Seven Steps to Roach Control by Kelly Teal

1. Do not leave any dirty dishes in the kitchen sink at night. Wipe ALL sinks DRY. Roaches can live a while without food but NOT without water.

2. Pour a ¼ cup of bleach down all drains (including toilets) at night. This will make the water at the elbow of the drainpipes not drinkable for roaches.

3. Sweep and/or vacuum every night. Just one grain of sugar is a feast for roaches. We treat roaches with a combination of products; bait being one of the most important. DON’T give the bait something to compete with by leaving food granules on the floors and counter tops at night.

4. Take out the garbage EVERY night.

5. Keep all dirty laundry and trash off of the floor.

6. Sweep up and discard all dead roaches and egg sacks. Roaches breed every 30-45 days, so remove any egg sacks when you see them.

7. ALWAYS REMEMBER, CLEANLINESS IS THE KEY TO BEING PEST FREE!

Phorid Flies: By Brian Boozer

Lately at the Griffin office, we are dealing with a bad Phorid Fly infestation in a multi-unit complex.

Phorid Flies are small flies that have a humpback shape in its thorax (middle section of an insect). They can be easliy confused with fruit flies, however, the Phorid fly does not have red eyes. They are strong fliers, and can reproduce very quickly.

Above is a picture of an adult Phorid Fly.

The key to Phorid Fly control is finding the breeding site. These flies feed on decaying and moist organic material.


In this particular complex we determined the breeding site to be in the drains in the bathrooms and kitchens. Upon inspection, we found this in the bathroom.

Hair, and lots of it in the bathtub, and the drain, well lets say you wouldn't want to see that picture.


Our solution: In the three units in this building that have been noticing the fly activity, we are taping up all the drains. The kitchen sink drain, the bathroom sink drain, and the tub drains, with tape. We plan on going back and checking the sticky side of the tape for the Phorid Flies. Hopefully, we will be able to determine the drains with the problems and apply a drain cleaner to the drains with activity. Check back for the results!!!