Apr 27, 2011 – Bites? Maybe.
QUESTION:
I have a customer who is getting bitten on her legs, but she has never seen what has bitten her. Last year she had another pest control company come and spray her house, but it didn't help. I'm not sure if I can help, and not sure what to look for. I hope that you can give me something to go on.
ANSWER:
Let's reword the situation just a bit and say it this way. You have a customer who is experiencing red marks on her legs and BELIEVES something is biting her, but has never seen any bug doing it. This really is all we know at this time, and this is one of the frustrating scenarios that so commonly occurs in our industry. I believe that the WORST thing a technician could do at this point is to go into this home and start spraying pesticides, essentially crossing his fingers and hoping that it accomplishes something. Our industry's and university experts consistently tell us that there are many reasons that someone could experience bumps and rashes on their skin that have nothing to do with any arthropod, and therefore nothing to do with pest management. It is not our place, nor within our authority, to diagnose skin conditions, and again our experts tell us that even doctors really cannot confidently diagnose the cause of itchy bumps based solely on those bumps.
So, what then is our role as Pest Management Professionals? It is to determine if there IS some arthropod present in this home that could be responsible for "biting" the customer, and until that is verified you should adamantly avoid spraying anything. This may not set well with the customer, who already is convinced in her mind that it is bugs that are doing this, and she might well plead with you to "spray something just to be sure", and that is only going to get you involved in a problem, because now you have added some toxic substances to the mix. Ultimately you may need to just walk away from this customer without doing anything other than inspecting, because if you are never able to verify that a biting pest is present there is nothing for you to do.
At this point I suggest you be confident and explain these limitations to her - that you are not permitted to apply any pest control chemicals until you know exactly what you are dealing with, and that you will do your best to try to capture any arthropods that may be in the home, have them properly identified, and then go from there. I know very well that a lot of other companies would just go ahead and spray and collect the cash, but this is just the wrong thing to do. However, your TIME is worth something, so you should be charging her for the time you spend placing insect glue traps, collecting them, and taking the time to scan those traps and identify what is on them. The local university where I spend a lot of my time provides an Identification Service, and charges $80 per hour to do it - your time should not be for free.
Get a box of insect glue traps and place them liberally around in this home, concentrating on places this person believes are the locations where the "bites" most often occur. Leave them there for a week, and then collect them and use good magnification to scan the glue and see what is on it. I so strongly suggest that a professional company should spend a few hundred dollars and buy a dissecting microscope for the office - BioQuip.com and UPMALabs.com are a couple of suppliers of good quality but inexpensive kinds. With this magnification you can reliably see what is on the glue. Also take some glue traps and a soft brush and sweep off of all surfaces in the home - tops of dressers, night stands, tables, etc. and onto the glue. Shake clothing or blankets over the glue. If something capable of biting her is present the odds are very good you will capture some.
But, if you make the best effort and still find no biting bugs then explain this to her and suggest she consult with a dermatologist, because there appears to be nothing there for you to do. Again - NO fogging, NO spraying. We must keep in mind too that many people in this country partake of certain lifestyles that may cause Delusory Parasitosis, and what you have described fits this medical condition perfectly - the invisible bugs biting someone. Pesticides are not going to repair this problem.
I have a customer who is getting bitten on her legs, but she has never seen what has bitten her. Last year she had another pest control company come and spray her house, but it didn't help. I'm not sure if I can help, and not sure what to look for. I hope that you can give me something to go on.
ANSWER:
Let's reword the situation just a bit and say it this way. You have a customer who is experiencing red marks on her legs and BELIEVES something is biting her, but has never seen any bug doing it. This really is all we know at this time, and this is one of the frustrating scenarios that so commonly occurs in our industry. I believe that the WORST thing a technician could do at this point is to go into this home and start spraying pesticides, essentially crossing his fingers and hoping that it accomplishes something. Our industry's and university experts consistently tell us that there are many reasons that someone could experience bumps and rashes on their skin that have nothing to do with any arthropod, and therefore nothing to do with pest management. It is not our place, nor within our authority, to diagnose skin conditions, and again our experts tell us that even doctors really cannot confidently diagnose the cause of itchy bumps based solely on those bumps.
So, what then is our role as Pest Management Professionals? It is to determine if there IS some arthropod present in this home that could be responsible for "biting" the customer, and until that is verified you should adamantly avoid spraying anything. This may not set well with the customer, who already is convinced in her mind that it is bugs that are doing this, and she might well plead with you to "spray something just to be sure", and that is only going to get you involved in a problem, because now you have added some toxic substances to the mix. Ultimately you may need to just walk away from this customer without doing anything other than inspecting, because if you are never able to verify that a biting pest is present there is nothing for you to do.
At this point I suggest you be confident and explain these limitations to her - that you are not permitted to apply any pest control chemicals until you know exactly what you are dealing with, and that you will do your best to try to capture any arthropods that may be in the home, have them properly identified, and then go from there. I know very well that a lot of other companies would just go ahead and spray and collect the cash, but this is just the wrong thing to do. However, your TIME is worth something, so you should be charging her for the time you spend placing insect glue traps, collecting them, and taking the time to scan those traps and identify what is on them. The local university where I spend a lot of my time provides an Identification Service, and charges $80 per hour to do it - your time should not be for free.
Get a box of insect glue traps and place them liberally around in this home, concentrating on places this person believes are the locations where the "bites" most often occur. Leave them there for a week, and then collect them and use good magnification to scan the glue and see what is on it. I so strongly suggest that a professional company should spend a few hundred dollars and buy a dissecting microscope for the office - BioQuip.com and UPMALabs.com are a couple of suppliers of good quality but inexpensive kinds. With this magnification you can reliably see what is on the glue. Also take some glue traps and a soft brush and sweep off of all surfaces in the home - tops of dressers, night stands, tables, etc. and onto the glue. Shake clothing or blankets over the glue. If something capable of biting her is present the odds are very good you will capture some.
But, if you make the best effort and still find no biting bugs then explain this to her and suggest she consult with a dermatologist, because there appears to be nothing there for you to do. Again - NO fogging, NO spraying. We must keep in mind too that many people in this country partake of certain lifestyles that may cause Delusory Parasitosis, and what you have described fits this medical condition perfectly - the invisible bugs biting someone. Pesticides are not going to repair this problem.
