# Roach the size of a small bird



## ScottAlex (Dec 31, 2020)

Have you guys had good experience with roach glue traps?

Do you have a preference for a certain type of roach glue trap?


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I used to like the Roach Motel when I lived in Hawaii. The roaches are huge & fly. They live in caves, there. The cats would take off all their legs at night. Poor roachies.
Tom Cat glue trap has a scent that only seems to catch flies. Eugenol.


----------



## ScottAlex (Dec 31, 2020)

One of the issues I see with the Roach Motel is it hides the roaches inside the trap.

I'd like to know if there is one in the trap or 5 in there. 

That's why I was thinking the glue trap could be valuable. I could see what is going on or not going on.

If there was a roach stuck on the glue trap, do the other roaches stay away from the trap?


----------



## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

ScottAlex said:


> One of the issues I see with the Roach Motel is it hides the roaches inside the trap.
> 
> I'd like to know if there is one in the trap or 5 in there.
> 
> ...


Roaches EAT their dead.

When I was a kid, living in SE, New Mexico, we had a roach problem, and at night if you needed to get up to go restroom, you would feel and hear crunch crunch, in every step.

But by morning there was no trace of a dead roach anywhere.

So I doubt that they will avoid a buddy stuck in place, might EAT it though.


ED


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

ScottAlex said:


> One of the issues I see with the Roach Motel is it hides the roaches inside the trap.
> I'd like to know if there is one in the trap or 5 in there.


Just don't close the ends so close. Leave an opening. I don't know how squeamish you are, but, you can pick it up and look in. Use a flashlight if need be. You can see their antennae moving.There can be dozens in there, including babies.

Something is really good at eating them and not getting stuck. Maybe a spider.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

de-nagorg said:


> So I doubt that they will avoid a buddy stuck in place. . .,


🤣🤣🤣


----------



## ScottAlex (Dec 31, 2020)

Update:

I went out and bought a bunch of Roach Motel traps.

I put a bunch of the traps down in the crawlspace because I saw a few roaches down there once and they might have made their way up to the house.

I also put a few Roach Motels on the first floor and second floor.

About 2 weeks have past and I have caught zero roaches.

Granted I have only seen one roach (and I killed it with my shoe).

However, either these Roach Motels are totally ineffective at attracting and capturing roaches or all my roaches have gone on vacation.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I would think they are gone. 
A stray roach can wander in the door.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

ScottAlex said:


> Update:
> 
> I went out and bought a bunch of Roach Motel traps.
> 
> ...


Hmm

The roach motels are meant to be used against the common household roaches that are no more than maybe half an inch long.

Based in your description sounds like you have palmetto bugs or similar.

Where are you? City/county and state are enough.


----------



## ScottAlex (Dec 31, 2020)

The roaches I've seen in the house are 2 inches long.

Are those roaches smart enough to avoid the Roach Motels?


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

ScottAlex said:


> The roaches I've seen in the house are 2 inches long.
> 
> Are those roaches smart enough to avoid the Roach Motels?


They’re not attracted to them.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

In my experience, they are. All types of roaches that I saw in Hawaii which included some that were 5 inches long and flew, were attracted and got stuck in the Roach Motel. Same in California, although, they aren't as big or as common..
The only glue trap I've seen that is intended to be made into a house-like structure that didn't seenm to attract roaches is the Tom Cat one. It may be the Eugenol scent.

The ones in Africa, well, that's an entirely different story.

Try not to get anxious about something that hasn't happened yet. When you see two, then you can be more concerned. In my experience, if you have roaches, they will appear in the Roach Motel, if it's been put out at night. Drawers are a good place to put them, also.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

DoomsDave said:


> The roach motels are meant to be used against the common household roaches that are no more than maybe half an inch long.


I've never heard of that or experienced it. Do you have a reference? I think they are all attracted to a dark space. . .


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Nik333 said:


> I've never heard of that or experienced it. Do you have a reference? I think they are all attracted to a dark space. . .


