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Experts say rising temperatures will bring bedbugs back to NJ
The Star-Ledger – NJ.com Some of the pests also were found in the Y's lobby. "As soon as we recognized we had it, and we knew it was becoming an epidemic in the Northeast, we reached out to our members and informed them of what was going on," said Keith Zebroski, … |
Pests in the NewsApril 28, 2011
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Scorpion venom — bad for bugs, good for pesticides
EurekAlert (press release) Several classes of insecticides act on sodium channels, but insects become resistant to them over time. The researchers are studying how insects develop resistance and what alternatives can be created to control resistant pests, Dong added. … |
Pests in the NewsApril 28, 2011
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QUESTION:
I have noticed in the last three months that on three occasions, I have run across people who use diatomaceous Earth in an attempt to control bed bugs. It is usually piled up on furniture, floors, beds, etc., and in one incident the dust was even thrown all over a box of boxes. I tell the customer to clean up the dust because it is a desiccant that will harm them. You can walk into the room and see the dust billowing in the air.
I cannot see any advantage to what they are doing except in their own minds.
ANSWER:
Diatomaceous Earth is actually a very effective dust for bed bugs, according to a study done by Dr. Mike Potter and others in 2009, where they compared various dust active ingredients on bed bugs. A very short summary of their results is that they found Tempo Dust to be the superior product (in their study), killing 100% of the exposed bugs within 24 hours, including resistant strains from New York and Ohio. Second was Drione Dust with 100% kill within 72 hours, and then DeltaDust and MotherEarth Dust with 100% kill taking 7 to 10 days. The dust that would NOT have any effect on bed bugs is boric acid, since this active ingredient needs to be ingested to have an effect, and bed bugs would be incapable of ingesting dusts.
The problem is that homeowners can buy anything and everything on the internet, and then use it without any knowledge of how it should be used, and this is what leads to most problems with pesticides. In your situations these people are horribly over-using the dust, and even though DE is relatively harmless to humans when used properly, once applied in this manner where they could be inhaling it there may be health concerns. It should not be inhaled, and excessive amounts on the skin could cause irritation to the skin with its drying effect. However, I would bet dollars to donuts that the websites they purchased this material from touted the dust as “nontoxic” and “safe” and “harmless”, giving the people the impression that no matter how they used it there could be no harm to them.
A dust becomes physically repellent to insects when the amount is so heavy that the bug is trying to wade through it. What this accomplishes may be nothing more than forcing the insect to find another path around the dust to get where it needs to go. An extremely light layer of dust is all that is needed, and once the bug gets a small amount of the dust onto its exoskeleton the work of the dust begins. The difference between DE and Drione is the mechanism of action, according to Mike Potter et. al. The silica aerogel dusts (Drione, Tri-Die) are both abrasive and sorptive, so they not only cut through the waxy layer of the exoskeleton, but also tend to absorb moisture from the bug, accelerating the process of dehydration of the bug. Diatomaceous Earth (MotherEarth D, Alpine D) are abrasive only, so they ultimately cause the same effect of dehydrating the bug, but take longer to do it. The pyrethrum in the Drione and Tri-Die probably help with knockdown as well.
So, nothing wrong with the use of DE for bed bug control, but you should attempt to help these customers to do it correctly, which they may not be equipped to do. Dusts should ONLY be used within closed voids where they will not get all over surfaces that people and pets then will contact. If they tell you that it’s okay, because the stuff is not toxic, be armed with some literature from universities that explains the possible health consequences of breathing too much of the desiccant materials. They should remove all of this dust, but to do so they should use a high efficiency vacuum that will remove the fine particles of the dust. Provide them with literature that explains that a single product or technique is not going to eliminate bed bugs, but that a multi-pronged approach is necessary. Prevention of bed bugs, which they could be attempting, is better done with traps and monitors designed to capture bed bugs, and if they do continue to use the dusts they should be applied into wall voids and crevices.
