Cockroach Baits

These baiting articles provide useful information on cockroach foraging behaviour, baiting techniques, the latest bait products.

Cockroach Baits

Cockroach baits are the smart way to control cockroach infestations and indeed a vital tool to control German cockroach infestations.

Professional pest managers use cockroach gels, rather than the hard cockroach baits you find in supermarkets and hardware stores, as they are far more palatable. Pest managers can also access a range of cockroach gel baits that have different formulations, with variations in the food components and the actives used.

How do cockroach baits work?

Cockroach baits consists of an attractive food element and a slow-acting insecticide. Cockroaches eat the bait and die within a few hours. But before they do, they return to their harbourage, where their faeces and vomit (which now contains the insecticide) are readily eaten by the cockroach nymphs. This is how cockroach baits can control the whole population, without the need of the pest manager to actually find and treat all cockroaches.

Cockroach gels can have a significant impact on the cockroach population in less than 3 days, but it can take 1-2 weeks to eliminate the infestation. In situations where there are severe German cockroach infestations it may take more than one visit and a month or more to gain control. In such situations, it is often necessary to combine baits with other cockroach products.

Cockroach baits can also be used as an excellent preventative cockroach treatment, especially in units and commercial accounts to eliminate low cockroach numbers before they have the chance to establish.

Bait aversion

Overuse of cockroach gel baits had increased the incidence of insecticide resistance but has also given rise to the phenomenon of bait aversion. This is where populations of cockroaches have stopped eating baits that contain sugars.

More information on cockroaches …