It's pretty obvious to look at a "Roach Motel"; they're relatively small, like the "German" cockroaches that are the bane of city dwellers. (Do they sell jumbo roach motels in Hawaii or Florida?) The pheromones they use for lures are tailored to them too. 

Roaches are a diverse bunch (though not like beetles), and their chemical turn ons vary all over. The big "wood roaches" or "palmetto bugs" in my palm garden don't seem to care at all about the stuff used to attract and kill the German roaches in a roach motel. So it's entirely possible to have big roaches that won't go to a roach motel. If you used the correct pheromone as a lure, it would likely work, I think.

I suspect bug geeks at the various bug killer companies have interesting "roadmaps" of what pheromone attracts what kind of roaches.


It's actually a fascinating topic.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

@ScottAlex where are you? City/County and state are enough. This might help ID your bug and help zero in on a remedy. Most of the big roaches are in "the south" but it's surprising how far north you can find them.

Also, what's your general situation? If you're in, or on the edge of a forest, I suspect you'll have wood roaches that come visit from time to time, but aren't interested in your house or what's in it.


----------



## ScottAlex (Dec 31, 2020)

You're on to something.

Here in Georgia where its hot the bugs get large.

I'm in a wooded area with Pine trees and Oak trees. Is it possible the roaches are in the trees and make their way to the roof?

I have some tree limbs relatively close to the roof. Maybe they are crawling down the chimney?

The Roach Motel is not attracting the large roaches (which may be the wooded roaches).


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

ScottAlex said:


> You're on to something.
> 
> Here in Georgia where its hot the bugs get large.
> 
> ...


My honest opinion is that you really don't have a problem. I have a palm garden and the palmetto bugs go into the house from time to time and the kitties have some crunchy (sadistic) fun with them, but they don't stay, and they don't lay eggs.

A bit of bug geek trivia: roaches and termites are closely related, except that termites live in colonies, and roaches don't. But both have protozoans in their guts that allow them to digest woody materials, which I'm pretty sure your "wood roaches" do, at least in part. But they have to have rotten wood, dead leaves, etc; they won't chew your house down. 

That said, the regular household roaches are a different thing, and it never hurts to be on the lookout for them. They can hitch home in grocery bags.

If you get those, we can help. God only knows I know too much about them!

Termites need to be guarded against in the Southeastern US. They can really raise hell sometimes.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

ScottAlex said:


> Granted I have only seen one roach (and I killed it with my shoe).


.


----------



## ScottAlex (Dec 31, 2020)

I think we are getting close to the problem.

Last month when I was in the crawl space I saw two large roaches up in the bare wood rafters. I was perplexed on what they were eating down there because in the crawl space I have stored:


cinder block
wire fence
lumber

Is it fair to say those must be wood roaches and are eating the wood rafters?

It appears they are making their way into the house from the crawlspace.

Is there a roach motel for wood roaches in the crawl space?


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

ScottAlex said:


> I think we are getting close to the problem.
> 
> Last month when I was in the crawl space I saw two large roaches up in the bare wood rafters. I was perplexed on what they were eating down there because in the crawl space I have stored:
> 
> ...


Don't worry about them.

As noted, wood roaches only mess with rotten wood (a problem in and of itself) and, even when they do, it's a small amount. 

If your wood is sound, you're okay.


----------



## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

DoomsDave said:


> *Don't worry about them.*
> 
> As noted, wood roaches only mess with rotten wood (a problem in and of itself) and, even when they do, it's a small amount.
> 
> If your wood is sound, you're okay.



I don't know about that Dave.

There is just something REPULSIVE, about any bug crawling on me while I'm trying to sleep.  🤬 🛌


ED


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

de-nagorg said:


> I don't know about that Dave.
> 
> There is just something REPULSIVE, about any bug crawling on me while I'm trying to sleep.  🤬 🛌
> 
> ...


Oh ho ho ho, I can think of a lot worse!


----------



## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

DoomsDave said:


> Oh ho ho ho, I can think of a lot worse!


 Well yeah, me too, but we are supposed to be GENTLEMEN. 👹👹


ED


----------

