Johannesburg last month launched what was described as a “military style assault” on its urban pests — some as large as cats and known for their aggressive behavior. Officials in Africa’s richest city said they were now worried the strike could leave …
Pests in the NewsAugust 16, 2011
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Crazed moths spiralled drunkenly at the lamp and the tuneless hum of other insects resonated from the lake. The air was warm and wonderfully fragrant, with wild honeysuckle vying for attention with the wild thyme and bog mint that we crushed beneath our feet.
Pests in the NewsAugust 16, 2011
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JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Will County public health officials have turned up another case of West Nile virus-infected insects. For the second time this year, mosquito samples collected in Joliet have tested positive for West Nile virus. Will County Health …
Pests in the NewsAugust 16, 2011
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Residents throughout the area report being inundated with the pesky insects. “They get on your hands. They get on your arms,” Lakewood resident Terry McHugh said. “You’re slapping here. You’re slapping there.” Rainfall has been about 15 inches above normal …
Pests in the NewsAugust 16, 2011
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Flying ants a new problem after the rain
KCBD-TV Wayne Barado of Gafford Pest Control says we're getting a surge of Harvester Ants right now because of last week's storm. Apparently, all that water aided in their reproductive cycle, which usually takes place in the spring. … |
Pests in the NewsAugust 16, 2011
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NJPMA: Celebrating 70 Years of Battling Pests
NewsReleaseWire.com (press release) "I doubt that the group of owners of New Jersey pest control firms who got together in 1941 ever imagined how the association they formed would have grown to more than 600 firms statewide whose members are also allied with the National Pest Management … |
Pests in the NewsAugust 16, 2011
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Good plant quarantine, country's first line of defence
Trinidad News PESTS?: Two snails, suspected to be African snails make their way across a leaf. They were seen yesterday in the vicinity of the Trinidad Hilton. … More must be done to prevent new pests from entering Trinidad … Bharath on farmers' claims: Our job ended with assessmentsTrinidad Guardian |
Pests in the NewsAugust 16, 2011
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QUESTION:
How do I eliminate springtails coming up from a tub drain that is connected to the main drain in a four unit complex? They are coming up in two
other units as well.
ANSWER:
I have been corrected on the ability for American cockroaches to find their way up from sewers below, to swim or crawl through the water in the P-trap, and to emerge into a structure in this manner. My standard response was always that this should not be possible for any insect to do, but several people have offered their first-hand accounts of watching American roaches make their way through water-filled P-traps without much effort. So, for these large insects apparently it is possible, but for tiny springtails I am going to stubbornly continue my stance that they should not be able to move past the water-trap and into a structure from sewers below. That is, as long as that water trap is in proper operating condition, so this is something that might be checked out if you are certain the springtails are entering from these drains.
More likely could simply be that springtails are attracted to moisture and they feed on various kinds of organic matter found in damp places. Floor and sink drains offer both of what they need, as drains typically begin to accumulate that buildup of sludge and slime that the springtails can eat, and a rental unit may be less likely to have these drains cleaned on a regular basis than a private home might. I know this is profiling, but I just can’t help it. This suggests a wonderful “add-on” service you should offer for this 4-plex, and that is the regular use of a drain cleaning material in all drains to help remove any buildup. This slime and sludge that develops is also great feeding and harborage for drain and phorid flies, so you are helping to prevent numerous problems by keeping drains clean.
Univar carries many different brand names of drain cleaners, most of which now use either bacteria or enzymes to eat away the buildup, and these active ingredients are considered non-hazardous to humans. They should be used according to directions for each of them, but usually every couple of weeks initially if possible. They come in a variety of formulations, including liquids and foam, and the foam types may be more likely to coat the entire inner surface of the drain and remain there for awhile. This is what I would suggest for resolving the springtail problem – take away their reason for entering these drains and hopefully they will disappear. Also inspect other possible moisture sources in these units though, and potted plants with constantly moist soils are another great place for springtails and fungus gnats to develop.
One issue I will mention here is the recent reinforcement by EPA of their belief that NO claims for pest control in any way, shape, or form can be made on a product’s labeling if that product is not properly registered as a pesticide. For this reason Rockwell Labs, for one, removed all mention of “fly management” from their cleaning products, and now label them as sanitation materials only. Technically a PMP should also not promote that he is doing fly or insect management when using drain cleaners if that material is not EPA registered, but hopefully it would be unlikely that regulatory folks would come down that hard on this issue. Just be aware of this and dance around it as needed.
Pest QuestionsAugust 16, 2011
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QUESTION:
We are bidding on a warehouse for pest control where they store glass jars that are used for food products. Is there a pesticide we can use in our back pack foggers as a space spray?
ANSWER:
This is a good question, and one that does not have an easy answer except that nearly all pesticide labels will tell us to either avoid contacting food surfaces or wash that surface after we are done with the application. If these glass jars are NOT going to be washed again prior to filling them with food products then it would seem that you need to carefully avoid any insecticide contact with them. It would seem most likely to me that there would be some washing stage just prior to food going into the jars, but you would have to determine this yourself, and if you are not certain then avoiding contact with the jars would be the best step.
