Archive for the ‘Pest Questions’ Category

Oct 18, 2012 – Boating Bug Battles

QUESTION:

what products would be good to use around boat docks & piers for spiders, slugs, snakes, flies, gnats, mosquitoes, dragonflies?

ANSWER:

Treating docks that extend out over the water is a very touchy area. There are actually many products specifically labeled for use on this site and you can view the entire list quickly on PestWeb in our Product Documents resource. Select the “Products by Approved Site” tab and then “Exterior Non-landscaped settings / Boat docks and piers”. What you will find for insect control is that all of the products are pyrethrum based, so no residual insecticides made the list. The problem is that any pesticide dripping into the water below presents a problem, whether or not it really ends up there at a level high enough to kill any aquatic organisms. Just introducing toxic materials into public waterways is not allowed, so spraying the dock itself with a hand sprayer is unlikely to be allowed. The Maxforce Fly Spot Bait you see on this list, which might be an excellent product for the fly control, is labeled for “Marinas”, so exactly how you interpret that site is a good question that should be discussed with your local regulatory agency. Since the fly bait can be “painted” on carefully and none of it should fall into the water, this may be a choice for the flies on your list. 

Otherwise, any application would need to have the assurance that no liquid (or solid) material could fall into the water, so treating the docks themselves may not be possible other than by fogging toward pests such as spiders, or fogging onto mosquito resting sites. But, let’s address the other animals on your list. First – dragonflies. In my opinion there is no reason at all to kill any dragonfly, as they are completely harmless to people and highly beneficial due to their predatory habits. If people are annoyed because dragonflies keep hanging around, oh well……… they really do need to learn to accept that not all bugs should die. 

Snakes and slugs should be addressed at their origin, which is on the land that connects with the dock. For slugs the use of bait products around the areas near the entrance to the dock will help to kill many of them and prevent them from slithering out onto the dock itself. The only reason I can think of that would lead slugs to live on the dock would be the presence of algae that they might feed on, and this could be removed with a power washer. Snakes would be unlikely to live on the dock, so removing their habitat on shore, eliminating any rodents they may feed on, and perhaps using snake traps within closed stations on shore to capture them would be the answers. 

Spiders are tougher, but again we have no options for applying residual products to the dock itself. You can find at least one of the web removal products on the list on PestWeb, so this could be a help in eliminating webs and preventing new webs on some surfaces. Otherwise I believe we are down to vacuuming and perhaps fogging with pyrethrum, which will have limited effect. 

Mosquitoes and gnats may be controlled, in part, with source management. If they are breeding in this waterway itself then perhaps the use of labeled larvicides will help to reduce their numbers. But, since this likely is a larger lake or river that may not be an option, so that leaves us with trying to control the adult insects, always a bad option. The use of light traps will draw many of them, but these might be best placed away from the dock to draw the bugs to the traps and not to the docks. Otherwise, it is wearing repellents and long sleeves during those periods when the mosquitoes are active, and keeping unnecessary lights off to avoid attracting gnats. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 20, 2012

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Oct 19, 2012 – What We Cannot Say

QUESTION:

What are the names of the chemicals that are non-toxic to spray inside for roaches, ants and fleas?

ANSWER:

Thought you’d catch Old Mr. Pest Control with a trick question, didn’t you? The only answer I can give you is that there is NO such thing as a non-toxic insecticide. If any chemical we used were non-toxic then it would not be able to kill any bugs either. The fact is, and the EPA demands this of us, all of the labeled products we use to manage pests in our work are pesticides, and these are defined by EPA as “any substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest“. This includes growth regulators, repellents, and all “natural” pesticides that may be derived from plants or minerals. To go even further, toxicologists will tell us that ALL substances have a level at which they can cause a toxic effect. Even over-consumption of water has killed people. 

