Integrated management of american cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.) in sewer system of Bushehr City, southern Iran

The sewer system is one of the important and suitable areas for the growth and reproduction of American Cockroach Periplaneta americana (L.) in Bushehr. This project was implemented for considering the high cost of spraying and environmental pollution. In this study some commonly insecticides were tested in different doses to evaluate the effectiveness on cockroaches in sewer system. Three treatments including the combination of the insecticide with class B diatomaceous earth, solid silica gel and boric acid were evaluated in manholes of sewer system. In this regard, the Bushehr city was divided into ten clusters based on its sewer system and then, ten manholes were selected randomly from each area to survey and conduct field experiments. A random-cluster sampling method was used to generalize the results of the whole system. The mortality rate was corrected on control mortality with the Henderson-Tilton formula. Experimental insecticides spraying controlled up to 100 percent of cockroaches in the laboratory. However, using insecticide alone reduced the mortality rate in manholes over time. The results of statistical tests showed that the most effective method in destroying cockroach was the usage of the compounds of insecticide, mineral and non-chemical substances which caused mortality rate more than 90% up to 12 months. As little as 50 g/manhole of a dust consisting of 5% silica gel, 35% boric acid, 60% diatomaceous earth with a commercial insecticide such as Deltamethrin sprayer provided more than 98% control for 12 months.