Cockroach 'Superbugs' Becoming Near-Impossible to Kill

[left-of-center2012]

In the ongoing evolutionary arms race between hardy cockroach pests and the humans creating poisons to kill them, it looks like the roaches may be winning.

German cockroaches — small, swift, prolific insects that live only around people — are quickly evolving resistance to a range of pesticides at the same time and may soon be nearly impossible to kill with chemicals alone.

Exterminators typically rely on different classes of toxic chemicals to eliminate roaches; if the insects happen to be resistant to one class, they'll usually succumb to another. However, researchers recently discovered that German roaches (Blattella germanica) are developing cross-resistance to a range of insecticides, which means that the roaches' offspring are born already impervious to toxins that they haven't directly encountered.

And this sometimes takes place within a single generation, the scientists reported in a new study.

"Cockroaches developing resistance to multiple classes of insecticides at once will make controlling these pests almost impossible with chemicals alone." Ridding urban homes of these pests will require strategies more complex than chemical treatment alone, said study co-author Michael Scharf, a professor and chair with the Department of Entomology at Purdue University in Indiana. in the statement. A combination of approaches — such as improved sanitation, traps and even vacuums to suck them up — will likely be far more effective than relying on pesticides to do the job, he explained.

https://www.livescience.com/65825-invincible-cockroach-superbugs.html

[Marie Marie]

1. Cockroaches and bedbugs - eeecchhh.

And they will both probably outlive humans.

[left-of-center2012]

2. I think getting rid of DDT made it worse.

[Marie Marie]

3. You are probably right but I suppose that was a good thing.

Poison or pests?

[lordsummerisle]

4. Oh wonderful

he said getting ready for bed in Palmetto Bug country...

[left-of-center2012]

5. As a kid in the 1950s on a small farm ...

The only bugs I recall were flies that got into the house despite screen doors and windows.
My dad would periodically spray with "Black Flag".

He use a dispenser like this to spray the insecticide:
Vintage “Black Flag Insect Sprayer Hand Pump Glass Jar” good preowned Antique

[mn9driver]

6. I'd like to see them try to develop resistance to this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Black-Flag-Roach-Motel-2-ct-Glue-Traps-HG-11020-1/204237338

Roaches check in, but they don’t check out!

[customerserviceguy]

9. It probably will take physical means

to get rid of them. Somebody will invent a small robotic device to whap them dead, day or night.

[pscot]

7. Life hunkers down

[Thekaspervote]

8. My fav biology prof reminded us many times ... cockroaches, bacteria, viruses will all be here

Long after we are gone. They continue to evolve and we humans have stopped evolving not a good survival plan

[Boomer]

10. Evolving is not something you can just turn on

Evolution is a response to specific environmental changes that kill us in large numbers.

We're going to start evolving toward the end of this century, you can count on it. If some individuals have a trait that increase their chances of survival during times of climatic upheaval, then we will begin evolving again. If the changes are too extreme or too fast to allow for an evolutionary solution, then our species will die.

[Javaman]

11. so at some distant point in the future, there will be an advanced form of cockroach...

that does my job.

poor thing.

[qazplm135]

12. Don't worry

It will also be replaced by a robot.

[Javaman]

13. Like I said, Poor thing. :(

I feel for my far future phased out desk chained dead end job brethren.