Winter collecting

vfox

vfox

Blatta
I'm curious if anyone has ever tried to collect specimens (or breeding colonies!) over the winter months in the colder regions? I made two roach traps and because I work in the city I am going to attempt to collect some samples tomorrow night. I baited the traps with papertowel rubbed with honey and used the inverted top water bottle method. I am going to place one at a dumpster and one near a drainage area that stays moist and warmer than air temps. It's currently 15ºF outside so I'm curious if this will have any results. I don't expect to find any just wandering around out in the open in weather like this so I hope to capture ones that are on their way somewhere warm. Any suggestions to increase my odds? I'm hoping for Periplaneta americana but who knows what may drop by (if anything).

This is just an experiment but who knows what may become of it. Wish me luck. :)

 
I found my original Parcoblatta pennsylvanica as half-grown nymphs in a hollowed tree in February. I think you'd have better luck looking for the domestic species at schools, factories, etc. than outside!

 
Ralph said:
I found my original Parcoblatta pennsylvanica as half-grown nymphs in a hollowed tree in February. I think you'd have better luck looking for the domestic species at schools, factories, etc. than outside!
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That is true but asking a school or office if I can collect their cockroaches seems to leave a bad taste in their mouth. Especially when many don't believe they have any lol.

 
Hey, come over here! There's plenty of Australian and American roaches in my garage. If I tried hard enough I could get a couple dozen adults and who knows how many oothecae. They're too much of a pest species around here to want to culture. No german roaches in sight. :P Other then those, there's not much moving around at this time. Most have gone into hiding - on a semi warm day I can find a few surinam adults and a couple florida skunkies.

 
Petastic said:
Hey, come over here! There's plenty of Australian and American roaches in my garage. If I tried hard enough I could get a couple dozen adults and who knows how many oothecae. They're too much of a pest species around here to want to culture. No german roaches in sight. :P Other then those, there's not much moving around at this time. Most have gone into hiding - on a semi warm day I can find a few surinam adults and a couple florida skunkies.
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I'd be more than happy to take both the American and Australians off your hands. :P . Seriously if you ever want to send some I'll hook you up with my address. Unfortunately I can't really return the favor with much, id need to check Florida regulations again...maybe once my death heads get underway lol.

I set out my traps about an hour ago, right around dusk. I'll let you guys know tonight if I had any luck.

 
vfox said:
I'd be more than happy to take both the American and Australians off your hands. :P . Seriously if you ever want to send some I'll hook you up with my address. Unfortunately I can't really return the favor with much, id need to check Florida regulations again...maybe once my death heads get underway lol.

I set out my traps about an hour ago, right around dusk. I'll let you guys know tonight if I had any luck.
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How do you make your traps? I would like to see a picture of one if you can.

 
Btw I didn't catch anything so I am going to start an attempt to get businesses to let me bait their boiler rooms and trash bins until spring. I am going to draft a research proposal to go over with the businesses and the local biology departments at the two local colleges. I plan on researching distribution patterns of Periplaneta americana in both the inner city all the way to its suburbs. Also possibly working with the microbiology department to track pathogen contamination and survivability based on trap location. I figure 40 traps being set and checked weekly over a 3 month period of colder temperatures would be a good winter sample size. What do you guys think?

 
Zephyr said:
Go for it. :P

You'll definitely want to set all the traps indoors, though.
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Yeah I plan on setting them inside and in heated duct areas outside. The school I was at today is already heavily roach baited. In the teachers lounge I found 5 bait stations and two sticky traps. I know they have both German and American roaches in that specific building because I've been teaching there since last school year. I only saw maybe 3-4 in the classroom but I know there are quite a few wandering the building. I just need to bait in the appropriate areas. I have some of the custodial staff aware of my plan and they said they would give me a hand with setting the live traps in areas like the boiler room and receiving dock. I do need approval from the school first but I'm certain they will allow it. The educational value of my proposed study weighs heavily in an educational facility. :)

 
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