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Historic mosquito invasion swarms across Brevard
Florida Today Aggressive biters, these insects do not transmit diseases to humans. Freshwater mosquitoes are found inland, particularly along the St. Johns River. These insects can transmit West Nile, St. Louis and Eastern equine viruses. … |
Pests in the NewsAugust 21, 2011
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Insects and other wildlife invade Texas city looking for water.
Pests in the NewsAugust 21, 2011
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QUESTION:
I have a customer who had bees invading her house. They were coming in through the outside wall area near her master bath. I told her that I could not do the construction to remove the bee hive since it was inside the wall. She had me treat it and seal the crack from the outside. Approximately three months later she is experiencing an infestation in the master bath of what looks to be cigarette beetles. I inspected the interior of the infested area and could not spot any areas of infestation. Could the cigarette beetles be going after the bee hive in the wall that never got cleaned out? I have never experienced this before. Thank you in advance for your help.
ANSWER:
Ah yes, one of my favorite issues (soap boxes?). Let’s start with the problem of what to do following eradication of honeybees that have been nesting in a structure. If the bees have been active there for any length of time it should be assumed that they have constructed a hive, and in this hive they have stored honey and pollen. Once those bees are removed the leftover food stores are still there, and two things are going to happen – the wax cells holding the honey will begin to melt and the honey will flow wherever gravity takes it, and something is going to find that pollen and feed on it. Since you are in Arizona I suspect you have had plenty of hot weather capable of melting the wax hive, so if there is honey in that hive and it has not yet made its appearance in or on the walls, it soon will.
The customer needs to be politely but strongly advised that removing an established honeybee hive is a MUST, and you should always put this recommendation in writing and have the customer sign the form indicating they were TOLD. I have witnessed lawsuits where the honey caused serious messes in a home and the pest control company was sued, with the claim that, golly, they just never told the homeowner this could happen. Even though the PMP did advise the customer of this, without that advice in writing it could not be proven, and the judge sided with the victim (the homeowner). Unfortunately, too many homeowners do not want to face the cost of opening the wall, removing the hive and thoroughly cleaning the area to remove all residues of honey, and sealing it back up and finishing it. They prefer to wait and hope for the best.
So, that’s my soap box. On the issue of the beetles, it could well be cigarette or, more likely, drugstore beetles that have discovered this food resource. These beetles will feed on just about anything that is plant-based, so pollen could be a food for them. This may be some other kinds of beetles that are feeding on other things there, such as molds that may be growing on leftover materials or dead larvae and pupae. There also are a couple of moths that feed on the wax, honey, pollen, and even on bee larvae and pupae, and these can be serious pests in active bee hives as well as nuisance pests in leftover hives inside structures. These are the Greater and Lesser wax moths. Given the coincidence that the beetles are now appearing where the bee hive probably was (is) would suggest a connection.
Ideally the work should still be done to open up the wall and remove the hive. If the bee activity was only beginning prior to your eradication then there may not be much of a hive developed, and some other problem could be creating the beetles. But if it was going on for awhile it’s likely a large hive is there that needs to be removed. It would be important to get a firm ID on these beetles so that you know exactly what you have, and then can learn more about the habits and possible reasons for these insects to be there. If it turns out NOT to be food infesting beetles you don’t want to be the reason this customer spends a lot of money removing a hive that is not there or is not causing the problems.
Pest QuestionsAugust 21, 2011
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QUESTION:
What is the most effective way to get rid of
German roaches?
ANSWER:
I really like a message from Dr. Robert Corrigan a few years ago at a national pest conference, where he said “everything changes when resources are limited”. Now, he was speaking on rodent control, but this message is absolutely as pertinent to cockroach control as it is to rodents, and it is the essence of IPM. We must recognize that these cockroaches are present in a structure for one reason – they are finding everything they need to survive, and in general those “things” should not be available to them. These are food, water, and harborage. What is the difference between an apartment with a huge roach problem and the apartment with no roaches? Probably sanitation.
So, here is how I would start a discussion on successful elimination of German roaches. We know they likely are living entirely indoors, and therefore they are finding all the food they need, plenty of moisture since this species does need moisture, and plenty of tight, enclosed hiding places to sneak back into every morning. Your management program must begin with an inspection to locate all of these resources used by the roaches, and then develop a plan for eliminating all of them. This may take quite awhile to achieve, but bit by bit you should be able to work with the customer to clean up food residues on surfaces, to store food so that roaches cannot get to it, to repair all moisture sources, and to fill in cracks, crevices, and holes leading to voids so that the roaches can no longer get into or out of them. Every step you make in this direction means that many less roaches that can survive in an account, so even if you cannot be successful in eliminating 100% of these things you at least can take care of a large chunk of it, and every success you make means less roaches.
