His Motto Might Be: Broach No Roaches

An Australian inventor nicknamed “Cockroach Dundee” has launched a campaign to sell his environmentally friendly roach trap in Japan.

Greg Jeffreys of Brisbane said the device uses no harmful chemicals but lures cockroaches with a bait tablet, then fries them to death with 6,000 volts of electricity.

“We found that controlling cockroaches with chemicals is very inefficient because cockroaches are very clever and able to become immune to poisonous chemicals very easily,” Jeffreys said.

His Cockroach Zapper won him Australia’s 1991 Inventor of the Year award. Sales at home have already topped 10,000.

To demonstrate his brainchild to the Japanese, Jeffreys persuaded two roaches to enter a trap. Moments later, there was a little buzzing sound and the insects were dead.

To show how harmless the bait is, Jeffreys popped a tablet into his mouth and insisted that it tasted good. He said the momentary electric charge that is used--weaker than the static discharged by woolen sweaters--is also safe for humans.

A spokesman for Japanese agent Misuzu Corp. said the Cockroach Zapper would initially be sold in Japan for $190 to restaurants and pet shops, where use of insecticides would be harmful.