Tom Parker, I'm all too aware of the parthenogenesis of Surinam roaches--I think it's totally fascinating, but it does provide a big challenge to control. I'm fortunate that we don't have oriental roaches (yet?), just the Surinams and the two species of Periplaneta. As it happens, the space that these plant are in includes many free-flight birds, so your warning about granular insecticides is well-taken. I looked into parasitoid wasps in the past, I'm not convinced they could keep up with our population, and they would strongly limit what other control methods are available to me. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise! I'm going to compile all these responses and add them to the zoo pest control database I'm slowly compiling. It is complex work!
On Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 3:44 PM 'bugman22' via MuseumPests < pestlist@googlegroups.com> wrote: > Jef - > > Your inquiry would take many pages for responding, but having been an > entomological consultant to the Philadelphia Zoo for many years, I can give > you a bit of help. > > Surinam cockroaches are parthenogenic, i.e. no males, just females. They > live in the soil, so good luck on preventing them from moving from location > to location. > > American and and Oriental cockroaches have males and females, both of > which produce egg capsules. The American females often glue their egg > capsules to objects or just drop them randomly. The Orientals simply drop > them randomly. Wasp egg parasites of both are fairly common. Perhaps some > lab sells the parasites on line. > > 2% Baygon bait is particularly good for knocking out Americans and > Orientals (cockroaches that is). Scattering small amounts in quiet corners > is quite effective, if no birds are around. Clean up the carcasses before > introducing birds or other mammals. > > Tom Parker > > On Monday, January 29, 2024 at 03:26:00 PM EST, Jef Taylor < > jefctay...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hello everyone, > My situation is probably different from most of you, as the collection I > protect consists of live animals. I work in a zoo, and read all of your > posts with bemused interest. I'm posting because I'm wondering if anyone > here knows of a standard protocol for ensuring live plants are not hosting > structural pests before they are moved from place to place. > > My concern is that plants that are in place temporarily in a building > infested with American, Australian, and Surinam cockroaches, will serve as > habitat for these insects, and spread them to new places when those plants > are installed in a new building. I'm wondering if I need to research what > port inspectors do to prevent pest introductions with transcontinental > commerce, or if there is something available in the plant nursery industry. > > I asked our horticulture curator, and did some basic googling, but I > didn't get too much from those resources. > > Sorry if this is out of the usual parameters of this group, but I admire > your expertise and attention to detail and thought it was worth a try. > > Jef C Taylor > IPM specialist > Zoo New England > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MuseumPests" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CA%2Bqio8WxomPucr%2BbcQcdHvtxzRQtG%3DJhpu4FhGuZaY%3D5Rc7jOQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CA%2Bqio8WxomPucr%2BbcQcdHvtxzRQtG%3DJhpu4FhGuZaY%3D5Rc7jOQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MuseumPests" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/1150826226.2542085.1706561042262%40mail.yahoo.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/1150826226.2542085.1706561042262%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CA%2Bqio8V9HOJ2Y-M6A_ZYLS0YL7o4hOW9VEe3wmxNq7BLUPvenw%40mail.gmail.com.
