A research project to find ways of killing the Asian cockroach, a pest that invaded Florida two years ago, has not been ended and will continue at least through the next fiscal year, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday. Ralph A. Bram, head of research on insects affecting humans and animals for the department's Agricultural Research Service, said the agency has ``not closed out any research program aimed at controlling these pests.'' Bram said the agency's research budget next year is for $243,700 to be spent on cockroaches, the same as this year. The work is done at the agency's laboratory in Gainesville, Fla., in cooperation with the University of Florida. The agency said recent published reports, including one in the St. Petersburg Times, ``implied'' that another USDA scientist, Richard J. Brenner, said the cockroach will spread to all of the contiguous 48 states. Bram said Brenner actually said there is no way of knowing exactly how far north the cockroach will migrate. Because of winter temperatures, he said, it is doubtful the insect would survive father north than Maryland on the East Coast, Tennessee in the central area, and lower Washington state in the West.
