SC - Blatteria... the roach

[Jeff Heilveil]

Hey all.
I know they are a bother, but in actuality, roaches neither carry disease
nor bite.  They really only gross us out and compete for resources.
Doesn't mean I let them in my house either though.

Quite seriously, our IPM professor suggests vaccuum (SP) for roaches and
spiders.  Also though, if it is a house, a REALLY thorough cleaning of the
house should help tremendously.  You could always put the paints in a box,
but that doesn't really solve the problem.  Boric acids can work, though
there are some strains of roach that have grown resistant through
selection (the ones which had thicker cuticles were selected for, where
they had previously been at an energetic disadvantage and did not do
well).  Again, yopu can spray the roaches you see with soap.  If you know
from where they are coming you can also put down some fine sand, which
abrades the cuticle and again makes them dessicate.  Cats and Mice are
also good roach getters.  I don't recommend either, but that's because I
grew up with dogs.  Terriers would be a good choice there and a nice
addition to any household (so I'm biased).  If you have kids, give them an
old shoe and make a game of it. (like that one odd game where the kids get
a mallet and the heads pop up randomly to be hit back down or somesuch...)

Really though, roaches don't go where there is nothing to eat.  Once
settled it can be a battle to remove them, but with time and patience it
isn't too bad....  If you are in an apartment, then you're pretty well out
of luck, as you cannot control your neighbors.  They do hate light, and
dislike open spaces, as they are thigmotactic, meaning that they like
contact on both top and bottom.  They also like dog food.  Or at least the
Madagascar Hissing cockroaches we keep around to show at demonstrations
do...  You might also make sure that if you have a compost pile, that it
is away from the house, as in the natural environment they like
decomposing vegetation.

Enough lecture for a day, Thesis calls.  Like Duty, yet more ominous....

HTH
Jeff


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Jeffrey Heilveil M.S.		      Ld. Bogdan de la Brasov, C.W.
Department of Entomology	A Bear's paw and base vert on field argent
University of Illinois		    	  
heilveil at uiuc.edu			     
office: (217) 244-5115
home: (217) 355-5702		       
ICQ: 34699710 	             

Once one dismisses the rest of all possible worlds, one finds that this is
the best of all possible worlds.
				 -Voltaire, _Candide_
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