Archive for October, 2012

UK forests ‘under unprecedented threat from disease’

The UK’s forests are under “unprecedented threat” from foreign pests and diseases, according to the government department responsible for the protection of the country’s forests and woodlands. The discovery of the ash dieback fungus in East Anglia last …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 31, 2012

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UF/IFAS research: Typical populations of bedbugs can cause harmful blood loss … – University of Florida

UF/IFAS research: Typical populations of bedbugs can cause harmful blood loss …
University of Florida
In 2011, the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky released a survey of U.S. pest control professionals that found 99 percent of respondents had encountered bedbug infestations in the past year. Before 2000, only 25 …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 31, 2012

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Tahoe’s petite pest – The Aggie

Tahoe's petite pest
The Aggie
People call pest-removal companies every day to rid their homes and yards of small creatures that have become a nuisance. Gophers tear up manicured lawns and cockroaches skitter along floors spreading germs. Most people are unaware that Emerald Bay …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 31, 2012

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Oct 31, 2012 – Happy Halloween from the Vampire Bugs

QUESTION:

Does a bat bug bite and infest like beg bugs?

ANSWER:

Ahhh……nothing like a little blood sucking bug for the topic on Halloween. Yes, Bat Bugs (Cimex adjunctus and several other species) are perfectly capable of feeding on humans and other animals in a home, but apparently they are NOT capable of continuing their population without the bat hosts they are adapted to. The blood of humans just does not permit them to breed successfully and produce more of their kind. In fact, prior to the resurgence of The Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius) bat bugs and swallow bugs were common problems within homes where their host animals were nesting or roosting. This is a very important fact to keep in mind as we now focus so heavily on The Common Bed Bug, and tend to forget that these other species could well be the ones we find inside a home. 

The Bat Bug (BB) is almost identical in appearance to the Common Bed Bug (CBB), and the difference is small enough that you are not about to see it with the naked eye. You MUST carry a magnifier into the field with you, and even a small hand lens may not be powerful enough to make a certain ID. A dissecting microscope capable of magnifying 35X or more would be much better, and this is a tool that no pest control office should be without. For all small insects and for scanning glue traps a dissecting scope is the best way to make accurate identifications. 
The difference with these biting bugs is the hairs that are found along the sides of the prothorax – the first section of the thorax immediately behind the head. On the Bat Bug those hairs are longer than the width of the eye, while on the CBB those hairs are shorter than the width of the eye. So, not only do you need to be capable of clearly seeing those hairs, but you must be able to see the eye as well and make the comparison. If you have Bat Bugs and assume they must be the CBB you will go about a control program that is unnecessary and probably wrong. Control of Bat bugs and Swallow bugs begins with identifying the presence of their preferred host animals and removing and permanently excluding them. Then, the mop up of the bugs can be accomplished without a fresh reservoir of more of them still in the structure. 
Like the CBB, Bat bugs can live for a long time without feeding, possibly up to 1 year. They are just as mobile as the CBB and once they lose their preferred host they quickly travel to find a new blood meal. They may be found more often around window sills or in ceiling lights as they travel from attics or wall voids, and this could be a red flag telling you that something is different. Their feeding habits will be essentially the same as those of the Common bed bug, so capturing some specimens and examining them properly is always a good idea. They definitely will establish themselves within the bedroom and other sleeping areas once they have found humans as a blood host, but will die off on their own since they now lack the proper host to produce new eggs. 

View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.

Pest QuestionsOctober 31, 2012

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Oct 28, 2012 – Eight Legs? Gotta Go.

QUESTION:

How to kill spiders?

ANSWER:

I am a bug lover, and I recognize that most of the 6 and 8 legged critters that hang out around our homes and gardens are beneficial to the landscape. We don’t necessarily want them running across the bedroom wall when we are about to turn off the light at night, and don’t want them on the kitchen counters, but if most of them will just stay outside and do their thing we really need to leave them alone. It should not be our role in professional pest management to try to kill all living creatures in urban areas. Now, please don’t take this as a lecture directed at you Lewayne, because it really isn’t. Is just happened to be an opportunity to hop up on my soap box. There are plenty of times when killing spiders is called for, but other times when we should leave them alone and enjoy their antics or the benefits they bring us. They are, after all, all predators that feed on other bugs. 

