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Pest companies seeing rise in scorpion problems
KPHO Phoenix Pest control companies say they're seeing a spike in scorpion problems in the Valley. "Scorpions thrive in the heat," said John Lewallen, of Arrow Exterminators. Summertime is when Valley residents see the most scorpion activity. … |
Pests in the NewsJuly 15, 2011
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Scientists aim to safeguard forestry from pests
KMS Baltics Scientists have taken to their laboratories to develop ways to safeguard forestry from the threat of pests. The Integrated Management of Forest Pests addressing Climate Change (Impact) is looking to pioneer new ways to prevent invasive species such as … Scientists aim to protect forests from pestsInternational Environmental Technology |
Pests in the NewsJuly 15, 2011
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Annual invasion of Japanese beetles under way here
Kewanee Star Courier The insects are about half an inch long, and are dark green with copper-colored wing covers. Rows of white spots run down both sides of their bodies. Japanese beetles eat between the veins of plant leaves, leaving them looking like a lace handkerchief. … |
Pests in the NewsJuly 15, 2011
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QUESTION:
I recently went to Arkansas and while there I picked up a c-tick (that’s what they call it). I seem to have brought it home and it was embedded in my side. I used tweezers to remove it but now there’s a hard lump there. Should I have that looked at? I feel fine, but it does annoy me.
ANSWER:
I tried Googling “c-tick” to see if I could find this local name for what you acquired, and it did not offer anything. So, the nearest I can suggest is that perhaps you heard them call it a “seed” tick, which is a normal name given for the first instar stage of ticks. This stage is also referred to as the Larva stage of the tick, and in this stage it is only 6-legged and extremely small, but a blood feeder nonetheless. It just becomes much harder to spot when you examine yourself for ticks.
As with the other stages of most hard ticks this larva stage finds a blood host, crawls to a place on the body that seems like a good feeding site, inserts its mouthparts, and settles in for a few days of ingesting your blood. And, like nearly all blood-sucking arthropods, it uses its saliva to numb the area before inserting its mouthparts and to keep the blood flowing. This saliva has two properties that can be a concern. The first is that it often contains a venom that can cause Tick Paralysis in some people, which is a condition that can actually cause severe weakening in the legs and arms and even more serious problems. However, this normally begins within just a few days after the tick attaches, and if you have not experienced this yet then it would seem your body did not react in this manner.
The other property of tick saliva is that it is protein in nature, and our bodies do not like “foreign” proteins in our body. Our immune systems react to reject or isolate foreign substances, and this is one reason we get that itchy bump from a mosquito bite. The area around the bite of a tick or flea or bed bug or mosquito swells up, and it all likelihood this is all you are feeling now. Since it does not appear to be causing you any pain or inflammation it sounds like just a normal reaction, but you definitely should keep a close eye on it, and if it continues to stay there over the next couple of weeks or begins to get larger then you should see a doctor right away. Once the tick is removed the flow of saliva is ended and the area should return to normal.
Another possibility is that when you removed the tick you may have left some small part of the tick behind, and if the head of the tick were still in the skin it could be much like a sliver, where the body isolates that foreign material and eventually rejects it. If the tick had been settled in and feeding for a few days then the skin may have swelled around its head, and this could be broken off if you quickly yanked the tick off with the tweezers. A recommended way to remove it is with sharp-pointed tweezers and a slow, steady pull to cause it to detach. So for now just keep an eye on the area and hopefully the lump will gradually disappear. It is a good idea to keep the tick itself in a jar with rubbing alcohol so that if your symptoms do worsen you can take the tick along with you and it can be examined as well. If it turns out to be one of the Ixodes (deer tick) species that would be a greater concern for a problem like Lyme Disease.
Pest QuestionsJuly 15, 2011
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Officials in Charlotte County say residents could be facing a record-breaking amount of mosquitoes. We rode around with Charlotte County Pest Control to see how they’re combating the problem. Its rainy season and that means the pesky blood sucking insects …
Pests in the NewsJuly 14, 2011
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The work was just published online in Springer’s journal Naturwissenschaften — The Science of Nature . Many insects seek food and shelter on plants that may in turn be eaten by mammalian herbivores, who also accidentally ingest the resident insects.
Pests in the NewsJuly 14, 2011
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For some insects the bite is worse than the bark. It’s one of the world’s most aggressive and dangerous spiders. Its bite can lead to pain, paralysis and even death. And having shut down a local supermarket, the arachnid may be wandering the streets of …
Pests in the NewsJuly 14, 2011
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Dog Inspectors Fight Rising Tide of Bed Bugs
KMOX.com The new weapons in the intensifying fight against bed bugs are bug-sniffing dogs, who can detect the pests much better than human inspectors. Bed bugs have become an increasing problem in the last few years, and the speed and accuracy with which the … |
Pests in the NewsJuly 14, 2011
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QUESTION:
How long do fipronil (Termidor) and Imidacloprid stay active in wall voids? I have read through your archives and in one response on the length of residual chemical sprays have outside on a foundation you said they may last 30 days. If this is true is quarterly spraying really a value to customers? I only do monthly spraying, as here on the coast of Washington with our extremely wet weather I consider quarterly spraying a poor choice and a financially poor value to my clients.