Another great quote is that “pesticides cannot overcome bad sanitation”, and expecting insecticides to be the cure-all is fairly optimistic. You must combine the use of insecticides with these other necessary steps in your IPM program, and whether you think of it as IPM or just plain old “Sanitation” doesn’t really matter. Cleaning up the roach’s resources is IPM. It would be valuable to discuss the options with the customer as well, as you will get a wide disparity in attitudes about what they want done. Some are going to cooperate very well once you enlighten them on the contributing conditions that led to the roach invasion, others will think the whole solution should be left up to you. Thus, you do what you can and keep in your mind that you must be profitable on the job. But, if the customer’s expectation is that they will do nothing and you will eliminate every roach, then perhaps walking away from the account is the best thing for you.
So, sanitation, exclusion and repairs are important. Consider the use of a high powered vacuum initially, as this removes large numbers of roaches and egg capsules. Consider the use of a steamer in certain places, as this quickly kills exposed roaches in crevices and perhaps sanitizes things a bit too. Use bait products, and gel baits are excellent for German roaches but need to be placed as small “pea-sized” spots directly in crevices or voids. This roach prefers to feed in seclusion where it is safer, rather than out in the open on counters. Use “crack and crevice” treatments of residual insecticides, meaning you inject the product directly into those hiding places you know or suspect are harboring roaches. This not only keeps the product away from human contact, prevents it from being removed by cleaning, but also puts the roach and the active ingredient into contact for the longest period of time.
Use insect glue traps throughout the whole process, as this can tell you where the roaches may be coming from as well as monitor your success. Consider the use of a deep void injector such as the Patriot, Actisol, or B&G P.A.D.S., as these allow you to “fog” within wall voids with a residual insecticide, again bringing the active ingredient right to the hidden roaches. Do NOT rely completely on insecticides unless this is all you have left, but strongly seek the cooperation of the customer in eliminating the contributing conditions.
Pest QuestionsAugust 20, 2011
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QUESTION:
We have an unknown infestation in a creamer machine in one of the donut stores that we service. They can be seen moving but only in clusters. We have tried cleaning the machine but have been unsucessful in eradicating them. Under the microscope they appear like tiny ticks in shape but microscopic in size, yellowish in color and almost tranparent, possibly 6 legs. They seem to be in clusters that are all stuck together. Any help or suggestion would be appreciated.
ANSWER:
I nearly always cringe when attempting to make an identification based on only a description, so please do not take this as gospel. However, you are describing a habit that I have seen with mites such as mold, grain, or cheese mites. These are extremely tiny, sort of creamy tan in color, look like microscopic ticks (but with 8 legs), and they often will be found milling around in a large mass. I’m not sure why they do this, but some instinct draws them into these clusters of hundreds or thousands of them. They have fairly short legs and many very long hairs on them, so this may separate them from other possibilities such as booklice or other kinds of mites.
These mites are nearly always encouraged by moisture, and often they may be in a home where there is a moisture problem in the kitchen. They may live and breed in bags of stored food products that are in damp or poor condition, feeding on grains and other grain-based foods or on the molds that grow on them. While feeding they can impart an off-taste to the grain or the packaging, spoiling more product than they actually damage by feeding.
Control centers around moisture management, so it would be worthwhile to do a very thorough inspection of the areas around this equipment to see if there is some other source that could be feeding the mites into the creamer. Insecticide applications should kill the mites, but obviously you should not treat this food equipment directly. Pyrethroids labeled for use in this kind of food area could be applied around the equipment and onto other surfaces where you suspect the mites to be, but the equipment itself is best treated by dismantling and thoroughly cleaning it. It’s possible there has been spillage into voids and surfaces that are not easily accessed for cleaning, and it may need to involve someone who can completely open up the machine and completely and thoroughly clean out any residues. Sometimes there just is not an easy and quick fix for pest problems, so the customer is liable to grumble and balk at the inconvenience. Too often they may believe that some quick shot of some pesticide can be the cure-all.
Pest QuestionsAugust 19, 2011
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Officials shut down the eatery Tuesday. “Pest control was woefully inadequate and poor housekeeping fueled the infestation of flying insects at the Burger King near 95th and Ashland,” said Josie Cruz, deputy commissioner of Street & Sanitation’s Bureau …
Pests in the NewsAugust 18, 2011
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New Zealand urgently needs to increase pest control on conservation land Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright told the Commerce Committee this afternoon. Dr Wright was speaking to her report, Evaluating the use of 1080: Predators …
Pests in the NewsAugust 18, 2011
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It started in the upstairs bathroom and quickly spread to her son’s bedroom. The manager at Silver Oak apartments sent pest control two weeks ago. Michelle Latta said the exterminator told her the bugs would be out of the house in a few days.
Pests in the NewsAugust 18, 2011
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The infestation underscores the decrease of agriculture in Los Angeles County, as farmers are forced to deal with a bad economy, less land for farming and a growing number of pests. “They are very dangerous,” noted Greta Dunlap who manages the South …
Pests in the NewsAugust 18, 2011
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Weather permitting, the aerial spraying will happen between 4 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. The area is bordered by Interstate 75 and Interstate 95 on the north, Griffin Road on the south, Southwest 150th Avenue on the east, and Southwest 209th Avenue on the west …
Pests in the NewsAugust 18, 2011
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