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Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

sciencemag.org

11–20 of 154 posts

Re: Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

#11

Haven't seen a cockroach in a decade. Not so hot as they were hyped up to be during the 70's and 80's.

#suburblife

Cockroaches infest all urban areas. If you’re around a dense population of humans, you got them. If you’re in the US south, you got them. If you’re in the hood, you got lots of them. If you’re in an area with lots of transient people, you’re near them.

My dad was a fireman. I recall him describing an apartment fire where they encountered a “moving wall” in a stairwell, a 5ft square cluster of roaches trying to escape the flame. When they ran into situations like that, they removed their gear and rode back in their underwear if necessary.

Re: Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

#12

Why should humanity 'stop' everything as it sees fit with imperfect knowledge and burgeoning ego? Cockroaches have a valuable role to play in degrading the vast quantities of biological waste we put out. We don't need to stop them.

You must not live with cockroaches if you feel no need to stop them.

Inside the US, they seem to be present in large numbers in the deep south (FL through TX). Are they present in the southwest as well?

Here in DC, we get them, but generally only in homes that aren't kept clean - which can a problem in large apartment buildings, as it only takes one slovenly neighbor or poorly tended garbage area to let a colony grow and become a visible nuisance.

And what about Europe? Probably too cold in most of the continent, but present in Mediterranean regions?

Re: Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

#13

I used to live in a slaughterhouse district where the damn things would crawl out of sink, bidet and shower plugs, making every single trip to the bathroom a very anxiety ridden experience. Plus they were of the flying variety, and occasionally, of the albino variety. I personally hate them and I relish on the fact I live somewhere where they're not that prominent, but I do recognize they're as essential as any other…

They are all 'of the albino variety' at certain times. A white/albino cockroach is just one that has freshly molted. Shell will harden up and darken in a day or so.

Re: Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

#14

Why should humanity 'stop' everything as it sees fit with imperfect knowledge and burgeoning ego? Cockroaches have a valuable role to play in degrading the vast quantities of biological waste we put out. We don't need to stop them.

I raise roaches, they are amazing critters! They eat two apples, a banana, an orange, and two cups of dogfood in only five days or so. No skin, peel, stem, or seeds leftover after!

Re: Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

#16
post #13

I used to live in a slaughterhouse district where the damn things would crawl out of sink, bidet and shower plugs, making every single trip to the bathroom a very anxiety ridden experience. Plus they were of the flying variety, and occasionally, of the albino variety. I personally hate them and I relish on the fact I live somewhere where they're not that prominent, but I do recognize they're as essential as any other…

They are all 'of the albino variety' at certain times. A white/albino cockroach is just one that has freshly molted. Shell will harden up and darken in a day or so.

The more you know! I am ashamed to say I barely know anything about them despite them being persistent pests in my life.

Re: Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

#19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are all 'of the albino variety' at certain times. A white/albino cockroach is just one that has freshly molted. Shell will harden up and darken in a day or so.

The more you know! I am ashamed to say I barely know anything about them despite them being persistent pests in my life.

I would know much less if I didn't raise roaches as a food source for my reptiles. They have won me over, in part, and I consider them to be pets, though only me and my two year old appreciate them...

Re: Cockroaches becoming resistant to most chemical insecticides

#20

Haven't seen a cockroach in a decade. Not so hot as they were hyped up to be during the 70's and 80's.

#suburblife Cockroaches infest all urban areas. If you’re around a dense population of humans, you got them. If you’re in the US south, you got them. If you’re in the hood, you got lots of them. If you’re in an area with lots of transient people, you’re near them. My dad was a fireman. I recall him describing an apartment fire where they encountered a “moving wall” in a stairwell, a 5ft square cluster of roaches tryi…

> Cockroaches infest all urban areas.

Not in all urban areas - they're really not very common in the UK. There's only a couple of smaller species here and they're pretty rare so that people may have never seen one.

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