Cockroaches, seemingly impervious to pretty much everything thrown at them, are reportedly evolving to the point in which they’re immune to most pesticides and other chemicals intended to kill them. In new findings published in the journal of Scientific Reports, it was reported that the common German cockroach (Blattella germanica L.) have continued to develop a rapid evolutionary response to insecticides.
“We didn’t have a clue that something like that could happen this fast,” said Micahel Scharf, one of the study’s co-authors. “Cockroaches developing resistance to multiple classes of insecticides at once will make controlling these pests almost impossible with chemicals alone.”
The study was conducted across numerous apartment buildings across the United States over the course of six months. At the end of this time period, the researchers found that after using three different types of insecticides the population of cockroaches somehow remained stable, or some cases even increased. The German cockroach is found across the world, and are extremely dangerous because of the bacteria they carry.
The researchers believe that new ways of combating cockroaches will need to be employed to ensure the populations decrease. “Some of these methods are more expensive than using only insecticides, but if those insecticides aren’t going to control or eliminate a population, you’re just throwing money away,” Scharf added.
Source: Complex News
