Cockroach Championship – American Cockroach: (aka Joe Lewis)

These public health pests are so die-hard they seem to mock PMPs and their customers.

It’s not that I don’t understand or respect the mighty German cockroach. I’m well aware, for example, that when it comes to reproductive capacity and number of reported infestations, the German cockroach handily beats the American — but numbers alone do not make one the toughest to completely knock out.

We aren’t judging this face-off by how many cockroaches of each species pest management professionals (PMPs) can kill. This Cockroach Championship bout is about how many cockroaches of each species PMPs leave behind that can rebound. And when it comes to measuring the degree of difficulty to achieve annihilation, the American cockroach wins gloves down versus the German — based on my 55 years of experience in every state in the U.S., as well as Bermuda, the Caribbean, Australia and more than 40 countries.

I recall many German cockroach fights that required countless man hours, day and night. Vacuuming, drilling wall voids and dusting, as well as using insect growth regulators, baits and ultra-low-volume spraying. Sometimes we had to throw every punch we had. But in the end, we always won, eliminating every German cockroach.

The American cockroach, however, seems to mock PMPs and their customers with its undying persistence. Sometimes, 15 years after initiating a consistent effort to eliminate American cockroaches, they remain hidden, mercilessly taunting us.

Following are 13 Reasons Why The American Cockroach is King of the Ring:

1. Unmatched reach. When PMPs see one or two American cockroaches in a bathroom or kitchen, they must search 100 yards in all directions to find and eliminate the rest. In most cases, the American cockroach invades from the exterior versus the German, which usually is carried indoors by human activity. PMPs can establish an inspect-and-quarantine program to prevent many German cockroach infestations. American cockroaches, however, spread out into sewers, trees and mulch piles, and move in and out at will.
2. Divide and conquer. American cockroaches deposit egg capsules in small, hidden areas far from where PMPs are treating problem locations where adults and large nymphs live. Whereas, if you kill a German cockroach with an egg capsule, you’ve killed the next generation.
3. Weather warrior. Sub-zero temperatures alone usually are a KO punch to German cockroaches, but the stout Americans often survive.
4. Savvy survivor. Typically, with cockroaches, the bigger their belly, the longer they can survive without food and water. PMPs can try to starve American cockroaches for longer than a month, but still fail. The German cockroaches, on the other hand, will die of starvation and dehydration within a week or two.
5. Escape artists. If you heat or fumigate a large structure, American cockroaches often will leave via sewer lines, escaping to return again.
6. Ducking expert. The American cockroach is adept at avoiding treatment. Millions of American cockroaches thrive in sewers, landfills, under slabs of large buildings and in tree holes. American cockroaches often live where PMPs have difficulty seeing and treating them.
7. Dodging expert. Sticky traps placed indoors are not nearly as effective as early-warning monitoring systems for American cockroaches as they are for Germans. My first failed attempt at knocking out Americans using sticky traps involved a facility where large processing drums were covered with hundreds of adult American cockroaches. I placed two dozen sticky traps and after five days didn’t catch one American.
8. Highly adaptable. Genetic diversification is a survival advantage. As any animal becomes more specialized, it’s more vulnerable to elimination. German cockroaches lost their ability to fly as they evolved to live with humans. American cockroaches can live just as well with or without humans, and have retained the ability to fly. Evolution favors the American cockroach.
9. Versatile traveler. The American cockroach can fly through open windows, crawl into structures via the ground, or come up and in through sewer lines. How do you pest-proof against the American, which can float like a butterfly one moment and go underground the next?
10. Lone wolf. The German cockroach is much more dependent on humans and their cozy structures to survive than
    the American.
11. Chewing champs. If you cap a sewer pipe with a piece of Styrofoam, American cockroaches will chew their way through it. German cockroaches, however, don’t have large enough mouthparts.
12. Smart & skilled. When the temperature drops, American cockroaches burrow deeper into open landfill garbage to survive. When the sewer levels are at their highest, the Americans return indoors.
13. Money Matters. The cost — time, labor and materials — to even attempt to KO completely American cockroaches often is beyond reason. In many cases, PMPs and their clients develop so-called acceptable thresholds, which quickly become unacceptable.

You can reach Dr. Frishman, a PMP Hall of Famer, at pmp@northcoastmedia.net