Serious cockroach infestations require serious pest control products. With Advion Cockroach Gel (also called Advion Evolution Cockroach Gel), you get the most powerful cockroach-killing bait on the market.
Advion Cockroach Gel is a heavily-tested product that relies on the active ingredient indoxacarb to deliver superior results. In this article, we’ll look at the active ingredient, the science behind it, and how to use this product most effectively!
What is Advion Cockroach Gel?
Advion Cockroach Gel is a bait formulated specifically to target cockroaches. The proprietary gel-bait formula uses the powerful insecticide indoxacarb, which only works when it is eaten by certain insects.
This makes it the perfect insecticide to control roaches. Roaches eat the gel, the indoxacarb is metabolized, and the roaches die.
Roaches are also known to eat each other, each other’s feces, and each other’s vomit (gross)! The indoxacarb can easily spread further this way and kill the entire infestation quickly.
Unlike other gel-based roach baits, Advion Evolution Cockroach Gel has a special formula that keeps it both moist and sticky. This allows you to apply the gel in hard-to-reach areas and be sure that the bait will remain available and in place for up to a month.
This is best seen by the vertical surface test – in which Advion products were proven to remain in place on a smooth vertical surface while other gel baits quickly slid down the surface. With the easy applicator, this means you can place roach bait on almost any surface in your home without worrying the bait will move or be lost.
Does Advion Cockroach Gel Work?
There is no doubt that indoxacarb is a powerful cockroach killer – showing 100% efficacy in some studies! While Advion products with indoxacarb take slightly longer to take action (because they must be eaten and metabolized), these gel baits are certain to be effective on most cockroach infestations.
In fact, studies by Purdue University showed that Advion Cockroach Gel maintained 100% control even when competing with alternative food sources!
A study from Texas A&M also showed that Advion was much more effective than MaxForce gel baits in that it required much less bait to kill more roaches. This may be due to the product’s non-repellent chemistry, or the fact that it is very appetizing to most roach species!
Either way, Advion Cockroach Gel has been shown to be very effective in both laboratory and field conditions.
How to Use and Apply Advion Cockroach Gel
Using Advion Cockroach Gel is extremely easy. Simply put a few dabs of the gel bait in areas where cockroaches have been seen – around plumbing pipes, near holes to wall voids, under sinks, in closets, in cabinets, around toilets, behind appliances, and any other areas where the cockroaches can gain access to.
The package comes with 4 tubes of the bait, 1 plunger to help push it out, and a thin metal nozzile used to apply precise, small dabs.
When applying the product, the label says to apply a small, thin bead that is less than 1/8” wide and approximately 2 inches long. For moderate infestations, apply 1-3 spots per 10 linear feet. For heavier infestations, you can apply up to 5 spots per 10 linear feet.
The most important rule to follow is to not apply the gel bait to exposed foods – such as dog food or in your fridge or pantry. If you do accidentally get some gel bait on a food-prep surface, simply wash it off with soap and water.
For best results, it is important to identify the harborage (or harborages) that the cockroaches are using to hide out during the day. Most of the applications of gel bait should be near this area, with other areas of the house receiving fewer placements.
If the cockroaches have infested an area very close to food stores, you may want to consider buying bait stations – an effective way to give the cockroaches access to the gel bait without putting the bait directly on foodstuffs or allowing it to contact anything that will be eaten by humans or pets.
One other important tip – don’t spray any pesticides or aerosol sprays near your bait. It could easily contaminate it and make it unattractive to cockroaches, so they won’t eat it.
How Long Is It Effective? When Should You Reapply?
Advion Cockroach Gel bait will last up to a month unless the entire dab is eaten by cockroaches. After applying the gel-bait to infested areas, check the baits every 12-24 hours.
If a bait has been eaten, simply apply another dab – this means the cockroaches are taking the bait from this spot and you should continue feeding them until they are eradicated. If the bait is not being eaten, you can leave the application for up to a month or until you see more cockroaches.
