Pest Control: Tips From A Pro

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

This brings us to the most troublesome and widely distributed roach-the German cockroach. This roach is light brown with two dark stripes on its body, and like the Brown Banded roach, is nine-sixteenths of an inch long. The egg to adult phase is only 55 to 68 days. Note this number as compared to the other four species mentioned. This roach also carries twice as many eggs in its egg case, which makes it small wonder that we have such problems with it. German cockroaches are thigmotactic, which means they prefer squeezing into tight places where their backs and undersides make contact with other surfaces. They are most active at night, although they can be active during the daytime if a high population is present. They will radiate out from areas of steady food supply such as kitchens, pantries, and garbage areas. German roaches also have a tendency to "cluster." Once they find a proper harborage, they will concentrate themselves in that area and continue to return to it time after time.

Their harborages are almost unlimited, but they do prefer warm, moist areas. Their favorite place to just sit is a wooden surface, but any crack or crevice will do, since they can hide in spaces as narrow as one-sixteenth of an inch. Other harborages may include telephones, refrigerator motors, electrical outlets and switches, stoves, ovens, dishwashers (between the exterior panels and the insulation), clocks, radios, and televisions.

A German roach will travel through any and all types of organic waste and then just as easily traverse your countertops, dinnerware, and eating utensils. Their potential for disease transmission cannot be ignored and is by far the best reason to obtain some type of control over these roaches.

The best and most effective weapon against the German roach is sanitation, but checking an existing population is difficult without using some type of chemical control. Extreme heat or cold is very effective, but not very practical in most situations. One of the most effective and least toxic pesticides is boric acid. Some professional pest control operators are reluctant to use boric-regardless of its safety record-because its powdered form can be messy and time consuming to apply. The seven or ten days it requires in order to take effect should also be taken into consideration if your problem needs immediate resolution. Boric acid is unique, however, in that it can kill in two days. First, it acts as an abrasive. Roaches will groom themselves several times an hour with their legs, and after walking through the boric acid, they literally cut or scrape their hard exoskeleton with the boric acid. Since they have no way to repair their leaking exoskeletons, they slowly desiccate. Boric acid will also act as a stomach poison if ingested by the roach. Diatomaceous earth and silica aerogel also act as abrasives, but not as poisons. Boric acid should be applied as a dust with an applicator that allows you access to cracks and crevices. A simple plastic mustard or ketchup squeeze-bottle works well for this purpose. Apply very lightly, as if you were salting your evening meal. Large clumps or piles of boric will be avoided by roaches. Do not apply boric acid dust to roach-infested radios, televisions, or any other sensitive electronic equipment unless you want both a dead colony of roaches and a dead appliance. Plastic discs with insecticide bait work well for electronic equipment applications.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print