insects in one hour and will have a barrier effect on the area it's applied for up to 90 days. 

Next, lay Ficam Insect Bait outdoors around your yard and perimeter. You will also want to use Apex Cockroach Get Bait and Ficam Insect Bait inside your home. When smoky brown roaches consume this product, they will die.

Another positive bonus from using bait material is that when smoky brown roaches eat the bait, they defecate it. In return, other roaches will eat and die from the feces containing the bait material. The more smokey brown roaches eat and defecate this material they are helping to kill its kind by pooping the bait in multiple areas. 

Step 1: Outdoor Perimeter Treatment with Supreme IT Insecticide

Begin treatment outdoors, where most smoky brown cockroaches will be found. Supreme IT is a powerful insecticide that repels and kills smoky brown roaches from coming close to your property. Supreme IT also has a residual (or long-term effect) lasting up to 90 days.

Calculate the perimeter's square footage to determine how much Supreme IT you will need. Measure the treatment areas' length and width in feet, then multiply them together (length x width = square footage).

Apply 1 ounce of Supreme IT with 1 gallon of water to treat 1,000 sq. ft. So, if you calculated 2,500 sq. ft., you would need 2.5 oz. of Supreme IT mixed in 2.5 gallons of water.

Mix the appropriate measured amount of Supreme IT with the correct amount of water inside a pump sprayer.

Perform the perimeter treatment by spraying 3 feet up and 3 feet out from your home's foundation while also spraying windows, doors, garages, eaves, soffits, rain gutters, cracks and crevices, and electrical/plumbing penetrations.

Step 2: Apply Ficam Insect Bait

As an added measure outdoors, apply Ficam Insect Bait. Ficam is a granular insect bait mimics food, which the smoky brown roaches will ingest and eat until they die. You will apply a perimeter treatment around your structure, making sure it is at least 10 feet away from the structure.

To apply, create a band of 2 to 4 feet at 6 ounces per 100 square feet. You can apply Ficam around trees, flowerbeds, mulched areas, and near woodpiles.

Step 3: Indoor Treatment with Apex Roach Gel Bait

Apex Roach Gel Bait is an effective bait that contains food attractants roaches cannot resist and is combined with a slow-killing active ingredient. Because it works slowly, the roaches ingest the product, which becomes a part of their system, and carry it back to the nest, where further elimination of the population will occur.

Before applying this product, eliminate food and water sources. Clean your whole home using only soapy water instead of cleaning chemicals. Wipe and clean countertops, vacuum and mop kitchen floors, and remove the garbage. Do your best to clean your home and reduce competing food sources.

To use Apex, apply a pea-sized drop of the gel bait every 12 to 18 inches. Please place them in cabinets, shelves, drawers, cracks, crevices, and around plumbing entry points. You can even place Apex under appliances by using a business card, applying a drop to the business card, and then sliding it underneath appliances.

Remember not to disturb or kill the roaches that come in contact with the product, and remember not to use cleaning chemicals or other insecticides in the places where you applied Apex for at least 5 days. Let 5 days go by and let the roaches feed on the product undisturbed, and do not use cleaning supplies or products for this period.

Step 4: Indoor Application of Ficam Bait

You can apply Ficam Bait indoors in your attics, crawl spaces, and basements.

Apply at the rate of 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Make sure to apply it in areas where you have noticed feces or smoky brown roaches.

Prevention

After you have eliminated the smoky brown roach infestation, you will need to make sure they don't make a return.

• Remember to keep your home dry and moisture-free by removing any standing water, cleaning out your rain gutters, fixing leaky faucets, and repairing faulty plumbing.
• Seal and close any cracks and crevices inside and outside your home. Use caulking to eliminate slits, openings, or holes that are being used by roaches to travel into and around your property.
• Also, after you have applied treatment, get into a regular cleaning schedule. Vacuum, sweep, and mop your whole home regularly. Wash your dishes every night and make sure the sink is completely dry. Do not let pet food and water bowls out in the open overnight. In the yard, get rid of yard debris, leaf litter, woodpiles, logs, rocks, and general clutter that can create harborage areas for Smoky Brown cockroaches.
• Finally, remember to spray Supreme IT every 90 days on the perimeter of your structure to maintain a protective barrier that repels smokey brown roaches.

Key Takeaways

What are Smoky Brown Cockroaches?

• Smoky brown roaches are large-sized cockroaches that can infest yards and homes in search of warmth and moisture.

How to Get Rid of Smoky Brown Cockroaches

• To get rid of smoky brown cockroaches, we recommend treating the outdoor perimeter with Supreme IT Insecticide and Ficam Insect Bait. Indoors, use Apex Cockroach Gel Bait and Ficam Insect Bait.

Preventing Smoky Brown Cockroaches

• Prevent future infestation of smoky brown cockroaches by reducing moisture, sealing off cracks and crevices with caulk, and a preventative application of Supreme IT Insecticide around your perimeter.