138 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



METHODS OF CONTROL 



Cockroaches are among the most difficult to control of 

 the household pests. They are difficult to reach because 

 they are especially adapted with their flat, thin bodies for 

 hiding away in inaccessible cracks, crevices, and crannies. 

 Moreover, they are wary and shy of all baits and traps. 

 The croton-bug is the most difficult one of all to get rid of. 

 It seems to display more caution in avoiding traps and 

 baits than most of the others, and as it increases faster, it 

 becomes much more abundant. 



Fumigation. — Here, again, as with the bedbug, fumiga- 

 tion with hydrocyanic acid gas is one of the most efficient 

 methods we have of fighting roaches. It is used in the 

 same manner and in the same proportions as set forth in 

 the chapter on the bedbug. Unfortunately, the rooms in 

 which roaches are generally found are usually less tightly 

 built and have more openings than the other rooms of the 

 house. Therefore, great care must be exercised in stop- 

 ping the cracks and openings so that the gas will not dis- 

 sipate itself. The author has used this gas in fumigating 

 pantries and kitchens with fine success in most cases. In 

 one or two instances, where the kitchen was very loosely 

 built, as is often the case in warm regions, the roaches 

 escaped through the cracks before the gas, which dissi- 

 pated itself through the same openings, had time to do its 

 work. 



In small rooms that can be tightly closed and in which 

 no fires or lights are present carbon bisulfide can be used 

 to advantage. This is a clear, colorless liquid with a 

 rather unpleasant odor that evaporates rapidly when 

 exposed to the air. All animals succumb to the effects of 