So, sorry about the preaching here, but it is very important for licensed members of the professional industry – or even all the unlicensed people as well, such as office staff – to avoid using the words “non-toxic” or “safe” when referring to any kind of pest control chemical. If your customers ask you to use non-toxic pesticides it would be important to discuss with them just what their perception of that term is, because all over the darned internet you CAN find references to non-toxic pesticides, references made by people ignorant of the facts and in many cases playing a dangerous game. I have read plenty of websites pushing boric acid, for example, as non-toxic, and this clearly is not the case. The word non-toxic cannot be in our vocabulary but we do need to help our customers understand why without scaring them. 
The fact is that MANY of the products we use have a very low relative toxicity, and many of these are then diluted to very, very low levels of active ingredient using water as the carrier, thus diluting that relative toxicity to a level that should have no chance of posing any hazard to them or their pets or family. All of this, of course, hinges on our use of these products in a proper manner and according to the Label directions. 
Some of the insecticides that have such a very low level of toxicity to vertebrates include growth regulators, and these are for fleas and roaches. Others may be plant-based active ingredients such as tree oils, mint oils, clove, garlic, Neem, and other oils, but these are still toxic at some level of exposure. However, many of them are also labeled for use in Organic production or labeled as “reduced risk” or “exempt from registration” materials. These may be what your customers are thinking of when they ask for non-toxic pesticides, but you still need to explain to them that while they are natural they still have a toxic level and must be used with care. A lot of people are hospitalized every year due to their exposure to excessive levels of clove in clove cigarettes, and yet because clove is “natural” they believe there could be no possibility of harm. 
If these customers do absolutely demand that you use Non-Toxic products then all chemicals are off the list and you are down to working with traps, sanitation, exclusion, habitat modification, and other steps of IPM, which should be part of any pest management program anyhow. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 19, 2012

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Oct 12, 2012 – Thousand Leggers

QUESTION:

How do I get rid of millipedes in the home? They seem to be dropping from the attic. And what do I use to treat the inside and outside?

ANSWER:

Tis the time of year when outside critters start looking for cozier places to be for the coming winter, and they respond to conditions such as shorter daylight hours, cooling temperatures, or the initial rains of the season. Millipedes are capable of living for several years, even up to 10 years for some large species, so they need to survive a number of winters. We often see the opposite reaction from them too, when large numbers of millipedes may migrate out of natural habitats as those places dry in the hot summer, forcing the millipedes to look for damper, cooler, greener places to live and feed. Dramatic changes in the weather are often the cause of these kinds of movements toward and into structures. 

Thus, for a real shot at long term control the customer needs to be brought into the program too. They should understand that the reason these millipedes are now inside their home is not to find food resources, because the interior of a structure is not really conducive to their survival, but only to find a place to overwinter or to escape some weather changes outside. And, the reason the millipedes were able to get to the structure in the first place is because they were provided good conditions outside or the past many months, and we will refer to those as “conducive conditions” – those conditions such as the presence of harborage in particular, that allowed the millipedes to survive and multiply on this property. This becomes worse when harborage is provided for them right up against the structure, such as thick grass or groundcover or shrubbery that they hide under. If branches are touching the walls or the roof then it provides an easy pathway for these and many other critters to climb up to entry points above. 
So, we’ll get to the insecticide part of this eventually, but here is an opportunity for you to help the customer for the long term. Advise them on the conditions you find around the exterior that can be eliminated or minimized so that millipedes do not live on the property, and in particular not adjacent to the structure. Plantings should be removed to leave a moat of bare ground 2 feet wide, if possible, or at least soil covered with gravel or rock rather than mulch or bark. Anything piled against the exterior walls should be moved away or at least stacked up off the soil to eliminate the moist, dark environment the millipedes need for hiding during the day. Areas surrounding this property should be examined and managed if possible to remove harborage, since the millipedes on this property originated from areas around it. Anything you can achieve non-chemically like this will help to reduce the population of bugs on the property and thus reduce the pressure for them to enter the structure, and finally to reduce the reliance on toxic materials. 
Exclusion should also be examined, and again this is an OPPORTUNITY to make more money (get paid for your time) while serving the customer better. Look for all unnecessary openings around the exterior and permanently close them with the appropriate material, whether it is wood, door strips, weather stripping, caulking, copper or stainless steel mesh, expanding foam, etc. Every opening you can close eliminate one opportunity for the bugs to get inside easily, and now you can apply your insecticides in a much more directed manner to the remaining points of entry. 
There are so many excellent residual products available now that I suspect the industry is using dozens of them effectively, but most effectively when the steps above are undertaken first. Granular contact products like Talstar or DeltaGard granules can be applied around the perimeter, with a good look at applying them to areas in the landscape where you need to be able to get the product down through cover, such as bark or rock or ground covers. Microencapsulated formulations, and there are many of them now, are good choices for treating around the perimeter of the foundation, as these hold up longer when exposed to the weather and they offer a good chance for adhering to a passing millipede as it crawls to the base of the structure and starts the trek up the wall. It will be a lot easier to kill them on the outside than inside once they make it into the attic or the wall voids. 
On the interior the millipedes that are seen should be vacuumed by the homeowner and not allowed to die and lay on the floors. These arthropods tend to “leak” out some body fluids that may cause staining and spots on the surface. Otherwise they are essentially harmless as long as no one puts one in his mouth. They do use some pretty noxious chemicals for their defense. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 14, 2012