ANSWER:
I always apologize for dancing around a specific answer to the question of “how long does it last”, regardless of the active ingredient. The fact is that the residual length of any active ingredient varies wildly depending on where you put it, and thus the varying conditions that active ingredient will face. The chlordane we used to apply to the soil under a structure might have lasted over 30 years, with enough a.i. still there to kill termites that entered the treated soil. That same chlordane applied to a hot asphalt driveway in the sunshine in July might be destroyed within a couple of days, a victim of the UV light and heat beating down on it. Add some errant sprinklers or a rainfall and the a.i. takes a further beating.
So, according to what we were initially told when imidacloprid (Premise) first came on the market, within a few months after application for termites there was a dramatic drop in the amount of a.i. remaining in the soil. BUT, after this initial drop the residual sort of settled down and over the next 4 or 5 years it dissipated slowly until there was no longer a level that would kill termites. So, in the protected soil (cool, shaded, dry-ish) under a home the imidacloprid lasted a few years. That same active ingredient placed around a shrub or tree for aphid control gives “season long” control, and is no longer there the following year. That same a.i. applied around a foundation outside for ant control is likely gone within a few weeks, falling victim to sunshine, water, pH factors, heat, etc.
Thus, it is very difficult to put a definite number on how long something lasts at a level high enough to kill insects that crawl on the treated surface over the coming days and weeks. However, at a seminar some years ago one of our industry’s noted experts stated that he would be surprised if ANY of our current products (mostly pyrethroids then) would give more than 2 weeks of effective residual when used for occasional invader pest insects outside. I recognize that this contradicts what some manufacturers tell us about their products, but I reserve the right to be suspicious. Perhaps some of them could last up to a month, especially where temps are lower and intense sun does not beat down on the treated surface. But, expecting the a.i. to last for 3 months would be wonderfully optimistic.
However, quarterly treatments certainly provide benefit, particularly if you combine them with the appropriate other steps in an overall pest management approach, meaning IPM – exclusion, source reduction, habitat modification, sanitation, etc. All of these steps minimize the ability of an arthropod pest to move into an environment and to breed and thrive there. The insecticide application is best viewed as a way to knock down the existing population so that it cannot recover quickly, and if your non-chemical steps have made life miserable for the pests in the landscape it will take them much longer to rebound and repopulate that area. If nothing is done other than treating around the foundation with a 2 foot band of chemical you may kill encroaching bugs for the next couple of weeks, and after that the constant pressure from areas beyond that 2 feet will be able to cross the treated zone and find a way inside.
I hope this answers the question without offending too many people, but we need to accept that a total reliance on pesticides is not the best approach to pest management, and customers of yours need to understand that changing the environment so that it is not conducive to pests living there is an important part of the program. Exclusion, in particular, should be explored, as our overall goal is not to eliminate all living things on the property, but to keep unwanted bugs and other animals out of the home.
Pest QuestionsJuly 14, 2011
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QUESTION:
Wasps in a drop ceiling are coming down into an office. Are there traps available, or what would be the best approach?
ANSWER:
I normally would say that whether or not there are traps available would depend on the kind of wasp you are dealing with, but since this is indoors it is unlikely that any of the pest wasps would be interested in a trap. The only exception could be UV light traps that could draw these wasps to the light, particularly at night, to capture them on the glue pads. For outside use there are yellow jacket traps that are relatively effective for some species of the pest yellowjackets, but no really effective traps for the other paper wasps we call Umbrella Wasps. These ladies stick to natural foods, and are not interested in artificial lures or baits that we have in traps for yellowjackets.
From my experience, and this early in the year, you probably have umbrella wasps in the genus Polistes. These make smaller colonies than yellowjackets (YJ’s) and generally leave the bottom of their nest open and exposed. Very often the overwintering queens will become active in the spring and begin looking for a way out of wherever they spent the winter, and often move down into living and working areas from attics and other spaces overhead. YJ’s also end up in living areas, but this often happens later in the summer when their nest-building has created such a massive nest that they need more room, and they chew through sheetrock or ceiling panels to move downward.
At this point I suggest putting on the proper protective clothing (hood, gloves, hat, thick clothing) and taking a really good look in the attic space above this drop ceiling. You may be able to locate the nests themselves if this is an active colony, and if so you can treat it directly with one of the directed “freeze” type wasp aerosols. If you cannot locate a nest, or if it is just overwintering females, you might try placing a UV trap up in that space for a week to see if you can draw the wasps to it. It also would be prudent to make a careful inspection of the outside of this building to see where the wasps may be finding access to the attic space, and if at all possible close off that opportunity with better screening or some other exclusion material to prevent future problems.
Pest QuestionsJuly 14, 2011
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