COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF ALL INTEGRATED PEST-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND AN INSECTICIDAL PERIMETER SPRAY FOR CONTROL OF SMOKYBROWN COCKROACHES (DICTYOPTERA, BLATTIDAE)

Two treatments were compared for effectiveness in reducing abundance o f smokybrown cockroaches, Periplaneta fuliginosa (Serville), around ho uses; an integrated pest management strategy consisting of sanitation, landscape management, and reduced insecticide usage, and a perimeter insecticide treatment applied according to label directions. Regressio n of means through time indicated that the integrated pest management treatment lasted approximate to 60 d, whereas the perimeter treatment lasted only 30 d. The greater duration of control in the integrated pe st management treatment was likely the result of decreased abundance o f cockroaches outside the spray zone. In the perimeter treatment, cock roach abundance was unaffected outside the spray zone with no reductio n in adult abundance in the spray zone except in the week following tr eatment application. The difference between the integrated pest manage ment and perimeter treatments suggests that reinvasion of cockroaches from peripheral habitats decreases the duration of cockroach suppressi on. Abundance of Ist instars and small and medium nymphs was reduced f or the duration of the experiment by both methods. Sampling procedures did not influence cockroach abundance. Reduction in abundance of cock roaches outside of houses reduced abundance of cockroaches inside hous es.