Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley learned that natural enemies of cockroaches, such as parasitic wasps, will decimate brownbanded cockroach populations by attacking and destroying their egg cases.
So, although biological controls cannot be used as a sole measure of cockroach control, they are an integral and effective pest control method when combined with habitat modification, least-toxic chemicals and traps.
So, although biological controls cannot be used as a sole measure of cockroach control, they are an integral and effective pest control method when combined with habitat modification, least-toxic chemicals and traps.
Comments
But do I really want parasitic wasps instead of roaches? It reminds me of all those stories told about introducing a predator to eat a bad insect and then the predator because invasive…happens all the time. Be careful.
jh
bodaweightloss
THanks jh,
I agree totally.
Biological controls sometimes are a pest control solution only in theory. A case-in-point, mongoose were imported into Hawaii to control rat populations, however rats are nocturnal and mongoose live diurnally so these creatures rarely encounter one another. And since there is no natural predator for the mongoose, they have proliferated wildly, destroying songbird populations, while the rats continue to enjoy the tropics.