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Oct 13, 2012 – Reporting Pesticide Usage

QUESTION:

When using a concentrate pesticide and I want to convert pounds of product used into the total of active ingredient pounds, what is the formula I should use?

ANSWER:

The percentage of the active ingredient that you see on any pesticide label represents the percentage BY WEIGHT of that active ingredient in that formulation. So, for dry concentrates it’s pretty easy to figure this out. If we pick a few examples of products we can first pick Tempo Ultra WP, which is 10% active ingredient by weight in the package. This means that in a 14.8 ounce jar of the product there will be 1.48 ounces of active ingredient – just divide the total weight by 10. Now, we do get confusion when we try to mix Metric with our normal standards of ounces and pounds, as so many product labels now use metric. The Tempo label is no exception, as it allows you to use either 10 grams or 20 grams of the concentrate powder in 1 gallon of water. Frankly, for purposes of your pesticide use report I think you would be fine just reporting the use in grams, and since for this example in 10 grams of Tempo Ultra WP you have 1 gram of active ingredient you know that mixing that low rate in a 1 gallon tank and applying it means you applied 1 gram of active ingredient. 

If you are determined to keep everything in ounces and pounds you just have to do a little math. Or, just take the easy way out like I do and “Google” it on the internet – just put “1 gram equals ounces” and your answer will pop right up. But, 1 ounce equals 28.35 grams, so if you prefer the old fashioned way you would just divide 1 by 28.35 to come up with 0.035 ounce of active ingredient when you place 1 scoop (10 grams) of the concentrate powder in 1 gallon of water. These kinds of conversion charts and examples of the math can be found on PestWeb as well, in our Pest ID and Weed ID resources. 
For ready to use formulations such as dusts or granules the same principal applies. Thus, in Demand G granules there is 0.045% active ingredient (lambda cyhalothrin), meaning for each 100 pounds of the granules you use you have applied less than 1/50th of a pound of active ingredient. What’s really nice on this particular product’s label is that it already tells you how much a.i. you use! For 2 lbs of product you use 0.04 lbs of active ingredient. If we want to convert that to ounces we just multiply by 16 (1 lb equals 16 ouunces), so 0.04 lbs = 0.64 ounces of a.i., and that may be spread over 1000 square feet according to the label – very little actual active ingredient used. 
For liquid concentrates it gets a little trickier, but the principal is the same. One gallon of liquid (water) weighs 8.34 pounds. So, in a product called Termidor SC we find 9.1% concentrate. Since the total weight of that gallon is about 8.5 pounds we just multiply 8.5 times 0.091 (remember basic math regarding converting a % to a fraction?) and come up with 0.77 lbs of active ingredient. Convert that to ounces of active ingredient as 0.77 X 16 = 12.3 ounces of fipronil in a 1 gallon jug of Termidor. 
For General Pest uses the low rate on the label calls for mixing 0.8 ounces of concentrate in 1 gallon of water. What fraction of 128 ounces (1 gallon) is that 0.8 ounces that you use in 1 gallon? Well, 0.8 divided by 128 = 0.006, and you multiply this times the 12.3 ounces of a.i. in a gallon of concentrate to come up with just 0.07 ounces of active ingredient used in 1 gallon of water. 
I know this can be really confusing because of the VERY low rates of use we now have with our current insecticides. It used to be a lot easier when we used 1% concentrations of chlordane or diazinon, but the math can be simple once you do it a few times. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 13, 2012

