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Oregon plant pest warnings: Borers, wooly beech aphids, waxy excretions and …
OregonLive.com By Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian As if the lingering cold, wet weather hadn't already messed up gardening this spring, now comes word that plant pests are active in Oregon's nurseries. Robin Rosetta, working at Oregon State University's North … |
Pests in the NewsMay 18, 2011
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Bed Bugs Plague Goodlettsville Apartment
NewsChannel5.com Ray is lucky that managers are willing to pay for pest control. Under Tennessee law, complexes are allowed to pass the bill for bed bug removal to the tenant. Bed bugs do not carry diseases, but are considered nuisance pests. If you have a problem, … Ross County Health District working on new bed bug responseChillicothe Gazette |
Pests in the NewsMay 18, 2011
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Butterflies, beetles and some of the other biggest insects in the Washington area
Washington Post (Note: This insect is commonly called praying mantis, but scientists now prefer mantid). Ichneumon (ick-NEW-mon) wasp: Brown or black with a slender body and yellow, red or white markings. Females can have a needle at the end of the abdomen that is … |
Pests in the NewsMay 18, 2011
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QUESTION:
I have questions about the degradation of pesticides in the heat. How does heat affect concentrates, such as being in the compartment of a truck bed? I have the same concerns about the final mixtures. Is it a problem if leftover mixed material heats up going from one job to another? I also am having problems with bait separation, such as Maxforce ant gel. It becomes a problem applying the bait after it has separated. Is the active ingredient being compromised? Does more stay in the gel part of the bait than the liquid that separates, or vice versa?
ANSWER:
These are some good questions, and two resources that are very important reading are the Product Label and the Product MSDS. I think we often overlook the importance of that MSDS, and just keep it on the vehicle or in the office to comply with regulations. But, the MSDS has vital Storage information on it specific to that product. I picked at random 3 products and looked at the label and msds for each one to see what guidelines or precautions they had specific to temperatures (we need to keep in mind COLD temps too).
Termidor SC – states on the Label only “protect from heat”, but on the MSDS states that it should not be stored below 0 degrees Centigrade (= 32 degrees F) or above 40 degrees C (= 104 degrees F). It does not go on to say what the consequences would be if you did store it at that too high of a temperature, but the assumption is that it will affect the integrity of the product in some way – degradation of the active ingredient or a negative effect on the concentrate solution with respect to diluents and solvents in the product.
Dragnet SFR – states to store it above 40 degrees F, and further only states to store it in a “cool, dry location”, without specifying higher temperature limits. Maxforce FC Ant Gel “recommends” a maximum storage area of 81 degrees F, and that the 30-day average temperature MUST not exceed that 81 degrees.
So this shows us that there may be no hard and fast rule for storage limits. Certainly the ideal storage will be room temperature, and temps that start getting above 100 degrees F can begin to cause problems for the material. We have been taught that heat is one of the enemies of pesticide molecules, hastening the breakdown of that molecule and reducing its life. Water is another enemy of the molecules, so leaving pesticides mixed in a tank in water is going to cause loss of the active ingredient. This may have been a greater concern with the old organophosphates, which were very susceptible to “hydrolysis”, and less so with pyrethroids and newer chemical families, but good policy would be to never leave insecticide mixed up overnight, and certainly not over a weekend. Mix what is needed and use it on the job at hand.
The slight warming of the mixed material from one job to the next would not seem to be a serious concern. If you used cool or cold water initially it just should not warm to over 100 degrees in the next half hour. However, so much better to store that spray tank in an enclosed locker if at all possible.
With respect to the bait gels, you can see the warnings on the product documents, and this probably does have to do with thinning and separation of the gel. I suspect that the active ingredient is still just fine at these lower temps (below 100 F), but that the use of the gel to apply it properly would be hard if it is too runny. To be honest, I don’t know if the liquidy part contains more of the a.i., but it would seem to me that the liquid part is exactly the same as that which is still a gel, but the gel part just has not melted yet. Over time if it stays liquid there could be some separation of the ingredients, but not right away. A good practice in the summer heat would be to store all materials like this in a small cooler in the storage compartment – perhaps a small styrofoam cooler and start with some ice in it.
Pest QuestionsMay 18, 2011
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QUESTION:
My employee did an interior and exterior treatment of a home recently, and later the owner’s wife and my man found spiders under the bathroom toilet. This was the second time, as the cleaning lady found them there last week. These are small spiders you would normally see outside.
What is going on with the spiders? Are they coming
up the drains like we have seen some roaches do?
ANSWER:
It’s always going to be a “best guess” when trying to analyze a problem without being on site. First, I would really think that spiders would not be coming up through drains, managing somehow to navigate through the water trap in the drain. Of course, I always said that about cockroaches too, and lately have been corrected by some people with first hand observations watching roaches walk directly into the water in a drain and not come back out. But, spiders would just seem even more unlikely to feel comfortable immersing themselves, so I’d be inclined to look for other entry points.
I’m going to assume from your description that the spiders found inside are not web spinners, but are small hunting or wandering spiders. Perhaps they were already inside before the treatment was done and just made their way to the toilet afterward, where they then were spotted by the homeowner. If there is a cleaning person perhaps she washed the floor there after any insecticide application and managed to remove any residual on the floor so that the spiders could wander without fear. Perhaps the spiders are finding a way in somehow behind floor moldings or nearby cabinets. It could even be that they were on the exterior walls or in the attic and found their way down from above, bypassing any treatments around the exterior foundation. I certainly would not decide that the spiders must be immune to our normal insecticides, so either they had not spent enough time on the treated surfaces or they managed to bypass it.
You might place a number of insect glue traps along walls inside this home and see what gets stuck on them and where. Spiders would normally travel along walls, and it may just be that they are coming from other places in the home, and this might lead you to entry points that can be dealt with. If they are small spiders they may be less easily seen on carpets but quickly seen on linoleum or tile flooring as in a bathroom. This time of year we also just have the seasonal explosions of bugs, so there is going to be a lot more pressure on the structure by bugs looking to get inside, so perhaps it was just the odds that a few made it past the outside treatments.
Pest QuestionsMay 17, 2011
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Stephen Kelly, who has sounded public warning bells about the pest. “Whatever it is, it’s causing substantial damage at an alarming rate and control measures are needed.” Homeowners may have to renovate heavily damaged areas of their lawn by re-seeding …
Pests in the NewsMay 16, 2011
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This year alone, the BBB has received over 375 complaints against pest control service companies. In a press release last October, the BBB recommended tips for choosing a trustworthy pest control company to banish bedbugs. This time, the BBB and the FTC …
Pests in the NewsMay 16, 2011
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In Texas pest control professionals have restrictions complying with state laws concerning removal and extermination of wildlife. Indoor and outdoor rules can vary and where you live applies such as whether you live in town or outside of town. Both can …
Pests in the NewsMay 16, 2011
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“Businesses that have never dealt with bed bugs may not know what a nightmare infestation can be,” says Donnie Shelton, President & CEO of Triangle Pest Control. “The NC Bed Bug Seminar is designed to help business owners understand the true threat that …
Pests in the NewsMay 16, 2011
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The house was being treated Sunday by an exterminator who says he gets rid of the pests by raising a home’s temperature to 135 degrees using propane heaters. » Read More
Pests in the NewsMay 16, 2011
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