Baiting Strategies For the Control of American Cockroaches (Blattaria:Blattidae) in Urban Sewage Systems

Abstract:
Periplaneta americana is broadly accepted as the major insect pest in the sewage systems of Spain. The environmental conditions of our country, especially in eastern and southern regions, let the populations of this insect develop to enormous numbers with the risk to become a sanitary problem. Common treatments for control American Cockroaches in sewage systems involve the use of sprays over the inner walls of manholes, applying generously products with great residual properties. In recent past, treatments with organophospates like Diazinon and Chlorpyriphos provided good control under good control practices. Nowadays, under the regulation of the Biocide Directive 98/8/CE which affect all European countries, the number of active substances available is very restricted, and the most which are available, mainly pyrethroids, have low efficacy applied as sprays into sewers. New strategies must be develop, and baiting can get a preferencial place. This is based in properties like, nice effectivity with lower concentrations of active ingredient, better treatment results with less quantities of product, involve less health risks than spray applications, and moreover are more respectful with non target organisms. We were applying baiting strategies, as part of a field trial, during 3 months, in a municipal sewage system with an important american cockroach infestation, in a small town of Alicante province, southeast of Spain, becoming to get control over the 95% of population. In the present research we show satisfactory results which place baiting as a real alternative for cockroach management programs.