Archive for April, 2012

Wasp warfare: Fighting pests with parasites – Pacific Coast Business Times

Wasp warfare: Fighting pests with parasites
Pacific Coast Business Times
Scientists at UC Riverside released thousands of parasitic wasps into a quarantined area full of psyllids in December, marking one of many steps in an experiment to see whether the tiny wasp will be able to naturally bring the pest population down to a …

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 29, 2012

No Comment

Weird Weather is Making America Antsy – BusinessNewsDaily


BusinessNewsDaily

Weird Weather is Making America Antsy
BusinessNewsDaily
A national survey in the US found that 84 percent of American homeowners experienced a pest problem in the last 12 months, which could make this a good year for pest control professionals. Slightly more than half of all homeowners think it's essential …
Survey finds 84 percent of homeowners experienced a pest problem in the past …PR Newswire (press release)

all 2 news articles »

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 29, 2012

No Comment

Termites, fleas and moths, oh my! Experts tell how to keep seasonal pests away – LubbockOnline.com

Termites, fleas and moths, oh my! Experts tell how to keep seasonal pests away
LubbockOnline.com
Megha Parajulee, entomologist at AgriLife Research and Extension Center, says the immeasurable rainfall has taken an effect on insect patterns because there were no crops for them to take shelter. “Larger insects build a large population during a …

and more »

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 29, 2012

No Comment

Johnnie St. Vrain: Insect clouds are male mosquitoes – Longmont Daily Times-Call

Johnnie St. Vrain: Insect clouds are male mosquitoes
Longmont Daily Times-Call
By Johnnie St. Vrain Good morning, Johnnie: While riding my bicycle on the city's bike paths, I frequently travel through literal clouds of small flying insects. I have, at times, inadvertently swallowed one. Can you tell me what these bugs are and …

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 29, 2012

No Comment

Winnipeg is bracing for an early mosquito invasion – National Post


National Post

Winnipeg is bracing for an early mosquito invasion
National Post
The insects are slated to buzz into Winnipeg sooner than usual, so the city's insect control branch this week launched its larviciding activities, working to kill them before they reach the flying adult, biting stage. The National Post's Kathryn Blaze …

and more »

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 29, 2012

No Comment

Apr 27, 2012 – New Door, Old Problem?

QUESTION:

I had an inspection of an apartment that had new wood doors installed. The client has complained that the doors have some type of wood termite, and we detected that the doors have holes the size of a pen tip. The manufacturer indicated that the inside of the doors might have an infestation of a wood boring insect. If you can send me information as to the type of termite we might be dealing with and the the treatment to solve the situation.

ANSWER:

Since this is a new door, although you don’t indicate how old the door might be, it is very possible that it was built with infested wood. This is not an uncommon problem for lumber to become infested while in storage, although it IS unusual for a wood products manufacturer to actually suggest that they may be at fault. With holes the size of the tip of a pen it could be True Powderpost Beetles if this is a hardwood door, such as oak, or deathwatch / furniture beetles if it is pine. Either of these beetles has the potential to continue to infest the wood with future generations of offspring. I would discount the idea that it is termites, although you do have drywood termites in your area, because the evidence of these termites is not the holes in the wood so much as the appearance of their fecal pellets that are pushed out of their galleries and which fall to the surfaces below. 

