2C~6 ROACH BAIT COMPOSITION
Background Background of the Invention This invention relates to a roach bait composition. More particularly, this invention relates to a simple and economical roach bait composition having high effectiveness.
Roach bait compositions typically include an attractant material and a toxicant. Often these materials are formed together in a substrate to so that the toxicant does not crumble thereby presenting a health hazard. Most prior roach bait compositions kill roaches by essentially poisoning them after they consume a portion of the bait containing the toxicant.
The compositions of the present invention on the other hand offer a dual activity by utilizing a non repellent contact insecticide in combination with a bait and a suitable substrate impregnated with the toxicant and bait material. Roaches and other crawling insects are killed using two modes of action;
namely, contact activity wherein the toxicant is absorbed by the insect's body and internal activity should the insect feed upon the insecticide containing bait. This dual function concept has greater kill potential than a bait which relies solely upon the insects feeding upon the bait for its activity or solely upon contact activity.
It has there been surprisingly found that an improved roach bait composition can be formed comprising a cellulosic :
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substrate impregnated with from .5 to 10% by weight of a composition comprising from 0.1 to 5% by weight 2-isopropoxyphenyl N-methylcarbamate from 20 to 70% by weight of an at-tractant selected from the group consisting of sucrose, maltose and mixtures thereof and from 10 to 80% by weight of a solvent selected from water and mixtures of water with other non-repellent solvents.
Detailed Description of the Invention The toxicant utilized in the composition of the present invention is
2-isopropoxyphenyl N-methylcarbamate also known as propoxur and sold under the trade name Baygon. This material is a very active insecticide which kill.s primarily by residual. activity. However, Baygon al.so has superior toxicity should it be ingested by an insect. Baygon also has disadvantages in that it has some repellency to some insects but insects can be lured to a surface treated with Baygon* using an appropriate bait material.
The compositions of the present invention also include an effective amount of a sugar bait. Suitable sugars include the monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides such as corn syrup, which is a mixture of D-glucose, maltose and maltodextrins, fructose, glucose, maltose, sucrose, lactose, and mol.asses, as wel] as mixtures thereof. The preferred sugar is corn syrup. It has general.ly been found that the substrate should be impregnated with sufficient bait material so that insects will be attracted to the bait.
The baits of the present invention also utilize an absorbant substrate. Typically, any absorbant cellul.osic substrate can be utilized so long as the substrate itself is not repel.lent to insects or roaches. Suitabl.e substrates incl.ude fiber board, filter paper, cloth fiber. Although size is not important for conveniences found, * denotes trade mark ~' ~
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, ~9~)6 it is preferred the substrates utilized have a surface of less than 70 sq. centimeters.
In order to carry the toxicant and bait to the substrate, these materials are conveniently mixed with a solven-t. Typically this solvent can be water or mixtures of water and other non-repellent solvents such as acetone. Other solvents, however, can be used so long as there is no residue contained within the product which is repellent to insects.
The absorbant substrate is impregnated with from 0.5 to 10~ by weight and preferab]y from 1 to 5% by weight of the above mixture of propoxur, sugar and solvent. This mixture includes from 0.1 to 5%
and preferably from 0.25 to 3% by weight 2-isopropoxyphenyl N-methylcarbamate. At amounts below 0.1% activity is diminish'ed while above 5~ repellency becomes a factor.
The mixture also includes from 20 to 70~ and preferably 30 to 60~ by weight of sugar attractant. At amounts less than 20% there is insufficient attractant material to lure insects. At amounts of over 70% stability and manufacturing ease are comprised.
To carry the toxicant and bait to the substrate, a volatile solvent is used. The preferred solvent is a mixture of water and acetone although any non-repellent solvent can be used. The solvent should be present in an amount of from 10 to 80% and preferably 25 to 65 by weight.
The composition to the present invention will now be illus-trated by way of the following examples which are for the purpose of illustration only and are in no way to be considered as llmiting.
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Examples 1-5 The five formulations set forth in Table 1 were prepared by mixing the ingredients together.
TABLE I
A B C D E
Baygon (94~) 0.53 1.062.12 4.26 8.51 MaltoseS0.00 50.00 50.0050.00 50.00 Deion. Water 44.47 43.9442.88 40.74 37.49 Acetone5.00 5.00 5.005.00 5~00 100.00 100.00 100.0'0100.00100.00 Some 20 grams of each of the above concentrates was then impregnated into a 7 centimeter by 10 centimeter piece of paper board substrate.
The baits were then tested by exposing 25 German cockroaches each to a specific bait. The percentage of kill versus time is shown in Table 2.
~ % Kill (Hours) ;~ 1 2 3 ; A 94 98 100 . .
The procedure of Example 1 was repeated with the exception that the baits were tested against American cockroaches with 10 cockroaches being used per replicate. Results are shown in Table 3.
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% Kill (Hours) ATnerican 2 4 6 8 24 48 , i, l~, , , "
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