Archive for September, 2012

Elephant weevil intercepted at LA-Long Beach port complex – Los Angeles Times

Elephant weevil intercepted at LA-Long Beach port complex
Los Angeles Times
The live bug, less than an inch long, was found Aug. 30 and identified the next day. The shipment of oranges, bound for Florida, was fumigated and released on its way. In the last fiscal year, agricultural specialists intercepted more than 400 …

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Pests in the NewsSeptember 16, 2012

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Pest expert: Seal things up before Seattle ‘rat-pocalypse’ – MyNorthwest.com

Pest expert: Seal things up before Seattle 'rat-pocalypse'
MyNorthwest.com
The big dig along the Seattle waterfront that will make way for the Hwy 99 tunnel could also displace scores of pests and set the stage for what some are calling "ratpocalypse." Billboards have begun appearing around the Pioneer Square area saying …
Tunnel could create 'ratpocalypse'Seattle Post Intelligencer
Highway 99 Project Is Digging Up The Dirt On Rodent ActivitySacramento Bee
Seattle waterfront tunnel project stirring rats, cockroachesBizjournals.com
Q13 FOX
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Pests in the NewsSeptember 16, 2012

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Isaac to blame for infestation of caterpillars – Jackson Clarion Ledger

Isaac to blame for infestation of caterpillars
Jackson Clarion Ledger
Residents worry this is just a pit stop before the insects get into their homes. Residents in Garden Isle tell WLOX-TV that since Hurricane Isaac, the whole area has been infested with caterpillars. They said they've never had this problem in Garden …

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Pests in the NewsSeptember 16, 2012

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Tree wardens issue warning about invasive insect – Wicked Local

Tree wardens issue warning about invasive insect
Wicked Local
Tree wardens and arborists in MetroWest urged residents Wednesday not to move firewood or other host materials, after state officials announced a new invasive tree-killing insect was found in the Berkshires. In a press conference Wednesday, state …

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Pests in the NewsSeptember 16, 2012

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Sep 14, 2012 – Come For the Sugar, Stay For the View

QUESTION:

It is autumn in New England and holly bushes are being swarmed by wasps, bees and other insects. I believe this is caused by aphid secretions and the holly flowers that bloom at this time. Are there any treatments that will help deter this from happening?


ANSWER:

Yes, the sugary “honeydew” produced in potentially copious quantities by aphids is a major attraction to sweet-feeding insects, and as the weather dries and cools in the fall there may be fewer other options available, making the honeydew that much more attractive. Insects like honeybees, in particular, are trying to increase their stores of honey so they can survive the winter, while wasps and other bees may just be there to live as long as possible. Who knows but other insects may be predators that feed on the aphids or even on the bees and wasps that frequent these plants. 

If you are hoping for some product that will repel the bees and wasps from these plants I think the answer will be “no”. While some insecticides may very well be repellent in nature they are not designed as bee or wasp repellents, and none others exist. Your best bet, if the bees and wasps are a problem that must be eliminated, is to eliminate the reason they are coming. Do an inspection of the plants to be certain that aphids are present and producing the honeydew and you then can apply a labeled insecticide to the plants to eliminate them. This will also be likely to kill the bees and wasps, which would be unfortunate given their beneficial behavior. You also could try spraying the plants with a strong stream of plain old water. This will wash the aphids off and at this point in the year probably prevent them from climbing back on. It also will help to wash away the honeydew accumulations. 
If aphids are the problem and this appears to be an annual event, a better approach might be to use a soil-applied systemic insecticide, such as Merit, earlier in the year. The active ingredient will move into the foliage and be there for the season, killing only the insects that feed on the foliage but not affect other insects that walk over that foliage. Be sure to read the product label to be certain holly is approved as a site. 

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Pest QuestionsSeptember 16, 2012

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Sep 15, 2012 – Bathroom Roaches

QUESTION:

In a bathroom on the second floor of my home there is one solid window above the bath which lets in light but does not open. It has an extraction vent and an air condition vent. In the past couple of days I have seen roach nymphs in there, always high on the walls or on the ceiling. Yesterday I used DeltaDust in and around the pipe openings of the toilet and under the sink, dusted around/behind the mirror, and treated crevices of the kick board at the
base of the cupboards that the sink is on. I dusted around the small window. I walked
into there tonight with my daughter and there was another active one walking around on the ceiling. What am I doing wrong here? Obviously an Ootheca has been dropped somewhere. Could they be coming through either one of the vents around the window?

ANSWER:

A couple of things are a little out of character here. It sounds like you may be seeing these roaches during the daytime, in some instances, and of course this would be unusual for German roaches. You don’t indicate that you have determined the actual species of these roaches, so I am assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that they are Germans. In fact, are you absolutely certain that these are cockroaches? Since they are in the nymph stage is there a chance that you may be encountering some other similar insects, even immature stink bugs or some other “true” bug? The ID could be important as there are some kinds of roaches, including the Asian cockroach in Florida where you are or in the west perhaps the Vaga roach, that are drawn to lights. Just in case the window is where they are gathering perhaps it is the bright area that is drawing them, and if so then they would be just accidental visitors to the interior and the source would be outside. 

