Your cardboard is a roach motel
The creepy critters are drawn to cardboard for many reasons. Getting rid of the material reduces the chances of a roach invasion.
Cockroaches are never in short supply in Louisiana, and one reason they've moved into your house might be the stack of cardboard boxes you've been sitting on in the garage or spare room.
Why it matters: Roaches don't just hide in cardboard; they eat it. It's shelter and food in one, says Aaron Ashbrook, an LSU assistant professor of urban and peri-urban entomology.
What he's saying: "I readily see it in my colonies. They will eat the cardboard. They will also consume the cardboard for water. So if it is wet, they can also get both food and water from cardboard," Ashbrook told HuffPost.
The other pulls: Cardboard is absorbent, so it holds onto the pheromones roaches use to find mates. It also lets them build colonies in plain sight, for boxes get stored and forgotten. It also deadens sound, so you never hear the party growing.
The bottom line: Toss the boxes, or check them now and then, before the critters raise a small army to take your kitchen. And marvel at Ashbrook, who gets to research insects in urban settings.