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£1.3m research on urban insects begins in Bristol
University of Bristol The gardens of Westbury-on-Trym will play a key part in a new £1.3 million research project led by the University of Bristol into how urbanization is affecting bees, flies and other pollinating insects across the UK. Over the next few months, … |
Pests in the NewsMay 29, 2011
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Firewood exchange held to keep invasive bugs out
WLBZ-TV YORK, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Forest Rangers set-up and outpost on Interstate 95 just a few miles into Maine to exchange firewood brought into the state illegally in an effort to prevent invasive insects from spreading to Maine's forests. … Forest rangers set up firewood exchange to keep destructive pests out of MaineThe Republic |
Pests in the NewsMay 29, 2011
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QUESTION:
We were out to a customers house in March 2011 for holes in the dry wall. Nothing was found except holes about the size of the a tip of a pen, round, and all over her dry wall. No bugs were found and little to no frass was found. She had us come out again because there are more holes. We can not figure out what type of bug (if any) could be causing this. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
ANSWER:
We can skip the suspicions that these holes might be caused by someone maliciously walking around and punching them through the walls with a screwdriver, and assume that it is as you have said – the holes are appearing on their own. If this is the case then it would be an insect emerging through them from the wood inside, and my experience with lots of holes about this size has found the culprits to be wood wasps – horntail wasps in the family Siricidae. These are large non-stinging wasps that can be up to 2 inches long, from the tip of their nose to the end of the long ovipositor on the females, and they scare the heck out of homeowners when the wasps begin flying around inside the home. But, they will not reinfest anything in the home and at that point in the life of the wasp its only desire is to get OUT.
There should be at least some bit of evidence of something having chewed its way through the soft sheetrock – white dust on the floor below perhaps. The exit holes of these wasps are perfectly round and clearly chewed open, with no hanging chads or other evidence of something having been poked through it. With this many holes in this home there must be some of the wasps still inside, so inspect the window sills and other bright spots to see if they made their way to these potential escape routes. It also is possible that this could be from beetles, such as long horned wood boring beetles, but even here you should find the adult beetles in the home somewhere. You are in Pennsylvania, so I suppose it could even be Old House Borers which would have some potential to reinfest.
More commonly though, wood is salvaged from a dead tree and milled into 2×4’s that are then used as studs in the walls. Ask if this home is less than 2 years old, and this could be another clue that it is from non-reinfesting wasps or beetles. If a tree is killed by fire or bark beetles it still may be cut down by logging companies and used for lumber, but before it gets cut down the adult wasps and beetles have found it and laid eggs in the bark. The larvae then burrow down and into the sound wood to feed, and often survive any treatments such as kiln drying. They then get built into the home and emerge a year or two later. To verify this you should try hard to find some adult insects. There is very little you can do to stop the emergence of these insects other than waiting for it to run its course. Except for the Old House Borer they will not reinfest, and once all the emerging is completed the holes can be filled with spackle or filler and painted over.
Pest QuestionsMay 29, 2011
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QUESTION:
What do you think about the use of snap traps in rodent bait stations? Once a dead rat is found by other rats in the station wouldn’t they be repelled from the bait box. The B&G equipment company offers a bait box in which the technician can install Detox blox as a food attractant while a professional snap trap is set.
ANSWER:
In my opinion the presence of a dead rat probably is not a deterrent to future rats visiting that station, although a carcass in a snap trap inside the station might make it a bit crowded for other rats to comfortably fit inside. Studies indicate that snap traps already soiled by the bits and pieces of trapped rodents are actually a bit more attractive to other rats, although this does need to be tempered with good sanitation. Even though a well-used trap might draw more rats too it you wouldn’t want to keep using a filthy trap in an account.
I believe we also have seen that rats can be very opportunistic when it comes to their brothers and sisters, and a dead rodent could well just be viewed as a new and available food resource. I’m not sure there is any feeling of comraderie amongst rats and mice, even though they may live together in groups.
Placing snap traps inside enclosed and tamper-resistant stations does accomplish some very positive things. It puts that trap within a station that rodents seem likely to investigate, and perhaps helps them get trapped before they recognize the presence of this new “thing” in their environment. The station also hides the trap from view of people who either might mess with the trap (a dog or child getting a nose or fingers in the trap), as well as hiding it from view when the rodent is captured. As much as your customers may hate the rats they still do not want to see them trapped, especially if the rat is not killed instantly.
