Sep 5, 2011 – Good For the Roach, Good For the Ant
QUESTION:
Has it been shown that roaches are attracted to ant gel baits and vice versa that ants are attracted to roach gel baits? As we have seperate products (bait gels) for ants and roaches perhaps this question seems illogical, however I wonder.
ANSWER:
I suspect that a bait product is formulated with food ingredients that are considered most tempting to the targeted pest. But, cockroaches in particular are such general feeders that I have no doubt they would happily munch on any of the ant baits as well. And, ants too feed on a variety of carbohydrate (sugar) or protein based materials, and roach baits probably provide these nutrient needs for them. Since both ant and roach baits come in gel formulations it certainly is not the consistency of the bait that would be a turn off for either pest.
It may be that marketing a bait product through the maze of legal requirements and registrations is easiest if you don't try to cram too much onto the label. Marketing a bait for ants only could be easier than getting it approved for both ants and roaches. It also may simply be a "marketing" effort on the part of the manufacturer to present more product lines to customers by designating more specific uses of them. For all I know it could be the exact same material in both the ant and the roach bait from a manufacturer, and not intended to fool anyone so much as intended to target distinct pests. I also would believe that different active ingredients may be more effective on one or the other of these insects, so there could be a gel bait base used for either pest but with different actives in them.
Ants would be much more likely to go for sugar baits since this is one major attraction to them, so many of the gel baits are sugar based and perhaps these would be less attractive to roaches than protein baits are.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
Has it been shown that roaches are attracted to ant gel baits and vice versa that ants are attracted to roach gel baits? As we have seperate products (bait gels) for ants and roaches perhaps this question seems illogical, however I wonder.
ANSWER:
I suspect that a bait product is formulated with food ingredients that are considered most tempting to the targeted pest. But, cockroaches in particular are such general feeders that I have no doubt they would happily munch on any of the ant baits as well. And, ants too feed on a variety of carbohydrate (sugar) or protein based materials, and roach baits probably provide these nutrient needs for them. Since both ant and roach baits come in gel formulations it certainly is not the consistency of the bait that would be a turn off for either pest.
It may be that marketing a bait product through the maze of legal requirements and registrations is easiest if you don't try to cram too much onto the label. Marketing a bait for ants only could be easier than getting it approved for both ants and roaches. It also may simply be a "marketing" effort on the part of the manufacturer to present more product lines to customers by designating more specific uses of them. For all I know it could be the exact same material in both the ant and the roach bait from a manufacturer, and not intended to fool anyone so much as intended to target distinct pests. I also would believe that different active ingredients may be more effective on one or the other of these insects, so there could be a gel bait base used for either pest but with different actives in them.
Ants would be much more likely to go for sugar baits since this is one major attraction to them, so many of the gel baits are sugar based and perhaps these would be less attractive to roaches than protein baits are.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
