Archive for April, 2012

Why Do Insects Cross Their Legs When They Die? – International Business Times


International Business Times

Why Do Insects Cross Their Legs When They Die?
International Business Times
Weighty questions such as: why do insects cross their legs when they die? It's actually still kind of a mystery! While there doesn't appear to be a definitive answer, some entomologists offered theories. "I suspect this is rigor mortis" — that …

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Pests in the NewsApril 06, 2012

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Research Finds Fire Ants Harming Prairie Chickens – ABC News

Research Finds Fire Ants Harming Prairie Chickens
ABC News
In Texas, they've also hurt the recovery of endangered Attwater Prairie Chickens by consuming insects baby chickens need for food. A study released Thursday by the US Fish and Wildlife Service showed trapping fire ants resulted in twice as many insects …

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Pests in the NewsApril 06, 2012

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Don't be fooled by scale insects

Because the insects don't move and they hide under a protective cover, they look like anything but a bug,

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Pests in the NewsApril 06, 2012

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Apr 6, 2012 – Rats In Landscape

QUESTION:

I have been asked by the city to bait rodent burrows between a sidewalk and lawns. This would be for active burrows in a specific 10-15 foot section that is about 15-20 ft from houses. They would like us to eliminate the activity and then they would fill in the area with either new topsoil or extend the sidewalk. Please help me out with any advice you have to offer.

ANSWER:

My mind likes to work in the area of long term control, and what I am seeing here is that even if you manage to kill all of the rats (I assume this is rats?) currently burrowing in this area the city’s plans for covering it over with new soil would not do anything to stop more rats from entering the area and creating new burrows. If these current rats found this area to their liking then others will too, assuming that this area is providing the food, water, and harborage resources they are looking for. In a sense, the only reason there are not more rats there at this time is because of limited resources, which in turn limit the numbers of rodents that can make a living in a specific area. 

With this in mind, are any other steps being taken to reduce the rodent problem in the general area? Has an inspection been done to determine what food resources these rats are finding and perhaps reducing those resources? Has anyone taken that close look at surrounding areas to determine where these rats are coming from originally, and perhaps expanding the fight to these areas as well? It just would seem futile to spend the time and money and use of rodent bait to kill some rats in a very small location, only to have it repopulated rather quickly. And, of course, if that happened the city might look at you as having NOT done your job properly. 
Given where the burrows are located you at least would be within the legal Label allowances to do this burrow baiting, but do carefully read the Label of the product you plan to use to be certain you use it accordingly. Any time you bait rodents outdoors, especially putting bait into burrows, you run the risk of bait ending up on the surface. Rats might just push it out. People may pose the question of secondary poisoning, particularly if dead or dying rodents are discovered exposed outside the burrows, and you would need to be able to answer these questions to their satisfaction. 
I don’t see anything wrong with the need to eliminate rats burrowing this close to homes and human activity, but hopefully you can expand the program so that any contributing conditions are corrected and the source of these rodents is addressed further out from this small area. 

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Pest QuestionsApril 06, 2012

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Apr 3, 2012 – Bugs Ask, Where’s The Beef?

QUESTION:

What can you tell me about insects and mites that infest cured meats? What are
the best control measures?
Thank you.

ANSWER:

The best control method for these kinds of pests, without a doubt, is going to be proper storage of the cured meats. We certainly are not going to spray the meat to either kill the insects or mites or to prevent arthropod pests from getting on it, so keeping them off in the first place is the fix. If the meat is being cured in a smoker then getting insects into it during the curing process is unlikely, and once cured the meat can be properly stored to keep out all pests. If the meat is being cured using salt to remove the water it may be kept in some exposed setting where the humidity and temperature are controlled, but pests like flies, beetles, and mites can enter and infest the meat. The room or chamber used for this style of curing should be cleansed of any pests to begin with, if any are present, using only pyrethrum to fog to area, as this will leave no residual to worry about. The room also needs to be kept sealed to keep out any pests. 

One of the flies that does infest exposed meat in storage is called the Skipper Fly in the family Piophilidae, also called many other names such as ham skipper, bacon fly, bacon skipper, cheese fly, etc. The small, shiny black adult flies deposit eggs on the meat and the maggots feed on the meat. The name “skipper” is given due to the maggot’s remarkable ability to somehow leap into the air when disturbed, as much as 6 inches according to some resources. The maggots also manage to survive being eaten when people eat the infested meat, and if they remain in the intestines for very long they may attempt to burrow through the intestinal walls, causing a variety of uncomfortable to serious health problems. 
Beetles that feed on cured meats include the Larder Beetle (a kind of Dermestid) and a couple of beetles in the family Cleridae called the Red-legged and Red-shouldered Ham Beetles. The adult beetles may feed on the cured meats but the larvae do the most damage, feeding either on the surface or just below it. If these larvae are found in cured meat they can be removed by trimming off the surface of the meat and then properly storing it to prevent new invasions. Eating these insects would not cause health problems other than the paranoia of knowing you just ate a bug. But……. meat is meat. 
Several kinds of mites also feed on cured meats, including grain, cheese, and mold mites, all of which look very similar. They are almost microscopic, creamy white to pinkish in color, with short legs and long hairs sticking out here and there all over their body. You would need good magnification to be able to see them clearly and to properly ID them. The female mite can deposit up to 800 eggs on the surface of the meat, and the feeding is restricted to the surface, so if a person were inclined to do so he could wipe all the mites off the meat and still eat it. Or, a light coating of vegetable oil will kill all the mites and eggs on the meat. The infestation from these tiny mites can get so massive that it looks like a coat of dust is on the surface of the meat and the dust is moving around. 
So, control is to cure the meat in a manner and a setting where the pests are not present and cannot enter, and then to store the meat properly to exclude all pests in the future. 

