Red cockroaches, also known as Blattella germanica, are widespread in Russia and pose a great threat to people - they are carriers of E. coli and salmonella, and their feces are often the cause of allergies. The worst thing is that at the moment there is no ideal chemical against them, because some individuals have natural immunity to certain substances, and at the genetic level pass it on to their offspring. Judging by the results of a study by scientists from Purdue University, the creation of a universal poison against cockroaches is simply impossible, and humanity is doomed to live side by side with them.
At the moment, the most effective method of controlling insects is the use of several means at once. Thus, if one of the chemicals does not work, there is a chance that some of the cockroaches will be exterminated by another. This approach seems ideal, but the new discovery suggests that cockroaches are able to develop protection even from those poisons that they are not familiar with - we can say that they are practically invincible.
There is no better remedy for cockroaches
This conclusion was made during an experiment, where researchers caught domestic cockroaches and found out to which substances they already have resistance, and for six months exposed them to different poisons, in order to compare the results later.
At first, the scientists used three chemicals and alternated them every month. Another group of cockroaches were exposed to two different classes of agents throughout the study. In the third case, the cockroaches were poisoned by the chemical from which they were least protected.
Six months later, the researchers found that with the alternation of chemicals, the cockroaches maintained their numbers at a certain level, and they became neither more nor less. The use of two different agents did not give any results at all - apparently, they quickly developed immunity to both substances, and continued to actively multiply. The third approach gave mixed results because in one group the number of pests decreased, while in the other it increased.
In a study of surviving cockroaches and their offspring, the researchers found that they had developed immunity even to those substances that had not previously been encountered. According to Professor Michael Scharf, the resistance of cockroaches to poison in one generation sometimes increases as much as six times. In his opinion, the destruction of cockroaches with chemicals alone is simply meaningless.
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How to get rid of cockroaches?
Ultimately, they suggested using chemicals along with all sorts of traps, as well as keeping the rooms clean and never leaving food in the open. Of course, no one canceled the good old sneakers against cockroaches.
While one half of humanity is trying to get rid of the invasion of cockroaches, the other creates robotic copies of them. They are called VelociRoACH, and recently learned how to work in a team and help each other get on their feet.
Ramis Ganiev