While Roth studies only pinned specimens now, in his earlier years with the army, he published some of the basic studies on cockroach behavior. Before chemical sex attractants were termed pheromones, Roth discovered the effect that these female secretions have on the males of their species. The author of 163 publications has also described the life history of several species previously unknown to entomologists.

"Everybody who works with cockroaches ends up reading him," says Mary H. Ross, professor of entomology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. "He's certainly the number one authority on the cockroach on any sort of basic information." Ross, who studies the genetics of German cockroaches, says that she frequently refers to Roth's work on the life history of the species she studies.

Roth downplays his own contributions to the field, talking instead about other specialists whom he says conducted the most significant studies but have since retired or died. "That's the way to become an expert, you outlive the others," jokes the 70-year-old Roth.

Although Roth has not worked with live specimens for about 10 years, he misses his behavioral studies. "A cockroach on a pin is nothing like the living thing. It doesn't smell the same: it's not waving its antennae at you," he says.

Army Days

Much of Roth's work with live specimens took place when he worked with the U.S. Army. As an army entomologist, Roth was in an odd position. When he first started working in the lab, the group was studying the biological detoriation of materials and soon expanded their scope to basic insect behavior. "When I first arrived there, the philosophy was, 'Don't worry about the application of the finding, someone else will do that,'" Roth recalls.

But throughout his army career, Roth faced skepticism from army officials who worried more about upholding the good name of the army than about publishing works of scientific significance. In the early 1950s, when Roth was ready to publish his findings on the reproductive behavior of the cockroach, the army refused to give him clearance. After he submitted the paper to Washington officials for review, he recalls, "It came back with a note saying that it was unacceptable because of the use of the word 'sex' in the title. I took the word 'sex' out of the title and got back a note saying that 'the title is fine, you can't publish this because of the contents.

The Washington officials worried that a paper on cockroach behavior published under the auspices of the army's lab would be bad publicity for the service. Roth decided, however, that the information should be made public, and told his lab chief that he still wanted to publish the findings. The chief told him that if he did so, he should leave out any mention of the army. Thus, the study was published with the author's home address, not that of the lab where they conducted the research, as is customary in scientific papers.

Although the general, who directed the lab, had been unimpressed with the findings on paper at first, his attitudes changed slightly a few months after the censorship controversy, when he took a tour of the laboratory. During the visit, Roth demonstrated the effect of the female sex attractant, or pheromone, on the male roach.

As the general watched, Roth waved a glass rod which had been dipped in the substance, and a wave of male cockroaches followed the wafting smell. The general then said that he wanted everyone else at the meeting to see the demonstration.

Ten years later, national attention turned to the cockroach as the federal Ribicoff Committee started investigating the use of pest controls which do not have a severe effect on the environment. The investigation was prompted by the publication of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," which decried the use of dangerous pesticides. A national news program televised some of the hearings, including a demonstration of the effect of the female sex attractant, without mentioning the army lab's part in the study.

"The following morning," Roth recalls, "my boss called me and said, 'Did you notice that they didn't give the army any credit in finding the behavior?'" So, Roth sent copies of salient sections of his paper to the Ribicoff Committee, omitting the title page without the army address.

Army officials later considered using the chemical substance as a lure for cockroaches. "They plugged it as a bigger and better mousetrap, but I knew it wouldn't work," Roth says. Because one male can inseminate a number of females, the proposed cockroach trap would probably have little effect on reducing an infestation, he explains.

In addition, research has shown that a large percentage of American cockroach eggs hatch even if they are not fertilized by a male. Referring to the army's proposal to use the sex attractant as a pesticide, Roth says, "I had a vision whereby eliminating males, you could create a super race of females."

About a decade later, during the Vietnam War, army officials again considered trying to synthesize the potent female sex attractant, but this time they wanted the substance to function as a sort of natural spy detector, Roth recalls. Army officials proposed spreading the substance in areas occupied by the North Vietnamese, so anyone who crossed the boundaries between North and South Vietnam, such as a South Vietnamese spy, would be given away by a tell-tale appeal to male roaches.