Archive for March, 2012

Pest control companies concerned about Vero Beach stopping reuse water access … – TCPalm

Pest control companies concerned about Vero Beach stopping reuse water access …
TCPalm
By Ed Bierschenk VERO BEACH — Local pest control companies Wednesday morning were bugged by the city's decision to deny them access to reclaimed water from the Vero Beach wastewater treatment plant they use in their business operations.

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Pests in the NewsMarch 24, 2012

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Mar 22, 2012 – Stuffed, Mounted, and Edible

QUESTION:

My question concerns clothes moths and taxidermy. Will the moths attack a stuffed quail or elk? If so, what treatment can be used to not affect the feathers and fur?

ANSWER:

I have spoken a couple of times in the past with people who manage wildlife collections in museums, and asked how they protect the many stuffed specimens of birds and mammals they oversee. Their answer is not going to please you. Unless something has changed there really is no insecticide or other preservative that can be applied to the specimen itself without changing its appearance in some way – dusts, sprays, etc. – or that would have any lasting effect. Since the goal is to protect these mounts from feeding by clothes moths or carpet beetles there appears to be nothing you can apply to them that would have any lasting effect. 

Yes, clothes moths will happily feed on feathers, as I saw one time when case-making clothes moths were destroying the feathers on a box full of Kachina Dolls from the Southwest. This is simply the role of these decomposers in Nature. Likewise, the hair of stuffed mammals also would be susceptible to etierh of these groups of insects. 
What the museums do is to remove the specimens on display periodically and treat them in some manner that will kill any insects or their eggs that may be on the mounts. This may be heat treating, which could be done quickly, freezing, which would take much longer, or the use of a sealed chamber and a fumigant, and the two easiest fumigants today would be either PDB (paradichlorobenzene as in moth crystals) or vapona. The vapona is now the Nuvan Prostrips, which are directly labeled for “museum collections”, which I believe these stuffed mounts would fall into. At this time we are, frankly, blessed with the ability to use the Nuvan strips in our industry. We know the benefit they provide in bed bug control, but if the quail or elk can somehow be placed within a sealed surrounding of thick plastic sheeting the Nuvan strips can be placed inside for a couple of weeks to ensure the kill of any moths, their larvae or pupae, or their eggs. 
Vapona strips have long been used in insect collections without causing any change in the appearance of the insects, including fragile butterflies. It should have no effect on the feathers or fur of stuffed animals, and it also should leave no odor behind, which PDB may tend to do. Having worked in insect museums for decades I kind of like the slight odor of PDB – it makes me feel at home – but some people may not be as tolerant of it as I am. If this customer does opt for moth crystals have them use PDB rather than naphthalene, as naphthalene is not as effective at actually killing insects or their eggs. 

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Pest QuestionsMarch 24, 2012

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Gardening: Many methods to manage , less pesticide

The harmful effects of pesticides and other toxins on our environment are increasingly in the news. Because of our tropical climate we have more and diseases than most areas and therefore use more pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers.

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Pests in the NewsMarch 23, 2012

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Don’t be fooled by scale

Scale can infest and damage many of the plants we grow in our landscapes and indoors. They feed on the sap of plants, and a large enough population can weaken a plant, damage it or even kill it. Scale can be difficult to detect.

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Pests in the NewsMarch 23, 2012

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Thrips infecting trees in Morro Bay

Thrips are tiny that feed on plants and trees. Morro Bay resident Linda Nelson said, her yard is infested with them. Cal Trans cut down a half dozen infested trees next to her home, which sits about 15 yards from Highway One. But that move, she …

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Pests in the NewsMarch 23, 2012

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Can urine granules keep pests away from garden? – WPTZ The Champlain Valley

Can urine granules keep pests away from garden?
WPTZ The Champlain Valley
In reality, predator urine is only sometimes effective in keeping deer, rabbits and other pests out of the yard. If used properly, it may be an effective part of a garden pest control strategy, but it is not guaranteed to work.