The use of traps still should involve the frequent inspection to remove dead rodents and reset the traps if necessary. Flies will find the dead rodent within a very short time and begin the business of decomposition, and this leads to unbearable odors and more flies (and wandering maggots). You also are generally obligated by laws to check animal traps quickly to ensure you avoid causing suffering to trapped animals. Like it or not there is a whole society of people out there who hate us for killing rats.
If the nontoxic rodent bait is being used only as an attractant to lure rodents into the trap then other attractants might work even better, such as Provoke or Trapper Jack’s. These can be placed directly on the trap to encourage the rodent to investigate the trap itself, rather than the block that may be secured in a separate compartment.
Pest QuestionsMay 28, 2011
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MANY houses in the Klang Valley have become infested with termites and house owners are spending thousands of ringgit engaging pest control companies to treat their homes. Development has deprived termites of their natural habitat and these insects are …
Pests in the NewsMay 27, 2011
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The emerald ash borer has killed or damaged about 30 million ash trees in Michigan. Moving firewood also can spread other devastating forest pests such as oak wilt, beech bark disease and the gypsy moth.
Pests in the NewsMay 27, 2011
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QUESTION:
I live in Ohio and our senator is trying to get the EPA to allow Propoxur to be used for killing Bed Bugs. I can’t find that much info on this chemical and how it works. What do you think of Propoxur and will it work in the control of this
bad bug?
ANSWER:
Propoxur is the generic name of the active ingredient that was most commonly formulated as “Baygon” insecticides, and it came in aerosol, granular bait, liquid concentrate, and wettable powder forms. It was always a very good material for cockroaches and other household pests, and as far as I know also was good for bed bugs. It is a Carbamate insecticide, and since the carbamates and organophosphates were essentially removed from our urban uses right around the time the Common Bed Bug made its re-emergence in this country we really did not have much chance to take it for a test run against this pest. On a side note it is interesting and sad to see the awful mis-information running around on the internet about this active ingredient – and frankly pretty much any pesticide when you read the strings of responses in Q&A forums. For example “it can be dangerous to our health if it is misused“. Gee, could we say the same thing about aspirin and vitamins?
Dr. Michael Potter gave a talk recently through NPMA where he updated the state of the industry on bed bug control around the world, and suggested that in other countries where organophosphates and carbamates are still legally being used the pest control industry in those countries does not consider the common bed bug to be a particularly difficult pest to control. Of course, one of the theories on why the bed bug made this comeback is the loss of these families of insecticides, as they were traditionally highly effective on this insect. Now the message from our researchers and consultants is that insecticides alone are unlikely to eradicate an entrenched population of bed bugs, and that there currently seems to be no magic bullet product. That being said, MANY pest control companies are having excellent results with the many brand name products currently available, so I wouldn’t put all the blame on the active ingredients we use now, nor would I want us to start thinking that if we can just get propoxur back we can start relying totally on a chemical application. It just is not going to be that easy.
What are the chances of getting propoxur or any organophosphate or DDT back into our use as a stop-gap measure for bed bug control? In my cynical opinion probably zero. Our government decision makers are heavily influenced and controlled by public opinion, and public opinion is controlled by what they read and hear in the media, and the popular media would raise a major ruckus if they thought “banned” pesticides were going to be allowed back into use. The anti-pesticide groups would hit the road again with their campaigns of disinformation and emotional rhetoric and give their dire warnings of how we are all going to die if this terrible nerve poison is back in use. (Gee, how could this be taken as cynical?)
I think propoxur probably would be a very good insecticide to use (if they control the odor concerns with the a.i.), but maybe no better than many of the other products now available if they are used properly and with the additional non-chemical techniques we know are necessary.
Pest QuestionsMay 27, 2011
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“It’s going to be a heavy year for mosquitoes just because of all the water we’re dealing with,” said Mike Rogers, district manager for Rose Pest Solutions, which handles mosquito control in Grand Blanc Township. “Things could change by July if …
Pests in the NewsMay 26, 2011
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Is your yard infested with fire ants? Do you want to get rid of the pests but don’t want to use products harmful to your pets or kids? Well, we have five cheap, non-toxic ways to drive the yard monsters out of your lawn for good. The first won’t cost you a …
Pests in the NewsMay 26, 2011
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KITTERY, Maine — Maine forest rangers are collecting firewood from out-of-state visitors to protect the state’s woodlands from destructive insects such as the Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer. The Maine Forest Service is holding a “firewood …
Pests in the NewsMay 26, 2011
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