Archive for the ‘Pest Questions’ Category

Aug 12, 2012 – Attractants – Not Just For Mice

QUESTION:

I am using Provoke Professional Mouse Attractant by Bell Labs, that goes on top of rodenticides, in this case Ditrac Blox. The mouse attractant is drawing pharoah ants in a trail approximately 15′ long, 1″ wide, with thousands of ants working from their home to the bait. I am getting rid of the mice but I am attracting ants. The bait is in closed bait stations and I use a pyrethrum to eliminate the ant problem. My question is why are the ants attracted to the bait? This product is being used inside a school, away from food, and it is in a area that is safe.

ANSWER:

I looked at the MSDS and Label for this attractant and they don’t divulge what the ingredients are, other than to state that the material contains no “hazardous” ingredients. So, since it is formulated to be highly attractive to mice it probably contains a nice soup of food ingredients, possibly including sweet materials as well as protein substances that give off a delightful odor………delightful to mice at least. The pharaoh ants are omnivores that also feed on a variety of sweet and protein foods, so it probably is reasonable that they would pick up the scent as well and find the attractant to be pretty darned tasty. 

I guess I would characterize this as suggesting that you are not necessarily “attracting” ants, but that these ants already were established in this structure and all you have done is brought them out into the open more with this food supply. Since this is in a school it now limits your options for eliminating the ants, but I suggest the use of some of the ant baits, placed directly in the trails that you now are seeing and within enclosed stations if possible. If the ants are disappearing into a void that you can place bait into that might also be helpful. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 12, 2012

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Aug 9, 2012 – A Little Dab Will Do Them……..In

QUESTION:

How many ounces or grams makes a lethal dose for rats using Talon G?

ANSWER:

When Talon (brodifacoum) first came on the market as the first single feeding anticoagulant rodenticide we were told by the manufacturer that a single pellet was sufficient to kill a house mouse and 3 pellets could kill a typical rat. Clearly this is not much bait, attesting to the higher toxicity of the active ingredient. In fact the LD-50 of pure brodifacoum to a Norway Rat is 0.27 mg/kg, compared with warfarin (58 mg/kg) or diphacinone (3.0 mg/kg). I took these numbers from a resource by Cornell University. 

Now, we never offer PURE active ingredient to rodents, but it is greatly diluted with food ingredients, paraffin, etc., so the end result according to this resource is that it takes a lot more of the bait to kill that rodent. So, here are some relative amounts for typical warfarin, diphacinone, and brodifacoum bait products to be the lethal dose for a rat, and presumably a Norway Rat since these are lab results. 
Warfarin bait of 0.025% – LD-50 is 58 grams of bait, or nearly 2 ounces.
Diphacinone bait of 0.005% – LD-50 is 11.5 grams or just over 1/3 ounce.
Brodifacoum bait of 0.005% – LD-50 is only 1.4 grams, or about 1/14 of an ounce. 
As you can see, brodifacoum takes just a very small amount to reach that lethal dose. Since this in general is based on the weight of the animal eating the toxicant a much larger animal like a dog would have to consume a correspondingly much larger amount of the bait to reach a presumed lethal dose. According to one of our industry’s top rodent control experts the likelihood of this kind of “secondary” poisoning, from a dog eating enough rats to consume the lethal dose, is highly unlikely. But, since the remote possibility still exists it is important to adhere to the label requirement on most rodent bait products that all dead or dying rodents be removed and disposed of quickly after a baiting program is begun. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 11, 2012

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Aug 10, 2012 – Killers of Cicadas, Not People

QUESTION:

I was just curious about the life cycle and habits of Cicada Killer Wasps. I’ve never seen as many as I’ve seen this year.