One nice thing about Advion Evolution Cockroach gel baits is they come with a storage tip that will seal shut the plunger when not in use. This lets it stay usable for months even after opened the first time.
For heavy and continual infestations, Advion Cockroach Gel bait should be used in conjunction with another pesticide. Cockroaches can adapt quickly to insecticides, and some populations may learn to avoid indoxacarb-laden baits. Therefore, the makers of Advion Cockroach Gel suggest creating a 3-month rotation of Advion Cockroach Gel and Optiguard Cockroach Gel.
Optiguard contains the insecticide emamectic benzoate, and a 3-month rotation matches the approximate life cycle of the German cockroach. This ensures that the roaches will not be able to develop a resistance to either bait and the infestation can be eliminated.
How Quickly Does It Work?
According to studies on indoxacarb, Advion Cockroach Gel should kill cockroaches that ingest it within 40 hours. The main action begins working as soon as a cockroach takes the bait, but it can take up to 20 days for the roaches to transfer the insecticide around the harborage and eliminate a majority of the pests.
Studies have shown that fipronil and clothianidin work much faster to eliminate a cockroach infestation.
Indoxacarb has been shown to have “tertiary” level effects. This means that if one cockroach eats the bait, it can spread it to other cockroaches it comes into contact with. These cockroaches can then spread it to another group of cockroaches – roaches who have never come into contact with the primary cockroach.
This is what makes indoxacarb so effective at controlling gregarious or social insects.
Do I need a Bait Gun to apply Advion Cockroach Gel?
Strictly speaking, no. You do not need a bait gun to apply the gel. The tubes have a simple plunger in the back, which you can push with your finger.
However, a bait gun can be incredibly useful when trying to apply the bait in hard-to-reach areas. Bait guns also help you dispense the perfect amount of bait every time, ensuring that you are not wasting any product.
If you have a heavy infestation or are trying to protect a facility that gets continually infested, a bait gun can be a solid investment. The tubes pop into place and the easy-squeeze trigger allows you to apply the perfect amount of bait every time.
What Other Pests Will Advion Cockroach Gel Control?
In general, this product is formulated specifically for cockroaches. It contains starches – which cockroaches love – in addition to the perfect amount of indoxacarb to control a cockroach harborage. This product will work on German, American, Australian, Smoky Brown, Brown, Asian, Oriental, and Brown-banded cockroaches.
That being said, indoxacarb itself was developed to control many different social insects like ants and termites. Though termites are not likely to take a gel bait, many different ant species may be inclined to eat the gel and will take it back to their nest.
However, if you are dealing with an ant infestation, there are many other products on the market that are more specific to ants that will likely be more effective.
Safety for Kids and Pets
In general, indoxacarb has extremely low toxicity to mammals. Because Advion Cockroach Gel is not an aerosol, the danger from exposure is even lower. Though some studies have revealed that agricultural workers can receive an above-average dose when applying indoxacarb to large fields multiple times, this gel formula ensures almost no contact when properly applied.
If applied appropriately, this product should not be accessible to kids or pets. Further, since mammals are able to metabolize indoxacarb without serious effects and this gel bait contains only 0.6% indoxacarb, it is almost impossible that your kids or pets will be put in danger. Simply keep them away from eating directly from the tubes and they should be fine.
Advion Evolution Cockroach Gel Bait vs Advion Cockroach Gel Bait
Advion offers two different formulations of cockroach bait that both contain the same amount of indoxacarb: “Evolution Cockroach Gel Bait” and “Cockroach Gel Bait”.
The only difference between these products is that Evolution has a slightly newer formula that is better at attracting roaches and staying in place. Evolution also costs about $4 more per box or about $1 more per tube.
Though these products are essentially the same, you may want to go with “Evolution” if you have a serious roach problem that you don’t want to mess around with.