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Oct 10, 2012 – Protection for Pigeons?

QUESTION:

Is it illegal for a pest control company to destroy pigeons when all other methods have been attempted?

ANSWER:

Pigeons are given NO protection from wildlife agencies and their status is that they can be controlled or killed in any manner at any time. HOWEVER, and I put emphasis on that word, just because the federal and state governments say we can do what we wish with pigeons does not mean that is the reality of it. You need to be aware of any local ordinances that may prohibit the killing of these invasive pest birds as well as the attitudes and opinions of the many people who live or work around the area where the pigeons are living, feeding, roosting, pooping, and all the other great aspects of their presence. You might legally kill some pigeons but still end up roasting on the fire pit of the local newspaper who publicizes what you have done. Despite the awful health consequences of living in close association with pigeons there are a great many people who just love them and want them around (although maybe on someone else’s structure, not their own). 

You also need to be aware of animal rights organizations and their requirements that all living creatures be treated in a humane manner, even if they need to be killed. This makes it very difficult for you to find a method of killing these birds that would be acceptable to bird lovers. Poisoning must cause them agony. Shooting them causes pain and may not kill them quickly. Trapping them exposes them to fear and to the elements. It is a difficult situation to be in. We truly would be better off without pigeons living amongst us, but reducing their numbers runs into vocal opposition. Chasing them around with repellents and scare devices simply transfers one person’s problem to another location. 
This may be a great reason to look at a product like OvoControl. This product is used as a bait where pigeons are feeding and it results temporarily in eliminating their ability to produce viable eggs. The manufacturer does not like the word “sterilizes” but that’s how I think of it. But, it is only temporary, so a relatively constant feeding program is necessary to continually pare down the population through reduction of new birds. The manufacturer has gained the support of many animal rights organizations since the product does not harm the bird in any way. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 12, 2012

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Oct 9, 2012 – What Makes It Residual?

QUESTION:

Please explain to me how some of today’s “residual insecticides” actually have a residual effect on bed bugs? I certainly have my doubts that there are residual properties of insecticides outside of DE or insecticide dusts that penetrate the exoskeletons of these bugs.

ANSWER:

Don’t you just love terminology, particularly when there may not be any clearly defined rules regarding certain terms? Within pest management and the use of insecticides we may loosely divide products into those that have no residual and are expected only to kill or affect the pest “on contact”, and then to rapidly disintegrate so that they no longer are available. The top prize here probably goes to pyrethrum, which we know breaks down rapidly when exposed to UV light, heat, etc. Or, we place insecticides into the group we call “residual” products, meaning they stick around for some highly variable length of time, and this length of useful residual varies wildly depending on what they are and where they are applied. The old chlordane applied to the cool, dark, dry soil under a slab might remain there at a level high enough to kill termites for 30 years or longer, but applied to the hot asphalt driveway in the sun might break down within a few days. 

