QLD pest manager Bruce Fuller has found that using a combination of gel bait and insecticide spray has proven to be the most effective approach for targeting cockroaches.
Whilst there are seasonal ups and downs, the demand for cockroach control services remains fairly steady throughout the year. However, our current seasonal conditions of summer heat combined with high humidity
in most of the country are bringing out cockroaches, making for a very busy season for pest management professionals. In the battle against increasing cockroach populations, pest managers have proven that baits and liquid barriers, coupled with sound environmental management advice are a winning combination.
The use of a leading active ingredient as both a gel and spray is proving an excellent option for pest managers for the control of cockroaches in both commercial and domestic situations. Indoxacarb, from Syngenta is available in a gel formulation (Advion Cockroach Gel) and as a water dispersible granule (Arilon Insecticide).
The use of both products in combination is designed to provide excellent control, ensure customer satisfaction and reduce callbacks. Bruce Fuller, of B & E Fuller Pest Control in Brisbane (main picture, above) has been using the combination of Advion and Arilon with great success for both commercial and domestic jobs.
“The first time I used it was in a bakery that had a major problem with German cockroaches. I found, after one treatment, that we had them totally under control. I was so impressed with it that all my commercial applications are now Advion and Arilon.
“With commercial jobs, cockroaches are one of the biggest things. If customers go into a shop and there are cockroaches running around, people aren’t going to visit the place,” he said.
Mr Fuller said he had also used the combination in a residential job where there was a very large infestation of German cockroaches. “The amount of cockroaches that this lady had was absolutely incredible. I had no problems. The best thing that I found, especially on that site, was that there was no call back. That was the thing that impressed me.”
Mr Fuller said it was important to use the Arilon spray on skirting boards, in cracks and crevasses and underneath appliances for thorough coverage of the target area.
“If you do it properly once and you don’t have to go back, it doesn’t cost.”
Cockroaches can feed on Advion for up to an hour before they become intoxicated. This slower onset enables the cockroach to consume a lethal dose of the indoxacarb bait, and return to its harbourage, where it will die some hours later.
The returned intoxicated cockroach is used by other cockroaches as food, especially the younger nymphs who rarely leave the harbourage. This is what enables the secondary and tertiary transfer of indoxacarb to control many more cockroaches.
Studies from Purdue University (USA) have shown that when a single German cockroach feeds on Advion, as many as 38 others receive a lethal dose in the secondary transfer process. Tertiary transfer occurs when dead cockroaches that had been exposed to the original bait pass on a lethal dose to other cockroaches.
The same study also demonstrated that one cockroach exposed to Advion resulted in control of up to 54 cockroaches through a three-step chain reaction.
Arilon Insecticide, applied as a barrier spray, works in the same way to ensure transfer to other cockroaches. When used in conjunction with Advion, it has shown a 41% increase in the consumption of the gel.
For complete control, re-infestation can be managed with a barrier spray, such as Demand Insecticide. Demand contains lambda-cyhalothrin and is a broad-spectrum insecticide with fast knockdown and excellent residual properties. It is an ideal option for long term protection following the effective control of a cockroach colony with indoxacarb. A general perimeter application of Demand will provide up to 12 months control indoors and up to three months outdoors.
The aim of the Syngenta range of cockroach products is for pest managers to achieve excellent pest control resulting in satisfied customers and reduced callbacks.
