Next-Gen Cockroach Control

High-tech hit rodent control efforts already with wireless sensor-loaded traps that report activity in real time. But we haven’t landed there with cockroaches quite yet, though researchers are hopeful.

Insects are a different animal.

“Work is being done to improve cockroach monitors, including those with remote alerts,” said Patricia Hottel, technical director at Rentokil-Terminix. “To date, no such remote monitor with the ability to identify cockroach species has been marketed.”

But notable strides over the years have evolved the way we identify, monitor and prevent cockroaches from becoming permanent tenants. “The pest management industry over the years has provided great improvements in cockroach control through baiting tools and insect growth regulators,” Hottel said, adding that elevated baiting technologies continue to enter the market.

Here are some advancing areas of cockroach control.

BIOREMEDIATION. “There are combination bioremediation products with insecticides used for floor drain treatments that can help reduce food deposits and kill insects in the drains,” Hottel said. “These can be used for cockroaches and small flies.”

DRAIN SEALS. One-way floor drain valves can prevent cockroaches from moving through plumbing systems. “There are companies specializing in door seals and other devices specifically for excluding pests,” said Hottel, emphasizing this critical Integrated Pest Management (IPM) step.

FRESH FORMULATIONS. Pesticide companies are always working on new active ingredients, Hartzer acknowledged, along with “really specific ways to target insects.”

Dini Miller, entomologist at Virginia Tech University, said we are seeing new formulations. But there’s an inherent challenge when introducing a new active ingredient for structural pest control for indoor use versus an agricultural product to control crop pests, for example.

“The active ingredient has to show no observable effects on mammals, and to get that data.” Miller said, alluding to the sky-high cost, plus EPA approval caveats. Basically, brand-new ingredients are a business venture that take time, funding and regulatory rigor.

Miller said, “We do have companies coming out with different types of bait formulations using the active ingredients that have already been through the EPA registration process.”

GENETIC CONTROLS. Already underway in mosquito research is an expanding exploration of genetic control technologies designed to suppress populations or modify them. “It’s messing with the genes, turning some ‘on’ and some ‘off,’ and we’re not there yet,” said Chelle Hartzer, B.C.E., PCQI, 360 Pest Consulting. But mastering the reproductive switchboard of problematic insects is on the forefront.

REMOTE MONITORING. Already introduced in the mice and rat control arena, technology that detects movement of these specific invaders, collects data and digitally delivers alerts brings a high level of intelligence to inform IPM programs. The trick with this tech for insects is differentiating between cockroaches and ants, for example. Hartzer said, “Companies are still looking at electronic detection and digital monitoring to alert you early [before an infestation gets out of hand], and that work is still coming when it comes to cockroaches and other pests.”