[US News] IF IT FEELS AS IF attempts to fix a cockroach infestation by spraying pesticides are futile, there may be a reason for that.Researchers warn that pesticides are failing to work on the most common type of cockroach in the world, the German cockroach.
The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that the insects are developing a resistance to the insecticides on which exterminators rely.
"This is a previously unrealized challenge in cockroaches," said Michael Scharf, an author of the study and a professor at Purdue University. "Cockroaches developing resistance to multiple classes of insecticides at once will make controlling these pests almost impossible with chemicals alone."
Over the span of six months, Scharf and his fellow researchers used pesticide combinations in Indiana buildings containing cockroaches. One treatment involved a rotation of three different insecticides. Another used a mixture of two insecticides, and the last one used insecticides to which the cockroaches seemed to not be immune.