So, hunting spiders like jumping spiders, wolf spiders, funnel weavers, and ground spiders, if they are only outside, might best be left alone. They are essentially harmless to people but are voracious predators. Orb weavers that build their large, beautiful webs in the garden but never indoors should be enjoyed for their architecture and beauty. They really aren’t going to hurt anyone either. So, what I am saying is that we, as professionals who are interested in improving the home environment but minimizing the use of pesticides, should make the effort to educate the homeowner so they too recognize that having certain kinds of bugs around their property is appropriate and of benefit to their gardens. This isn’t going to work for all of them, because too many people figure the only good bug is a dead bug, but at least we should take the time to try. 
When an occasional spider is found indoors I really believe that a vacuum cleaner is the best tool, and the homeowner can easily fire it up and remove that offending critter. I am realistic enough to know that in the mind of the regular customer of yours their feeling is that they are paying YOU to keep them from ever having to see a live bug in their house, so one spider will result in a call to YOU to come out and take care of it. Perhaps this can be minimized by setting the expectations right up front when you take on the account, perhaps it cannot. I just don’t see the benefit of spraying thoroughly throughout a home on the inside in the hope of killing the single marauding spider before the customer sees it when 1 minute with a vacuum cleaner does the job better and faster. 
On the exterior I fell in love with the Synthetic Pyrethroids when they first became available for spider control, and they still work great. But, many of them are going to last only a couple of weeks before they degrade to a point that they may not kill the spider that passes over the treated surface. Anything you can do to treat directly onto surfaces where the spiders spend some time will help. There are longer lasting insecticides, such as the microencapsulated formulations and possibly new formulations like Suspend Polyzone that claims to last up to 3 months outdoors. But, pyrethroids have good labeling and work very quickly on spiders and other arachnids. Be aware of the new label restrictions for outdoor uses, but you still can treat broad surfaces on the undersides of eaves as well as 3 feet up along the foundation and into any cracks or crevices. 
Non-chemically you should make some suggestions to the customer based on your initial INSPECTION of the property. If they have a spider problem there must be some reasons, and these reasons generally are that there are plenty of insects to eat and plenty of places to hide, for hunting spiders. Often it is exterior lights that draw the moths and other night-flying bugs, and spiders figure this out and hang out by the lights. These can be turned off at night or bulbs changed to yellow, which is less attractive to insects at night. There may be rubbish or firewood or other piles of things stacked against the outside of the house, and these should be removed or stacked away from the foundation. Any trees or shrubs growing against the exterior walls need to be trimmed away to remove pathways. Thick vegetation near the foundation should be trimmed up off the soil and as much as possible a 2 or 3 foot wide strip of bare soil maintained around the exterior foundation. 
There are several spider web removal products that also claim to discourage web building spiders by making it difficult for them to attach their webs to the walls, so these can be used. You should remove webs outside with a cobweb duster on a routine basis, as the presence of the webs, even if the spiders are no longer alive, creates the impression with the customer that they still have spiders. On the inside webs should be removed with a vacuum to prevent smearing them on the wall. 
So, a variety of thoughts, and hopefully this is helpful. 

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Pest QuestionsOctober 30, 2012

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WSSA Pesticide Stewardship Series: Hiring a Pest Management Professional

Pest management professionals (PMPs) treat a wide range of indoor and outdoor pests, such as weeds, bed bugs, termites, fleas, ants, roaches, molds and rodents. To ensure you make a well-informed decision about which PMP to use, follow the recommendations …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 29, 2012

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What to do about fall pests that invade homes

When the weather turns colder there are a lot of small critters that would like to spend some time in your nice warm home. Most people however, would prefer that they remain outside in the natural environment, whether that means they will …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 29, 2012

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Beetle declines increase concerns about wider insect trouble

These unassuming creatures are often overlooked as more glamorous insects hog the spotlight. But a recent study shows that the populations of an important group of beetles are dwindling, and this could end up being just as problematic as the better …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 29, 2012

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Gardening: Boxelder and red-shouldered bugs abound this year

It is looking like this is shaping up to be a boxelder and red-shouldered bug year. We have been receiving numerous calls at the office concerning these insects. This might be the biggest population of these insects since 1995. Here is information …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 29, 2012

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Not enough food for bees as popular urban beekeeping trend doubles insect population

Now beekeeping associations are warning that there may not be enough food to sustain the growing numbers or whether hobby beekeepers have the knowledge to look after the insects. The National Bee Unit estimates that there are 3200 colonies in the Greater …

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Pests in the NewsOctober 29, 2012

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