Gel baits take cockroach control to another level
Since one female German cockroach and its descendants can produce as many as 500,000 offspring in a single year, it doesn’t take long for German cockroaches to give pest control operators (PCOs) a headache. To prevent a few cockroaches from quickly multiplying into a colony, PCOs should use the most effective tools to control these impressively productive pests.
Since the 1990s, cockroach gel baits have become some of the most effective and preferred products for cockroach management. Advion® Cockroach gel bait from Syngenta contains a highly palatable formulation with a low-impact active ingredient, indoxacarb. Its formulation has the unique ability to cascade through a cockroach population at two levels – secondary and tertiary kill – to effectively overcome the reproductive potential of German cockroaches.
What is tertiary kill?
Tertiary kill (or transfer) is a type of horizontal transfer of insecticide. Horizontal transfer occurs when insecticide is passed among individuals of the same population. Research has shown a primary donor can transfer an active ingredient to primary recipients, which then become secondary donors. For example, a single adult cockroach can consume a lethal dose of Advion Cockroach to kill many nymphs (secondary mortality). These nymphs then become donors and can kill other cockroaches (tertiary kill).
What facilitates transfer among German cockroaches?
There are three main mechanisms that contribute to the effective transfer of insecticides among cockroaches:
- Coprophagy is the ingestion of feces. Cockroach nymphs readily feed on the feces or rectal region of fellow cockroaches.
- Necrophagy is the ingestion of dead cockroaches.
- Emetophagy is ingestion of excretions from dying cockroaches.
All three mechanisms contribute to the transfer of indoxacarb throughout the cockroach population. Because of the slow-acting nature of indoxacarb, dying cockroaches can become walking bait stations as they return to harborage areas and can share the product with difficult-to-reach stages, nymphs and gravid females, that often remain in the safety of cracks and crevices.
Advion Cockroach is highly attractive and palatable to multiple cockroach species, making it compatible with integrated pest management programs for both residential and commercial accounts. This makes Advion Cockroach a valuable tool to manage tough infestations and provide your customers with a cockroach-free environment.
For more information, contact your country business manager.
USE BIOCIDES SAFELY. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND PRODUCT INFORMATION BEFORE USE. ADVION® and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.
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