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Control of Cockroaches

- Use sanitation, baits, and "crack & crevice" treatments -

Summary: The most important steps of an effective roach control program are elimination of water sources and food (sanitation). Next, baits and low toxicity poison dusts can be used in homes while new commercial poison baits and "crack & crevice" insecticides should be reserved for commercial buildings like restaurants, apartments, and other multi-family dwellings.

Jack DeAngelis, PhD

OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)

Because treatments to control roaches in commercial buildings like apartments and restaurants are generally more aggressive than those used in single-family homes the two different approaches are outlined separately below.

Cockroach control in single-family homes

This can be a do it yourself project. Roach control in single-family homes should be relatively simple because you can control what happens in every room. If you eliminate sources of food and water in every part of the house you can achieve control with easy-to-use, and inexpensive, baits and dust insecticides. Don't use aerosol sprays as these will just cause roaches to scatter and make baits ineffective.

German roach (adult); notice long antennae and dark stripes behind the head

Eliminate sources of food and water. Be ruthless -- clean any exposed sources of cooking grease, sugars and other foodstuff. Also repair leaky pipes and other sources of water. Cleaning and water source elimination is the most important part of roach control.

Next, apply a borate powder insecticide in places where roaches travel. Cockroaches, and many other pests, follow walls, only rarely venturing out into the room. Place a thin layer of powder behind appliances and cabinets, and under sinks, and so forth and replace this powder when it is distrubed.

Finally, cockroach baits can be used in these same areas. Most of the time you can skip the use of baits in single-family dwellings if you have done a good job of sanitation and water source control. If, however, you need some extra help try one of the new baits, they are expensive but very effective.

Cockroach control in commercial buildings*

Cockroach control in commercial buildings* is generally more difficult because you may not be able to control what happens in every part of the building. If there are areas of the building that are not cleaned and treated, for whatever reason, these can serve as continual sources of cockroaches that re-infest the building.

Therefore it may be necessary to treat areas that are accessible with residual insecticides and aggressively use professional baits to disrupt the populations in other parts of the building. It is possible that you won't be able to achieve complete elimination of the cockroach population so you may have to be content with suppression only. Use the following check list to guide your control program.

*Commercial buildings include warehouses, apartments, restaurants, school dormatories, office buildings, hospitals, food processing plants, manufacturing facilities, ships, boats, trains, and so forth.

(1) Eliminate sources of food and water as much as possible. This is always the first thing you should do. If food and water sources are not reduced no amount of insecticide will achieve control. (2) Apply a borate powder (right) behind appliances, under cabinets, along baseboards, and so forth. Borate is a very effective and low toxicity insecticide. (3) Apply a residual insecticide, such as deltamethrin, as a crack and crevice treatment. (4) Use professional baits for long-term suppression and replace baits as needed to maintain control (see Using Baits to Control Cockroaches)

In most regions you don't need to control cockroaches outdoors except perhaps in sewers and similar underground utility lines. Cockroaches in general are adapted to warm and wet tropical climates and don't do well outdoors where it is cold or dry. However, if you live in a warm, wet climate, such as the southeastern US, you may need to treat outdoors around the foundation of the structure to prevent roaches from entering the building or home. Both residual insecticides and water resistant poison baits are available for this application.

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