While our current insect control chemicals do not approach the residual life of the old chlorinated hydrocarbons they still may remain available on a treated surface for anywhere from a couple of weeks to several years or longer, again depending on the molecule and the conditions where it is applied. The stability of that active ingredient also depends on what kind of formulation it comes in. A pyrethroid in a dust formulation, probably dusted into a dark void, is going to remain effective far longer than the same active ingredient in a spray application or an aerosol. The cyfluthrin in a microencapsulated formulation will last longer than one in a WP. It is just so variable that I really don’t think a clear definition is given for what constitutes a “residual”. But, in general we take it to mean a product that remains on the treated surface for some days or weeks after it is applied, and at a level high enough (strong enough) to kill insect pests that expose themselves to that a.i. by resting or walking onto that surface. This works great for cryptic insects like cockroaches that spend most of the 24-hour day hiding in a crevice that we treated, but less so for the spider that quickly walks over a surface and then makes a web that it spends the rest of its time on. 
For bed bugs this gets complicated, because of the high level of resistance these insects have or can acquire to many of our current insecticides. But, bed bugs are not “immune” to any of our active ingredients, and thus what is required to kill them is either a higher concentration of the a.i. or a much longer exposure period that allows a greater amount of the a.i. to make its way into the bug. For this reason baseboard treatments for bed bugs will likely be ineffective, as the bug quickly walks over the treated surface without acquiring the necessary amount of the a.i. Treating directly into their harborage sites ensures a much longer length of exposure to products that offer some level of residual. 
The majority of our residual insecticides kill by being absorbed through the exoskeleton of the arthropod, ending up in the nervous system where they so badly disrupt things that the bug’s important systems fail. Yes, these “contact” insecticides (as opposed to stomach toxins that must be ingested, like boric acid) are absorbed through the cuticle of the bug, finding their way in through pores and tiny openings at leg joints or seams and plates on the exoskeleton. In this sense they definitely are contact products. They do not need to be eaten or inhaled by the bug, but can make their way inside purely by getting onto the outside of the bug. 
DE and silica gel dusts are also contact insecticides, but work with a different mechanism than the nervous system toxins of most of our products. These active ingredients are desiccants that physically abrade the exoskeleton, causing tiny cuts and openings that then allow the body fluids to leak out, killing the insect by dehydration. Thus, they are defined as well as contact products that only have to get onto the outside of the bug to work. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 09, 2012

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Oct 4, 2012 – A Tree Hated The Change

QUESTION:

A healthy, green, flower-bearing desert willow went into severe, immediate transplant shock when re-planted. I suspect I added too much steer manure and salt which caused the problem and I am watering generously to combat. Any suggestions?

ANSWER:

I suppose there could be several reasons why a tree or shrub does not survive when transplanted, and in your case I am assuming you are referring to a new tree that you purchased and then removed from its container and placed into the ground, rather than moving an existing tree from one area to another. Sometimes it can be caused by improper planting by not tearing apart the root ball a bit to loosen the compacted roots. However, this should not result in an immediate reaction. Sometimes it can be improper watering – too much or too little, depending on the kind of plant. Some folks “love” their plants to death by over-watering and drowning the plant, as the roots do need oxygen and often need to dry out between waterings. 

Animal manures make excellent fertilizer, but it needs to be properly composted first to break down the nitrogen content a bit. Chicken manure is a good example, where chicken ranches spend awhile allowing the manure to compost well or it will have too hot of a nitrogen content and will burn plants. Steer manure is less like this, but still needs to have time to break down some of its contents. Apparently steer manure is notorious for its high salt content, and somehow even a much higher level of salt than simple “cow” manure, and where salt licks are made available this can affect that salt level as well. Since you are in Arizona perhaps the local source for this product does produce a manure with an unusually high level of salt, and this could well have caused some rapid effect on the foliage. 
Flooding to leach out the salt is probably your only recourse, and may take awhile and will take repeated efforts of flooding, drying, flooding again. You cannot “neutralize” the salt, but can put it back into solution to wash it away. Perhaps, since this tree was only recently planted, you could remove it, remove the soil from that area, and re-plant with new, fresh soil without all the manure. There also are certain kinds of plants that will actually suck up the salt in soil, as these plants are adapted to living in salty conditions. Your local nursery may be able to offer some thoughts on what these plants are and you could consider planting them around the tree for awhile. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 06, 2012