ANSWER:

Cicada Killer wasps are an eastern U.S. phenomenon, although out here in the western U.S. we enjoy some equally big wasps called Tarantula Hawks. They are not related, but all of these wasps, including the cicada killer, are “solitary” wasps that do not have a social colony. Instead, the female wasp creates a living chamber for her offspring, provides a stash of food in that chamber for her soon-to-be larva, and deposits an egg on it. She then seals the chamber, leaves, and does not return. Because of this these wasps have no instinct to protect a colony of queen and larvae, and stings by solitary wasps are extremely rare. Given the benefit we receive by their predation of cicadas or spiders or other insects the benefit far outweighs the risk in having them around. 

The problems are there, though, and primarily it is a problem of educating the homeowners to understand what these wasps are and what they do. All the typical person knows it that it is an enormous wasp that “could” sting and therefore they want them eliminated. Killing these predatory wasp is actually counter-productive to the garden and the best protocol to have in place is to appreciate them and leave them alone. They will do their thing and be gone in a short time, as it usually is a single generation of these large wasps each year. 
Another problem with cicada killers is the dirt piles they create while digging their tunnels and chambers in the soil. If this occurs in a nice lawn it disrupts the even appearance of that lawn and upsets the homeowner. In reality, that dirt pile can easily be raked flat and will disappear with the next watering. If the soil piles are on bare dirt areas there is no problem at all other than the fear the homeowner has for these large wasps, that may be nearly 2 inches long. Cicada killers specialize in cicadas, while many other kinds of solitary wasps go after crickets, grasshoppers, caterpillars, spiders, and other arthropods. The size of the populations likely coincides with the availability of food, so when lots of other insects are available the wasps can create larger populations of offspring. The hot weather in the U.S. this year seems to be leading to plenty of bugs. 
While I understand that many people are “terrified of bugs” (a term I heard just yesterday) we should make the effort, at least, to educate them so they understand the benefits of most bugs in their landscape. We can dramatically reduce our unnecessary use of insecticides if we can avoid spraying for bugs that do not need to be killed. If you absolutely MUST try to eliminate these wasps on a property the most effective treatment is to directly spray or dust into the hole the female wasp is creating, and to do so after the sun goes down so you can be relatively sure the wasp is in that tunnel. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 10, 2012

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Aug 7, 2012 – Clothes Moth Capabilities

QUESTION:

Two questions on clothes moths. How far can they fly? Can they live in heating / cooling ducts?


ANSWER:

In the Mallis Handbook of Pest Control there are comments about the ability of the Webbing Cloths Moth to fly, and I suspect that the Casemaking clothes moth may be similar. They state that it normally will be males that you see flying around, as the female may be so bulked up with her eggs that she is too heavy to fly comfortably, although it is possible she will and once she has deposited all of her eggs she then will more readily fly. And, of course, these moths generally avoid light, so they would not be the culprits if your customer finds moths flying around lamps inside or porch lights outside. 

They go on to talk about the distance the moths may fly, and while these are not really strong fliers they have been found to move over 300 feet from a warehouse that was infested to nearby homes, and to find their way inside these homes. Obviously these moths occur outside of structures and find their own way inside to infest susceptible materials, so even with a weak flight they manage to get around on their own. 
The clothes moths, like the carpet beetles, are scavengers and decomposers. Their “role” in nature is to feed on leftover animal materials, such as hair, feathers, dead insects, and to reduce them to powder that would then move back into the soil as nutrients for plants to use as food. They are very, very efficient at finding these kinds of food resources within a home. If there were any of these foods within those heating or cooling ducts I suppose the adult moths would detect them and could find a way into the ducts to deposit their eggs. The question, of course, is what could possibly be within the ducts that the moth larvae would eat, and for most systems it would seem that these ducts shouldn’t have much in them in the way of hair or feathers or dead bugs. But, it is “possible” – maybe there is a break in the duct-work somewhere that allowed a bird or rodent to get in. Perhaps the filters are not in place and things are getting sucked in. 
I would say that it is possible for the moths to GET into ducts if they detect a food source, but not to LIVE within the ducts just as a place to hang out. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 09, 2012

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Aug 8, 2012 – Best for Spiders

QUESTION:

Spiders have been REALLY BAD here this year and I have been getting a whole lot of complaints about them. I have switched products to Temprid and Tempo Ultra and have been dusting weepholes, under decks/patios, and any other place I can see spider webs. What, in your opinion, is the best product for controlling these SOB’s? If you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears.

