Pest Behavior Playbook

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Common callback culprits

Cockroach control and ant control remain among the most difficult services for pest management professionals (PMPs). These common pests thrive in residential and commercial environments — including restaurants, healthcare facilities, and multi-family housing — by exploiting food, moisture and shelter. Their adaptability often leads to recurring infestations, repeat service calls, and increased demand for faster, more effective pest control solutions.

We are breaking down the top behaviors of common callback culprits and giving helpful control tips.

german cockroach

German Cockroach

Behavior

  • Thrives indoors in kitchens and bathrooms
  • Often introducted throug infested packaging or equipment
  • Rapid reproduction allows infestations to esclate quickly
  • Hides in tight cracks near food and water sources

Control Tips

  • Remove food sources and mantain sanitation
  • Apply aerosol to the cracks, crevices and voids your sprayer can't reach
  • Use glue boards to monitar the product's successs
american cockroach

American Cockroach

Behavior

  • Prefers warm, humid, dark environments like basements and sewer systems
  • Enters through small openings around drains, doors and utility lines
  • Fast-moving and capable of short glides
  • Mostly nocturnal and light avoidant

Control tips

  • Reduce moisture by fixing leaks and ventilating crawl spaces
  • Seal entry points around doors, drains and utilities
  • Treat cracks and crevices with residual products
argentine ant

Argentine Ant

Behavior

  • Forms massive multi-queen supercolonies
  • Prefers sweets but shifts to proteins seasonally
  • Strong trail-following behavior
  • Nests relocate easily when disturbed

Control Tips

  • Target gaps along foundations by applying aerosol to cracks and crevices
  • Use slow-acting sweet baits
  • Remove competing food sources
  • Trim vegetation and reduce moisture
pharaoh ant

Pharaoh Ant

Behavior

  • Small ant that infests warm indoor spaces
  • Nests in wall voids, appliances and hidden cracks
  • Colonies easily split when stressed (budding}
  • Feeds on sweets, proteins and fats

Control Tips

  • Use slow-acting ant baits (sweet and protein-based)
  • Maintain sanitation
  • Monitor for satellite colonies
  • Supplement with aerosol to ensure knockdown

How to control your most common callback culprits

Step 1

protect

the perimeter

When conditions are tough — you need a solution that’s tougher.
By providing up to 90 days of broad-spectrum control, even in difficult weather and on difficult surfaces, Suspend® PolyZone® insecticide helps you knock down tough pests and lock down your perimeter.

suspend polyzone logo
  • Provides up to 90 days of broad-spectrum control
  • Effective against species resistant to Type I pyrethroids
  • Performs through tough weather, UV light and other environmental factors
  • Reduces callback frequency
Learn more

Step 2

control

cracks and crevices

Take out hard-to-reach pests in hard-to-reach places with Suspend® Contact & Residual Aerosol. Get the unique combination of rapid knockdown and long-lasting residual control, so you can stop cracks in the wall from becoming cracks in your defense.

suspend contact and residual logo
  • Delivers immediate results — mortality in just 30 seconds
  • Protects against German cockroaches and Argentine ants for up to 18 months*
  • Controls a range of hard-to-reach pests
  • Precision nozzle technology allows product to be applied exactly where it’s needed
Learn more

Step 3

Double your defense.
Reduce your callbacks.

It pays to pair up. When you combine Suspend® PolyZone® insecticide with Suspend® Contact & Residual Aerosol, you get an unmatched defensive duo that helps reduce gaps in coverage and costly callbacks. Get complete coverage, in tight spaces and tough conditions, so you can approach every job with complete confidence.

suspend polyzone logo

Heavy-duty polymer barrier that provides up to 90 days of control in tough conditions.

Learn more
suspend contact and residual logo

Precise, rapid knockdown power and long-lasting residual control in tight spaces.

Learn more

A strong defense
starts here.

Find your rep