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Oct 5, 2012 – Fleas And Fish

QUESTION:

I have a new customer with a flea problem at a newly aquired live bait shop. The previous owner had a dog living in the shop but no pets are currently present. My concern is the 7 large bait tanks. They are open air and are aerated 24-7 with an on site, indoor electric air pump. One pump aerates all tanks. I treated attached offices and restrooms but am very leary of applying any insecticide directly in the showroom where tanks are located (and owner claims bites). Is there a relatively safe treatment for this area? I did have them turn off the A/C while I treated offices to stop air movement but they can’t shut down the aerator.

ANSWER:

Something you mention tells me that YOU are not convinced there is still a flea problem here, as you state that the owner “claims” he is getting bitten. Just in case my thought is correct, perhaps it is a good time to set out a lot of insect glue traps and inspect them in a few days to see what is caught. Perhaps the flea infestation is actually eliminated but the owner still feels the paranoia of the problem that used to be there.

If there still is an ongoing flea presence then you are correct in being concerned about the use of insecticides where air pumps could suck some of the aerosolized particles into the tanks. Obviously a very careful application should prevent this from happening if you use low pressure and a larger orifice on the spray nozzle, but even then if a few fish turned belly up in the next few days you would be blamed. Many product labels will even instruct or suggest that air pumps to aquariums be shut off prior to an application just as a precaution. One product that you should be able to use without concern for fish, although you still need to take extra measures to ensure no mist enters the air, would be an IGR such as Precor. Since the IGR is identical in nature to normal hormones in the system of insects, and not fish, even if some of the IGR somehow ended up in the tanks it should not have any effect on the fish. The IGRs do not kill adult fleas, but along with non-chemical approaches such as a very thorough vacuuming of carpets and all edges of hard floors it will stop any further development of adult fleas.

Without any more pets in this shop the flea problem will, eventually, disappear by itself, but I’m sure the owner would prefer that they are gone immediately so that he can quit feeling the sensation of bites. If the fleas really are still present then it would be either flea pupae that have not yet hatched to the adult stage or lingering larvae still feeding on debris in places where they can find it. Open expanses of hard flooring are not likely places to find flea larvae or pupae, so there would be no reason to spray those surfaces. If there are carpeted areas in the shop itself these need to be very thoroughly vacuumed…….repeatedly, and every day for the next week. This is good advice whether or not you even spray any insecticide, as it causes flea pupae to immediately move to the adult stage where they may be vacuumed or otherwise killed.

For hard surface floors there could be an accumulation of dog hairs and other debris, including those dried blood fecal pellets of the former adult fleas that are a dietary requirement of flea larvae. The vacuuming, using a high power vacuum and a narrow tip, should concentrate on removing all of this accumulated debris. Washing the floor with a good cleaner should also help, and even wash down into the crevices to affect any flea stages in them. But, begin by ensuring you still have a flea problem there and not the customer’s imagination. Then do the intense cleaning and perhaps apply an IGR to carpeted areas and crevices where you might expect flea larvae still to be present. Strongly recommend the continued vacuuming daily for the next week.

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Pest QuestionsOctober 05, 2012

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Oct 2, 2012 – On Gossamer Wings

QUESTION:

How do young Black Widow spiders leave the nest and go out on their own?

ANSWER:

Black widows are one of many kinds of spiders that disperse by “ballooning”, whereby the new born spiderling releases some silk into a breeze and then allows the wind to carry the strand of silk, with the spider on it, to wherever the wind shall go. This was nicely depicted years ago in a cartoon movie called “Charlotte’s Web”, where at the end of the movie the new baby spiders took off on their flight and the momma spider, as I recall, passed away – a bit morose for a Disney movie but pretty accurate, although the females do not necessarily die after producing their next generation. 