ANSWER:

I’ll be honest with you Jeremy and say that pyrethroids like Tempo and Temprid have always been the superior materials for spiders. This would also include other pyrethroid active ingredients such as permethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, etc. They have, since Demon TC first started its use on spiders about 25 years ago, just knocked these difficult pests down quickly and with some lengthy residual effect. Some of the new chemistries other than pyrethroids will likely show great spider control as well, but the pyrethroids should continue to be good choices. 

You should talk about spiders and their biology with your customers, and perhaps suggest managing exterior lights as well as possible. Where the lights can simply be shut off at night this will really help keep night-flying bugs away from porches, and spiders have figured out that if they too hang around the lights there will be plenty of other bugs to eat, so one manages the other. You also, if you are not already, could be using a Webster duster each visit for a quick walk around the home to remove spider webs. This could possibly be an add-on service for a few dollars more, but with the persistent webs gone the customer no longer perceives the spiders to still be there. 
But, living things go in cycles too, and more spiders this year suggests that there must be more of their own food available. The heat this summer, nationwide, seems to be higher than usual, and from all the news reports this has translated to more bugs in general. It may have nothing to do with what you are using and how as much as it does to just more spider pressures. There also are a few spider web materials, like Web Away or Cobweb Eliminator, that are advertised to not only remove the existing webs when you spray them but to discourage spiders from building new webs on that treated surface. Supposedly it somehow makes it difficult for the web-spinning spiders to attach the webs to the surface. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 08, 2012

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Aug 5, 2012 – They Really Need the Bird

QUESTION:

I need a product for elimination of bird mites in a house and crawl space.

ANSWER:

I have good news and bad news………….but mostly bad news. Good news first. From what I can read on bird mites they are unable to sustain their presence on just people, so if the birds are gone and can’t come back then eventually the problem will resolve itself. However, that could take weeks or longer, and most of your customers aren’t going to put up with bites for several weeks more. 

Controlling bird mites has less to do with specific insecticides than it does with eliminating the source of the problem (the birds) and then finding a way to get your product and the remaining mites together in the same place. Given how tiny these mites are this is the problem, in that they start crawling around the structure looking for a new blood host and end up within wall voids, in furniture, under beds and other furniture, under attic insulation, etc. So, your control program has to combine the exclusion of any birds, thorough and regular vacuuming of all surfaces to physically remove as many mites as possible (a good job for the homeowner to do each day), and applications of contact insecticides by you onto or into any likely places the mites hide or wander. 
Even dealing with the birds may be a legal challenge. Right now swallows are probably still nesting around a lot of structures, and as long as the birds are in their nests they cannot be molested, harmed, killed, or verbally insulted. They are protected animals, and you have to wait until they leave on their own, at which time the nests can be removed, the area treated, and a recommendation made to the customer that you be hired to install physical devices that prevent that nesting next year. If the birds are pigeons, sparrows, or starlings anything goes, as these birds have no legal federal or state protection. However, at least look into any local ordinances that may be in place that prohibit the killing or harming of ANY birds, which doubtless exists in some cities. 
Wherever the birds are nesting they need to be removed, any access into the structure blocked permanently, the nests removed and that area treated with a contact insecticide to kill any lingering mites. You might also dust the area with a desiccant dust as well to give long-lasting future kill of mites you miss initially. Be sure to wear the proper PPE while doing all of this, and if there is any accumulation of bird feces there is another opportunity for you to make money by recommending the removal of it and sanitizing of the area. Bird doo-doo is a great place for many human pathogens to grow, and these can be carried with dust and air currents into the breathing zone of people. 
Synthetic pyrethroids should be excellent products to kill mites, and they have liberal enough labeling for indoor uses to be used almost anywhere, including within walls with a deep void injector if you choose a product labeled for this kind of “fogging”. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 07, 2012