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Pests in the NewsMarch 23, 2012

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Bed bugs on the rise in Detroit – Detroit Free Press


89.3 KPCC

Bed bugs on the rise in Detroit
Detroit Free Press
Orkin, the pest control folks, announced its top 50 bed bug cities for 2011 today. And Detroit is No. 3. Apparently only Cincinnati (No. 1) and Chicago (No. 2) have more of the tiny pests, or at least (according to Orkin) have ordered more bed bug …
Pest Control Company Releases Top 50 Bed Bug Infested US Cities …Albany Times Union
Bed bugs jump to Los Angeles89.3 KPCC
Two Men Set House on Fire in an Attempt to Get Rid of Bed Bugs …eYugoslavia.com

all 29 news articles »

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Pests in the NewsMarch 23, 2012

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Citrus greening bacterium may ‘ring the dinner bell’ to attract insect – PhysOrg.com

Citrus greening bacterium may 'ring the dinner bell' to attract insect
PhysOrg.com
The bacterium responsible for citrus greening causes infected trees to give off a scent that rings the dinner bell for the disease-carrying insect, University of Florida researchers say. This finding might distress growers, but it could enable …

and more »

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Pests in the NewsMarch 23, 2012

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Mar 23, 2012 – Carpenter Bees – They Dig It!

QUESTION:

I have a customer with a severe problem with carpenter bees, this year more than tripled over last years, and I need some help. I have replaced and painted trim boards.

ANSWER:

This problem speaks directly to the current issue with new restrictions on the use of Synthetic Pyrethroids, as these have been a mainstay for deterring carpenter bees that excavate the wood of structures for their living quarters. The microencapsulated formulations in particular, such as Demand CS, have worked well when applied over outside walls where carpenter bees were chewing into the wood, but with the new labeling soon to be on every pyrethroid Label this general application will no longer be permitted. Finding non-pyrethroid products with the same general labeling does not appear to be an easy thing to do, and their effectiveness on carpenter bees for this use is untested. 

Surface coatings of paint and clear finish are considered to be “deterrents” to carpenter bees, meaning they’d rather not chew through paint or varnish, but if push comes to shove they certainly can and will. If those trim boards are in just the perfect place and are the proper kind of wood then chewing through a thin layer of paint is not difficult. Since it is unlikely that you can eliminate all carpenter bees around an area we have to expect them to investigate all that wood on the structure as potential nesting sites. This leaves us with two options – treating each hole directly as it is discovered or treating the surface prior to the hole being dug to kill the adult bees that attempt it. 
The general life cycle of carpenter bees is for the adult bees to overwinter in their galleries. These adult bees are the ones that emerged in summer to early fall, were active for awhile, and then settled into their chambers for the winter. They emerge in the spring to further excavate the burrows and then supply them with eggs and a food supply for their own offspring. Existing holes you find right now could be treated with a contact dust insecticide and then firmly plugged to keep the bees inside, where they should die once they contact the insecticide. This will at least prevent these overwintering bees from continuing the problem at that location, as they were likely to do. But, Nature hates a void, and if these bees are eliminated others are going to come at some point in time, and this is going to be a regular problem to deal with. 
With the new labeling on pyrethroids I believe that we still have the option of treating generally UNDER the eaves of a structure, as this falls under the “exceptions” to the requirement for crack and crevice or spot treatment only on exterior surfaces. For trim around windows or for exterior surfaces where these bees are active the best you can do is to spot treat, and this means a “spot” no larger than 2 square feet. For a trim board 4 inches wide this isn’t so bad, as that “spot” 4 inches wide could be 6 feet long. If you do opt for doing this preventive treatment to susceptible wood it should be done when you first begin to see adult bee activity, as this would indicate males and females now out of hibernation and ready to mate and start the digging process again. 

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Pest QuestionsMarch 23, 2012

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D.C. still in top 10 for cities with bed bugs

Orkin, the company, has ranked cities based on the number of bed bug treatments they conducted in 2011. Cincinnati is at the top of the list, followed by Chicago, Detroit and Denver. D.C. is eighth on Orkin’s list, but the good news for the …

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Pests in the NewsMarch 22, 2012

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