A second out-of-character issue is that very early instar German roaches tend to stay in hiding, feeding on fecal pellets of other roaches or dead insects they find there. To be finding them out and about on different occasions is curious, but I am at a loss to explain why, particularly if you had not treated the potential harborage sites previously. As we know, German roaches most often enter structures with infested materials and packaging, and many other roaches enter from the outside where they may live in foliage or beneath things on the soil. The Asian roach adult is drawn to lights and since it can fly it could make its way to that second floor window, but this does not seem likely if it is only nymphs. I suppose a gravid female may have entered and dropped the egg capsule inside, but once again the gravid females also tend to remain inactive and in hiding while they are carrying the egg capsule. 
So, I’m not of much help here. It could be useful to get an ID to species, which can be tough when dealing only with nymphs. You might try sealing off those vents around the window temporarily to see if this presence inside stops, and maybe even use some glue traps right there to see what is caught by the vents. 

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Pest QuestionsSeptember 15, 2012

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Sep 12, 2012 – Rice That Wiggles

QUESTION:

I need help. I have maggots in my kitchen for the 3rd time in two years. I see flies all the time but never more than 5 or 6 at a time. I know the life cycle of a fly, but don’t they need rotton food to lay their eggs? Please help.


ANSWER:

Maggots squirming across a kitchen floor, or better yet the counter tops, are a certain reason for a homeowner to call a pest control firm. There is just something about these important recyclers that give us the creeps. In a home these will nearly always be blow fly larvae, and the two most likely sources are going to be dead animals, and recently dead, or filthy garbage that has not been disposed of for awhile. In a home it may be more likely that the dead animal is the culprit, as really dirty garbage receptacles may offer a noticeable and unwanted odor that alerts the homeowner to that problem. However, OUTdoors the rotting garbage can be much more possible when dumpsters or garbage cans are not emptied on that weekly basis and the contents begin to rot. This will lead to maggots crawling out and across patios or garage floors.

This is the nature of the blow fly larvae – they tend to leave what they have been feeding on to move some distance away until they find a small, protected crevice to get into so they can pupate. This migration is what brings them to our attention. When a dead rat or bird is in an attic the blow flies definitely are going to find it. This is their role in Nature, and they tend to make a single pass through that recently killed or dead animal. You will not have blow flies feeding on and emerging from some carcass that has been lying around for a couple of months, so in your case these 3 episodes with maggots represent at least 3 separate dead animals somewhere in the home. You often will be able to smell the distinctive odor or a rotting corpse, but when it is a smaller animal in a more ventilated area, such as the attic, the odor may not move down into the living areas. The maggots, however, will fall into light receptacles and other openings in the ceiling and from there down onto the counters and floors below. 
Control, in a sense, is simple. You need to carefully inspect to find the source of the problem. If this were a customer’s home the first question you might ask is “have you done any rodent control yourself lately?”, and if the answer is that they tossed some bait blocks up in the attic then the source probably is going to be a dead rat. The difficulty is in finding it, but this needs to be done, and the carcass removed (while wearing gloves) and disposed of in a sealed plastic bag. Then, the area it rested on should be sanitized and deodorized and possibly even treated for the parasites (fleas, mites, etc.) that likely were on that animal and now are wandering around the area looking for a new blood host.
If the carcass turns out to be within a sealed wall then it may have to be a waiting game. Ideally the carcass is still removed so that it is over and done with, as leaving it there will ultimately lead to the flies, then the carpet beetles, and to the other scavengers in the lineup that decompose this leftover material. But, if it cannot be accessed directly you may want to dust within the void to kill the insects and then provide some deodorizing technique to minimize any smell that will linger until the carcass is completely dried. This may be with the use of deodorant bags such as the Earth Care products. 
You inspection should include both inside and outside, and a careful look at the waste storage for the home. It still could be a large plastic bag of garbage that has been forgotten and left for too long. But, dead rats are a very common source in homes and a big reason that rodenticide labels must be followed with respect to their instruction to remove all dead or dying rodents as quickly as possible. This also emphasizes the reason that using rodent poisons indoors can lead to this secondary problem, and why trapping is a better idea. 

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Pest QuestionsSeptember 14, 2012

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FTC Takes Action – Unproven Natural Bed Bug Treatments

The Federal Trade Commission filed deceptive advertising charges against two marketers of remedies for bed bug infestations who allegedly failed to back up overhyped claims that they could prevent and eliminate infestations using natural ingredients, such as cinnamon and cedar oil. One marketer also allegedly made misleading claims that its products were effective against head lice.

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Pests in the NewsSeptember 13, 2012

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Tree wardens issue warning about invasive insect

In general, the transportation of firewood is how tree-killing invasive spread. Framingham Tree Warden Dan Nau said he was aware of the news about this latest pest and that his staff does daily tree evaluations. He said they have been monitoring …

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Pests in the NewsSeptember 13, 2012

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Seattle tunnel dig could bring rats to surface – Sacramento Bee

Seattle tunnel dig could bring rats to surface
Sacramento Bee
KOMO News reports (http://bit.ly/TO8rNd) that pest control experts say the rats will flee the massive construction project for quieter homes and food. That means buildings around the dig could see more rats. Jeff Weier of Sprague Pest Solutions says …
Seattle waterfront tunnel project stirring rats, cockroachesBizjournals.com

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Pests in the NewsSeptember 13, 2012

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