Flying Cockroach Warms USDA's Heart

A predatory flying Asian cockroach could turn out to be the best friend of south Texas cotton farmers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In the summer of 2006, scientists at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) station in Weslaco, Texas found a soybean field that had been set upon by hoards of the flying Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai.

Much to their surprise, the scientists discovered that the roaches -- numbering as many as 100 per square meter -- were not damaging the soybean plants. Instead, the roaches were feasting on the eggs of harmful insects, including the cotton-devastating bollworm.

The first U.S. sightings of the Asian roach came from Florida in 1986, where the nocturnal "strong flyer" was viewed as a nasty household pest. Since then, it has spread steadily west and may soon see its reputation as pest replaced by its role as an environmentally-friendly, beneficial insect control agent.

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