Curses it's Cockroaches!

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This Neem treatment is worth considering..

http://www.ghorganics.com/Cockroaches.html

BB AY

Eliminates & Repels Insect Pests- Ants, Roaches, Palmettos, Fleas, Silverfish & Others

Cockroach: Order: Blattoidae Family: Blattidae

Just to say that word makes one shudder. Cockroaches multiply like crazy and

quickly infest whole buildings traveling along networks of pipes from place to

place. Cockroaches are ancient insects that hail from the Devonian period of

the Paleozoic era that took place over 400 million years ago. They have changed

very little during their evolution. Worldwide there are more than 3,600 species

with around 60 residing in the USA. Of the 60 there are specifically 5 roaches

that are most troublesome in the USA which we will list for you here. Their

preferred habitats are human occupied dwellings, animal burrows, mines, caves,

termite and ant nests. They also like decaying organic matter such as we find on

the floor of forests. A little known and disgusting fact is that cockroaches can

live minus their head for 9 days before the body finally starves to death.

American Roach: These are 1 /34 inch long with the main body being reddish brown

in color and a pale banded marking behind the head on the edge of the thorax.

They lay brown egg cases that will turn black with 14 eggs. Time span from egg

to adult is 285 to 600 days. They like to dwell in warm, moist areas and is

generally found in basements, first floor and around heat sources. These bugs

are avid fliers compared to other roaches.

German Roach: To 9/16 an inch in length with a light brown body and 2 darker

stripes on the thorax. cases contain 37 eggs going from egg to adult in 55-68

days. Females carry cases until 12 days before hatching. At that time they are

dropped just about anywhere. The German roach is the most common of the roach

pests. Likes warm moist areas like the kitchen and bathroom.

Smokybrown Roach: Big guys up to 1 1/2 inch in length with body being solid

black or dark brown. Egg cases have 20 eggs that mature into adults within

320-388 days. Egg case is dropped after 24 hours hatching in 24 to 70 days.

Smokybrown is mainly found in the southwestern states and the Gulf area. Lives

outside in debris and woodpiles. It can also get into garages.

Oriental Roach: Body length to 1 1/4 inch being dark reddish brown to black. Egg

cases hold 14. Egg to adult is 300-800 days. Cases are placed in sheltered areas

with garbage or food so it is often found in kitchen areas. Other infestation

areas include: beneath washers, refrigerators and sinks. Also in sewers,

drains, basements and crawlspaces.

Brownbanded Roach: 9/16 in length with body color being a tannish gold and

subtle light color v-shaped bands found on the wings. Egg cases contain 16

eggs. Adult stage is reached anywhere from 95-276 days. This roach will "glue"

it's egg cases in dark places like under furniture, closets and also on

ceilings!

Roaches will eat just about anything when hungry enough but their preferred diet

consists of carbohydrate based substances including pastes, glues, solid soaps

and starch based paints and foods like pasta. The following tips and methods

may be tried on any of these roaches.

Sugar and Baking Soda: This excellent cockroach treatment comes from Christopher

Moss who resides in Prescott, Arizona. He says this worked on the smaller

Oriental type of cockroaches that tend to infest cabinets. Prior to coming up

with this recipe Christopher had used the commercial type sprays that you can

find at supermarkets to no avail. Boric acid bates did not work either. Our

many thanks to Christopher for this!

Here it is. Just mix 50/50 granulated sugar and baking soda (Arm & Hammer will

do) and place it in their path. Takes about 3 or 4 days to notice a reduction

and 2 weeks later, no roaches. The cure seems relatively permanent, although

you may have to repeat some months later.

Why might this work?The roach has an acid stomach. They can't resist the sugar

and the baking soda mixes with the acid in their stomachs. Blamo! The best part

is the roach is a cannibal and they eat their dead, and the whole process

cascades through the colony.

Neem Oil: Now for another slant on roach control: the ever versatile Neem Oil.

We tested neem oil with a colleague of ours who is a professional exterminator

for the control of roaches in some infested apartment buildings. For comparison

some buildings were treated conventionally and one building we did with the neem

oil. Conventional treatments for roach control involve the use of some very

toxic chemicals as you can imagine! it was not a project we took on lightly as

we truly do not care to be exposed to these substances. So for the sake or

research we went ahead. This was not scientifically done however we want relate

our findings for you to consider. Within 3 weeks the buildings that were treated

conventionally had to be retreated in some of the apartments. The Neem oil

treated building remained cockroach free! After this initial comparison Neem

Oil was used the majority of the time for roach infestations with the same

results! Neem works as an Insect Growth Regulator on roaches disrupting all

phases of their life including sexual reproduction. Again the cannibalistic

nature of roaches also come into play with neem.

Cook 'em with steam! Roaches also infest appliances from time to time like

underneath the pilot light in ovens and the motor housing on refrigerators.

What can be done in this situation is to use a steam cleaner to drive them out

of the machine and into waiting traps.

Update: 04/18/02

 

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