Gel baits have been an important tool in controlling cockroaches for the last several decades. Cockroaches eat the bait and they die, simple as that! If that’s the case, why would insect growth regulators (IGRs) be useful in a bait? After all, dead cockroaches don’t reproduce or grow, so what is the point of having an active ingredient that prevents cockroaches from laying eggs and molting?
IGRs: A PMP’s Insurance Policy
IGRs provide an insurance policy for your bait treatments. For example, if a cockroach is interrupted while feeding and gets a sublethal dose of the killing active ingredient, the cockroach will still get enough of the IGR to affect its reproduction ability. Although the cockroach did not die, they are unable to reproduce and grow the population.
Combat Population Rebound with IGRs
Having an IGR in your baits also helps to prevent the population from rebounding over time. Cockroaches can transfer the IGR to harborage areas and affect those roaches that don’t forage, like gravid females and early instar nymphs. This ensures that even those cockroaches that did not have contact with the bait are still affected by the IGR, keeping the population to down, avoiding any call backs or retreatments.
A Resistance Management Tool
When glucose aversion was identified as the cause of cockroaches avoiding baits, it was also determined that the aversion was genetic. Preventing the cockroaches from reproducing can also prevent passing any resistance to certain active ingredients or bait matrix ingredients.
IGRs do so much more than control the juvenile stages of pests., By including a bait with an IGR in your cockroach control program, you’ll see long-term control of the population, preventing any rebound you may see without an IGR. You will also help to prevent any resistance that may occur as well!
Learn More: Cockroaches can be one of the most persistent pests that a PMP can encounter. Learn more about their biology and behavior on our cockroach pest page.
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