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Want 100 cockroaches in your home? N.C. company will pay you as it tests a new pest control method

ThePestInformer in Raleigh is “willing to pay homeowners $2,000” for the 30-day study and is looking to release the cockroaches in five to seven homes across the U.S.
Cockroach head portrait
The Pest Informer said the experiment will last about a month.Joao Paulo Burini / Getty Images

A North Carolina pest control company is offering homeowners $2,000 for it to release about 100 cockroaches in their homes in an effort to study a treatment method.

"As technology advances, we’re always looking for the newest and greatest ways to get rid of pests (cockroaches specifically)," ThePestInformer in Raleigh said in a notice.

The company added it was looking to "test out a specific pest control technique" by releasing about 100 American cockroaches in five to seven homes. It wants "to gauge how effective this treatment is," according to the notice.

David Floyd, founder of ThePestInformer, told NBC News that the company has received more than 2,200 applications for the offer as of Monday afternoon.

The application page will remain open through July 31, at which point employees will "spend some time sorting through all the applications."

The company stipulated that people interested in applying must own the home or have written approval from the homeowner and not try any additional cockroach treatment during the study.

Floyd said the company has previously introduced cockroaches to the houses of friends and family to test new pest control methods.

He added he is hoping to try about 10 new treatments, which "are designed to be more DIY treatments with materials and ingredients that someone can purchase themselves and that are safe to family and pets."

The experiment will last about a month, and if the cockroaches are not gone by then, the company said it will "use traditional cockroach treatment options at no cost to you."

It isn't clear what method ThePestInformer is testing.

American cockroaches are one of the five most common cockroach species in the U.S., which has 55 species of the insects, according to Western Exterminator Co. There are more than 4,000 different types of cockroaches in the world.

Female American cockroaches lay eggs for 10 straight months after mating, and each month lay about 16 eggs, according to Pestech Pest Solutions.

Exterminators typically use a gel bait containing insecticides to kill cockroaches.