It would be important to determine whether or not this is currently an active infestation, and one reason is that successfully treating the doors could be difficult. I assume the doors have some kind of finish on them – paint or a clear finish – and therefore applying an insecticide to the doors could be ineffective. A product like Bora-Care, which has the potential to move into the wood to kill beetle larvae within, can only be applied to bare wood. Other topically-applied insecticides either also need to go onto bare wood or they have the potential only to kill emerging adult beetles, as they do not penetrate deeply enough to get to larvae feeding inside. Another option would be to remove the potentially infested doors and have them fumigated or heat-treated by someone licensed to do this, and removing the doors to apartments for a couple of days is probably not realistic. 
It also is possible that the doors had the holes when they were purchased and installed, and that this infestation long ago ran its course. Since the cost of treating all of them could be quite high it might make more sense to get the manufacturer of the doors to replace them at his expense, particularly since he has indicated his suspicion that he may had sold them doors that were infested. You might also try filling all the current holes in the doors and waiting to see if any new holes appear. This would indicate an ongoing infestation. Some wood products will often have old holes from bark beetles or ambrosia beetles, and the holes are simply exposed when the wood is milled into lumber, the saw cutting through the old galleries. These could be identified by the angle at which the holes meet the wood surface – at an angle instead of perpendicular to the surface. 
So, my suggested course of action would be to first ensure the holes are appearing now after the doors were installed. Second would be to work with the manufacturer of the doors to replace them, and third would be to treat in whatever manner is possible with these doors if you determine the infestation is live and ongoing. 

View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.

Pest QuestionsApril 29, 2012

No Comment

Apr 28, 2012 – Bugs And Yachts

QUESTION:

What is the best way to treat common pests (mostly roaches) on a boat? The potential client’s current pest control company uses the fumigation technique. Is this best?

ANSWER:

Fumigation seems a bit drastic if we are talking about an actual use of a fumigant, which would be Vikane. However, this certainly would ensure the kill of all insects and their eggs on that boat if done properly, and my understanding is that the vessel is tarped with the lower edges of the tarp simply draped onto the water, which serves as an excellent barrier to prevent loss of the fumigant. If there is one major drawback to fumigation it is that there is no future protection to prevent new pests from coming onto the boat immediately, assuming that nothing else is done in an overall IPM effort. 

Otherwise, there are many products labeled for use on “ships, boats, vessels” that you could legally use on this site, and to see the entire list of products labeled for them look on PestWeb under “Products / Product Documents / Products by Approved Site / Structures / Commercial Structures / Boats, Ships”, and you will see that the list is quite extensive. 
A boat represents an interesting challenge, as you would think that it is a closed site where roaches and other crawling pests could only access it if they are brought on within infested materials. However, it also is very possible for the bugs to wander on by themselves by crawling up the various ropes that tie the boat to a dock, and this is one aspect that should be addressed. Finding a way to exclude the insects from the boat would be an important step in long-term management. Preventing them from getting onto the boat in the first place is probably a lot simpler than continuously trying to remove them once they are on and in hiding. One possibility would be the use of metal rings around the rope similar to what might be used to prevent rodents. Roaches would not be able to climb over the smooth metal sides, although the fit around the rope would have to be very tight so they could not get under. Possibly a layer of sticky glue on the end of each rope also would be a deterrent. 
Within the boat itself the roach control would be as it would in any other home. The focus would be on complete removal of all food resources, and the customer would need to cooperate with you in keeping all foods within sealed containers. You then could treat using a crack and crevice technique with residuals, use cockroach baits as directed, and perhaps dust within wall voids where you can access them. 

View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.

Pest QuestionsApril 28, 2012

No Comment

Bedbug extermination is a job for experts

Over the last around four to five years, the number of treatments for bedbugs has almost quadrupled Dinesh Ramachandran, from National “It is bedbugs for which we receive the maximum number of service requests. Over the last around …

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 27, 2012

No Comment

Where The Mosquito Bites: The 10 Buggiest Cities In The U.S.

As temps continue to rise, mosquitos and other biting are becoming increasingly pesky for lovers of the outdoors across the country — and experts predict they’ll be more plentiful than normal all season. A new survey conducted by OFF!

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 27, 2012

No Comment

Ten nuisance critters in Saskatoon – CBC.ca


CBC.ca

Ten nuisance critters in Saskatoon
CBC.ca
In a comprehensive report to Saskatoon city council, officials with the city's pest management department provided information on wildlife that was a cause of concern for residents. Here are the ten animals that made the list for 2011.

View complete article

Pests in the NewsApril 27, 2012

No Comment

« Older Entries Newer Entries »