Pest QuestionsApril 28, 2011
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QUESTION:
I’m familiar with how much wood over a period of time subterranean termites can eat, but I can’t find anything on how much wood drywood termites can eat. Can you help please?
ANSWER:
I looked through some references on termites and frankly couldn’t find any specific numbers put to this. So, the best I can offer is some comparison between the two kinds. Subterranean termites cause more damage than just the eating, as they tend to encourage moisture in the wood and this leads to decay fungus problems as well. But, ultimately both kinds of termites are capable of eating ALL the wood available to them. As it states in my Mallis book, drywood termites will eat every bit of the wood and leave just the paint behind, and we have all seen wood fed on by subterranean termites, where all that may be left is the harder “rings” of the wood.
The difference may be in how fast this can occur, and this is a function of colony size. Some subterranean species can have colonies that max out at several hundred thousand workers, and of course the Formosan may have over a million workers in a colony. This represents a lot of little mandibles chewing off pieces of wood in a structure, so the damage from subs occurs quickly. I have heard from friends in Hawaii that a home may be so destroyed in just 6 months from Formosan termites that it is more economical to tear it down and rebuild than to try to repair all the damage. Drywood termite colonies may max out at just a few thousand workers, and typically in the western drywood a colony after 15 years of that colony’s existence there may be only 2700 workers in it. The queen just lays fewer eggs and the colony grows more slowly than the aggressive sub termites, where a queen could be laying 1000 eggs each day once the colony is well established.
Both kinds of termites will feed on virtually any species of wood, but drywoods cause us a problem because prevention is very difficult. We can keep subs out of a structure with a proper soil treatment or pretreating the wood with a borate, but drywoods may just fly into an attic and infest wood with no chemical barriers to stop them. Fortunately the range of drywoods is far less than that of subs, so much of the U.S. is without drywood termites. Looking around on the internet is always risky, because you can find a lot of opinions that may or may not be based on facts. However, one website stated that a sub colony of half a million workers will consume the equivalent of a 2 foot long 2×4 each year. Personally, that seems like a great under-estimate to me, but maybe it’s accurate. Formosans, according to this website, consume 6 times that amount, and that definitely seems like an understatement.
So, I’m limited to comparing, and I would suggest that Subterranean termites can do substantial damage within just a few years of feeding within a structure, whereas Drywood termites might be there for 20 years before serious structural weakening occurs.
Pest QuestionsApril 27, 2011
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Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler advises owners to check with their pest control provider about continuing protection under their current warranties and agreements. “Agreements vary from company to company, but some may require areas of a house or …
Pests in the NewsApril 26, 2011
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A Sacramento County pest control worker came by the vacant home on Brookhill Drive on Monday and sprayed part of an area in the garage and front of the property that’s been taken over by bees. “But then he left after about ten minutes and it seems like the …
Pests in the NewsApril 26, 2011
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PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) here has reported today that pests attack damaged an estimated 5,000 coconut trees in Southern Palawan. Clare Mendes, PCA senior agriculturist in Palawan, told newsmen that …
Pests in the NewsApril 26, 2011
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Want a safer way to get rid of unwanted pests like ants, roaches, and even bedbugs? Try something you’ve probably never even heard of — Diatomaceous Earth or DE for short. It’s actually the fossilized remains of microscopic shells. When these remains …
Pests in the NewsApril 26, 2011
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Control of stable flies and house flies
CattleNetwork.com The integrated approach to pest management will also be the best for control of house and stable flies in pasture cattle. The cow/calf producer must incorporate animal management, sanitation, manure management, and the wise use of insecticides. … |
Pests in the NewsApril 26, 2011
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Grants to help with cost of fighting bedbugs
Winnipeg Free Press RELIEF is on the way for Manitoba bedbug sufferers — the province is set to roll out a rebate program to cover part of the cost of exterminating the bloodsucking pests. Provincial bedbug coalition co-chairman Dave Funk said Manitoba will launch a … |
Pests in the NewsApril 26, 2011
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