Repellency of Milled Aromatic Eastern Red Cedar to Domiciliary Cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae and Blattidae)

Repellency and toxicity of milled aromatic eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana L., flake board were evaluated against the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.) (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae), the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.) (Dictyoptera: Blattidae), and the smokybrown cockroach, Periplaneta fuliginosa (Serville) (Dictyoptera: Blattidae). Cedar flake board was repellent to B. germanica in Ebeling choice-box tests but was not repellent to either P. americana or P. fuliginosa. The degree of repellency forB. germanica increased linearly (P < 0.05) with surface area of cedar in the choice box, but in no case were >63% of the cockroaches repelled. Cedar boards did not cause cockroach mortality in continuous-exposure tests. Cedar flake boards may be useful as a repellent in indoor cockroach integrated pest management.