Since fogging is going to put insecticide pretty much everywhere you may not be able to use this application method if the jars cannot be covered in some way prior to the application, and in a large warehouse I cannot see anyone going to this amount of trouble. This would be even more unlikely if the storage areas for the jars are the areas of concern with respect to the pests, and you need to treat in and around them. For example, I picked one product called Pyganic Pro, which is only pyrethrum with no synergists, figuring if any fogging product would have a lenient Label this one would. But, even it states that “All food processing surfaces and equipment should be covered or washed” before use, so if these jars were contacted you would need to have some way to ensure they were washed before use or you could be inviting trouble.
So, I hate to be the Gloomy Gus on this, but perhaps a space spray is not going to be your best option, and you might instead consider spot and localized treating with a hand sprayer instead. You do not indicate what pest(s) you are concerned with here, but if it is just general insect pests in this warehouse that does not actually contain food then perhaps spot treating would be more effective anyhow. This seems to cry out for a strong IPM program where you inspect to determine exactly what pests are present and where, how they are entering the warehouse so you can perform exclusion as well as exterior management to reduce their presence around the structure, the use of traps where appropriate, and that directed use of residual materials into and around the harborage sites. Perhaps the concern is with flies, in which case good exclusion and the use of UV light traps and other traps will help reduce the problem.
I know that time is money and perhaps this customer is not planning a large budget for the pest management. However, it should be recognized that the presence of any bugs in food in these jars later could be a serious economic hit to this warehouse if those bugs are traced back to this storage environment. Walking around with foggers can be fast and can knock down exposed adult insects, but generally it does not get to the heart of a pest problem, and spending the time to work on the contributing conditions that permitted these pests inside in the first place will go a long way to reducing the need for pesticide applications in the future.
Pest QuestionsAugust 15, 2011
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QUESTION:
I have a customer who’s seeing Scorpions inside the house. What is your recommendation for control overall, and what products would you recommend to use and where?
ANSWER:
The ability to kill any arthropod pest with insecticides relies on a couple of things. You need the bug and the active ingredient (a.i.) to be together long enough for the bug to absorb sufficient a.i. This, for example, is the reason that a crack and crevice application for cockroach control is better than treating baseboards. Since the roach spends 2/3 or more of each day resting in that crevice, it makes sense to put the insecticide in there as well. Now, rather than running quickly across a band of the a.i. and hoping it somehow is picked up by the roach, the insect is sitting on the a.i. for many hours. This also keeps the a.i. away from human exposure and reduces the chances for it to be removed by cleaning or degraded by environmental conditions.
So, back to the scorpions. These are also nocturnal creatures. They are active at night and hide all day under things that provide a darkened, enclosed harborage. I really do believe that on the first visit to a property you should take the time to evaluate that property, identify the likely harborage sites there that could support a scorpion population, and eliminate these as much as possible. Every potential hiding place you can remove permanently will make life that much harder for the scorpions. We can refer back to our triangle of needs that any living organism has, and that is food / water / harborage. The size of a population of pests is dependent on these needs, and eliminating them or reducing them also affects the bugs. You may not eradicate the scorpion problem by habitat modification alone, but in the long run it can sure help. Eliminate dead tree stumps, old logs on the soil, poorly stacked lumber, firewood piled next to the structure, piles of yard debris, etc. Coincidentally, removing all of these scorpion hot spots also reduces harborage for the insects they would prey on, so another attraction is removed.
Some kinds of scorpions – those in the genus Centruroides – are also excellent climbers, and often use trees to access structures. Unfortunately these scorpions also are the most dangerous ones, and are referred to as Bark Scorpions because of this abiltiy to climb and access structures through openings at the roof line. So, another important step in IPM is to reduce the possible routes of entry by making sure no branches of trees or shrubs are touching the structure, and a pair of pruning shears may be a good tool in the pest management toolbox. In fact, trimming back branches a few feet from the structure will help to keep out an awful lot of other critters too, so it’s just good advice.
Making these kinds helps our goal of reducing reliance on pesticides. We must do this if we hope to continue to have the chemical products available in the future. We have a great many organizations and government agencies whose goal is to eliminate pesticides altogether, and showing our professionalism by emphasizing good IPM is what we should strive for. The use of insecticides for scorpions can be highly effective, and synthetic pyrethroids should be good choices. But, these are fast moving and hardy animals, and they could have more of a built-in resistance to a lot of products. We will be most successful if we can put the a.i. directly into the places the scorpions will spend the most time. It seems to me that granular products scattered over the ground would be less likely to give us this contact time. An application of the Talstar G around the perimeter of the structure could be very helpful, as this at least would provide some protection of the structure from scorpions crawling along that area looking for an entry point, but I think it would be better for much of the property to use a liquid application and direct the treatment as much as possible into harborages.
Pest QuestionsAugust 14, 2011
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