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Pest QuestionsApril 05, 2012

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Apr 4, 2012 – Mosquitoes At The Five-Star

QUESTION:

There is a hotel with a serious mosquito problem (biting the guests). The hotel management does not want to fog because of liability with the hotel being occupied. Instead, they are asking Pest Control Operators to eliminate this problem without fogging. Is this
possible?


ANSWER:

This can be very difficult in the tropics where you are located, and the hotel management needs to understand the limitations of what you can do. Some species of mosquitoes may fly pretty good distances from where they bred as larvae to where they feed on blood, and you are not going to be able to control all of these outlying breeding sites. You probably can make an impact on the overall number of adult mosquitoes present on this property, but not eliminate them all, and the customer needs to understand this. 

Even if you were allowed to “fog” the site it would have to be done repeatedly and often if you expected to keep the mosquitoes down to a very low level. Since your mosquito problems are not nearly as seasonal as they are in more temperate climates your problem would be around all year long. The ideal approach would be to prevent the adult mosquitoes in the first place, which means attacking the problem at its source – those sites where there is standing water that the larvae are developing in. Many of these sites could well be right on the property of the hotel, and these you can go after in some manner. A careful inspection of the property may reveal many aquatic sources, such as tree holes that can be filled or drilled to drain them, low areas with standing water that can be filled or drained, planters and other artificial containers that retain water that can be drained, removed, drilled, etc. Rain gutters are notorious for clogging with debris and filling with water, and these need to be inspected and maintained. Nearby dump areas may have containers, old tires, etc., etc., and an inspection of these kinds of areas would be useful. 
Wherever you find standing water in the form of ponds, slow-flowing streams, lakes, etc. you may be able to treat using a larvicide, such as one of the bacteria formulations (Teknar, BTI Briquets) or the IGR (Altosid). These products are considered to be quite environmentally friendly as they are specific to the arthropod larvae in the water, primarily mosquitoes that live in the water zone where the active ingredients will be. Some of them can provide 30 days or more of control of mosquito larvae, killing them before they become the biting adults. Different formulations are available depending on the size of that aquatic environment. Treating the larval habitats is going to be your best way to prevent the adult mosquitoes at this hotel site if you are able to do so. 
Another option may be barrier treatments using residual insecticides, but this also depends on whether or not the management allows you to “spray” around the area with guests nearby. Barrier treatments rely on applying the residual contact insecticide to the resting sites of the adult mosquitoes, killing them as they spend time on that surface. This may be in trees or shrubbery or under the eaves of roof lines, within out buildings, under decks, etc. This can be a very effective supplement to the larval control, but it will only last for a few weeks at best, and would need to be redone as well. 
So, I suggest you discuss these options with the customer, and make the point that if they expect a 100% reduction in the adult mosquitoes it is not realistic. Nothing is going to accomplish that. What you can do is to greatly reduce the numbers of adult mosquitoes and at least reduce the problems and complaints. 

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Pest QuestionsApril 04, 2012

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Doing their best for bees: Southern New Jersey hobbyists helping rebuild insect population

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Gary G. Schempp used to kill insects. Now, he cares for bees. Schempp was in the business for 30 years. His company was originally called Lethal Co., which later changed to All Seasons Management.

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Pests in the NewsApril 03, 2012

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Citrus-Killing Pests Prompt Fears Among Orchard Owners, Gardeners – NBC Los Angeles

Citrus-Killing Pests Prompt Fears Among Orchard Owners, Gardeners
NBC Los Angeles
Riverside County gardeners and orchard owners who are worried about the discovery of a citrus-killing pest in eastern Los Angeles County are being asked to attend an informational session hosted by the state Department of Food and Agriculture next …

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Pests in the NewsApril 03, 2012

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Phony inspector pestered Palm Beach County grocery stores, state says

Lee Ann Kennedy was no government inspector though, officials say. She was posing as one to plug the services of a Delray Beach company, a state investigation found. “This is the first time we’ve had something like this happen in my …

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Pests in the NewsApril 03, 2012

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Keep your home free of Indian meal moths

At a recent Master Gardener class in Portage County, Ohio, the conversation turned from landscape pests to inside the home. One class member described finding a little moth, flying around her living room light. It was a small tan moth …

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Pests in the NewsApril 03, 2012

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