Within a black widow egg sac there may be 300-400 eggs, and once these all hatch that would end up to be far too many spiders competing for food resources in one place. Since black widows are really lousy walkers they prefer to fly to new locations rather than walk across the ground to get there. Another suggested reason for this dispersal habit is that it prevents “inbreeding”, which is always a bad idea in Nature. A species maintains its strength by mixing its genetic material among unrelated members of that species, so if 300 black widows all grew up and mated with one another, perhaps over several generations, it could begin to weaken that group’s ability to evolve and survive. 
The eggs hatch within the egg sac and the first instar spiders remain there until they have molted once, at which point these second instar spiders force their way out of the egg sac and commence the ballooning. This is normal in natural settings, but for black widows that may be living within a warehouse there may not be the necessary breezes to move them away. Now they may very well be relegated to setting up their own webs in the immediate vicinity of their parent or finding a way to walk away from that point to reduce the competitiveness. Black widows, once the maternal instinct of protecting the egg sac is over with, are just as happy eating each other as they are dining on flies, and if too many other spiders are nearby they may simply be fed upon. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 04, 2012

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Oct 1, 2012 – American Roach Options

QUESTION:

How effective is Cy-Kick CS on American roaches and what other chemicals are good to use for them?

ANSWER:

Cy-Kick, which is microencapsulated cyfluthrin, should have no problem killing any American roaches that it gets onto, and microencapsulated formulations offer the advantage of attaching those microscopic capsules to the cuticle of a passing arthropod. Thus, many other insecticides would also be very effective, including many other pyrethroids as well as the newer families of chemistry. 

But, I continue to pound on the idea that we should avoid total reliance on insecticides as the solution for cockroach control. Obviously, for German roaches living within a structure there are sanitation problems that should be addressed and eliminated. The roaches cannot survive if they cannot find food, and when filth exists the roaches get comfortable and can produce lots of babies to enjoy it too. They also need to hide all day long, so the presence of many holes and gaps that allow them to get into dark voids and crevices will also encourage them to be there. These can be found and permanently filled to dramatically reduce the “harborage” opportunities. It has been demonstrated pretty nicely that without spraying a drop of insecticide you can greatly reduce the number of roaches in an account simply with these sanitation and physical steps. This also puts the population of roaches under stress, and a stressed-out cockroach is not as healthy. It becomes more susceptible to the toxic products that you do use, it reduces its breeding, it may choose to eat other roaches, and in general just does not do well. 
We can use these same concepts for American Roaches, and for these larger roaches it may be most common for them to be inside structures because they walked in on their own. In some areas of the country these larger roaches can be very common in the landscape outside, hiding under yard debris or other materials on the soil, within dense vegetation, or commonly in subterranean hideaways such as man-hole covers, sewer vents, water meter boxes in the ground, etc. Excessive moisture encourages their presence as well, so all of these unnecessary conditions may be addressed. Litter and yard debris should be removed and disposed of, leaving the soil as cleared and dry as possible. Thick groundcovers and dense shrubbery should be pruned so that the soil is exposed. Lumber piles and other materials that will remain should be stacked OFF the soil and away from the side of the structure. In general, take a close look at the exterior and see for yourself what exists there that you, if you were an American Cockroach, would be delighted to find. This includes removal of pet foods and bowls at night, cleanup of dropped fruits and vegetables, and other kinds of elimination of potential food resources. 
Outdoors you can use granular insect baits, which the large roaches seem to be very fond of. These may just be sprinkled around harborage sites, if the label allows it, or placed within insect bait stations to retain the bait and protect it from rain, irrigation, or the nosy dog. If you do find likely harborage such as nearby openings to sewers and storm drains they can be treated with a product labeled for that site. Try to create a cleared area around the immediate foundation so that you can more easily apply a “barrier” treatment that will help to intercept roaches that move to the foundation and along it as they look for an entry point. And, on that note, strongly consider “exclusion” as an important part of keeping these roaches and all other crawling pests out of the structure itself. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 04, 2012

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