Asian Cockroach Could Benefit Some Texas Producers

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Asian Cockroach Could Benefit Some Texas Producers A flying Asian cockroach could actually be beneficial for some Texas agricultural producers.

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(March 2, 2008)--The reviled and prolific cockroach that homeowners love to hate could finally be getting some respect.

A flying cockroach from Asia has shown a voracious appetite for pests that plague South Texas cotton farmers.

Bob Pfannenstiel is a South Texas bus expert for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

He concedes that the numbers of roaches that feast in the fields would probably repulse the general public.

But he says he thinks people might give the bugs some grudging respect if they knew what they were up to.

The Asian cockroach first appeared in Florida in 1986, and the species has expanded its range ever since.

The nocturnal insects next migrated to southern Georgia, Alabama and up the east coast.

It ventured west into Texas in 2006 and became the most common predator of bollworm eggs in the state's Rio Grande Valley region.

That's where Pfannenstiel gathered data on predation in soybean fields.

The bollworm threatens cotton, soybean, corn and tomato crops.

The cockroach is an omnivore that also eats the eggs of the beet armyworm, a pest to cotton, cabbage and a variety of other crops.

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