Flying Cockroach
Is That A Flying Cockroach?!
The Asian, or flying cockroach is a recent import to North America, and has been garnering quite a bit of attention as of late. Since their mysterious arrival in Florida around the year 1996, he has made his way clear over to the state of Texas, and the farmers there don’t plan to chase him out of their fields any time soon. In fact, most of them would be willing to put them up in their barns if the flying cockroach was in need, and there is a very good reason for all of the gratitude. Though closely resembling the pesky and disease ridden German cockroach, often found scurrying off of countertops when the lights are flicked on, the flying cockroach is easy to mistake for a problem. With his nocturnal habits and creepy, large size, he is a dead ringer for an insect that we want to destroy. So why all of the praise?
The flying cockroach is a mad hunter, and has devoured pesky larvae, parasites, and insects which would have cost Texas farmers countless dollars and hours to dispose of. Effortlessly, the flying cockroach descends in mass numbers and completely plucks the cotton fields clean within days. As the farmers became more and more enamored with the bug, they decided to bring a few scientists and ecologists in on some experimental procedures. In one such study, one of the most feared pest insects was released into a control crop and measured closely for mating, breeding, crop damage, and overall numbers. When the flying cockroaches were released, the numbers clearly stated that the farmer’s helpers had consumed 86% of the unwanted insects within 24 hours. And the cost for this pest destruction? Zero dollars and zero cents.
The flying cockroach is nocturnal, just like most of his kin. Being an active hunter, however, he uses his wings and his privacy techniques to their utmost advantage, and is not considered to be any sort of trouble. They do not bite, they do not pinch, they do not spread disease, and they do not damage the crops that they clean. The flying cockroach is quickly becoming sacred to the cotton and produce farmers down south, and the pattern of their natural migration is growing rapidly. This “the enemy of an enemy is a friend” attitude is rather disconcerting to those who have been plagued with the home infestations of lesser and more filthy roaches, but the farmers and agriculturalists are begging for an audience to hear just cause against pesticide control of the flying cockroach. Though most experts agree that the species should not be left to overpopulate, and thus begin depleting the beneficial insects in their paths, this roach is safe for now.