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Aug 6, 2012 – Pyrethroid Interpretations

QUESTION:

Here’s something that I don’t understand. We can no longer apply Talstar EZ granules in the rain or when rain is forecasted within the next 24 hrs due to the new “synthetic pyrethroid laws”. This makes no sense to me as this is a water-activated product. Also, due to the new “labeling”, we are not allowed to apply these products above 3 feet and only as spot treatments. So here’s my question: What can I use to treat around the eaves of houses / buildings that have a problem with spiders? Pyrethroids such as Cyfluthrin, Beta-Cyfluthrin, and Cypermethrin have been the only products that I have had significant results with on spiders. (Cypermethrin being the best)

ANSWER:

While my thoughts on this are likely not to be entirely satisfying, hopefully they will be somewhat helpful in clearing up the new requirements. The whole issue of the new label restrictions is to minimize as much as possible the opportunity for the pyrethroid active ingredients to find their way OFF the treated site and into local waterways, most likely via the gutter and storm drains. The blanket requirement for all pyrethroids now, regardless of the formulation, that they not be applied during a rain event could seem unnecessary when you are applying it for labeled pests where the Label then requires that you water over the treated area anyhow. Gosh, why not let that rain do the job for you?

I suppose it was the concern that if the applicator is given the ability to decide for himself when it was okay to apply in the rain and when it would be a runoff problem some bad decisions would be made. Rather than leave it up to the judgment of the applicator the EPA simply made one single statement – “Do not make applications during rain”. I agree that this seems foolish when you are required to water over the granules anyhow, but that is what we have to live with at this time. Perhaps it is because you have no way of knowing how MUCH rainfall will occur, and since the Labels require, more or less, specific quantities of water to move the a.i. into the soil or thatch, it is preferred that the applicator do the watering to stay within the Label recommendations. I don’t like the word “activate” myself, and on the Talstar EZ label it does follow that word with the clarification that the water is used to “release” the a.i. from the granule carrier. 
With respect to treatments around the structures let’s clarify some things as well. Up to 3 feet “above grade” (the soil, the walkway, etc.) you can apply the material as an overall application. It is above 3 feet that you are restricted to crack and crevice or spot applications. You might check with your own local regulatory folks on this too, as some states wanted to restrict it to a height of only 2 feet, and the EPA does allow states to be more restrictive than the federal regulations. But, with respect to treating the eaves, the EPA was asked about this specifically, and their response was that they considered the surface directly on the underside of the eaves to be a treatment that falls within their exceptions to the requirement for either spot or crack and crevice only. Again, I am always happiest when you discuss these kinds of interpretations with your own local regulatory agency, as they will be the ones who have the final yea or nay on this. 
If they agree with what I believe the EPA allows on this, then you could continue to treat the under-surface of the eaves, where protected above by the roof, as an overall application. However, even if they disagree with me keep in mind that a “spot” treatment is 2 square feet, so a 1 foot by 2 foot swath of spray or any other dimension that equals 288 square inches. This definitely should be sufficient to treat the critical points under the eaves, particularly since EPA does NOT state how far apart those “spots” need to be. But, use good judgment on this. 
I myself have not yet found another spray-on insecticide that is not a pyrethroid that has the same broad outdoor uses that many pyrethroids did. Some of the non-pyrethroids seem to come close but in my opinion stop short of allowing overall treatments of exterior walls, for example, for carpenter bees or over-wintering pests. The NPMA currently is working with EPA to try to get some additional exceptions for certain serious structural pests, such as stinkbugs and others that invade during the winter. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 06, 2012

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Aug 3, 2012 – Get Them While They’re Young

QUESTION:

How do you control eggs of ants before they hatch?

ANSWER:

Eggs of arthropods are generally tough to try to kill, but we do have some possibilities. Ant eggs, like other insect eggs, are still “breathing” and alive, so chemicals that come into direct contact with them may have the ability to get inside and disable them. We have heard from vendors selling us IGR products that these active ingredients can affect the development of flea eggs on contact, or cause the eggs produced by a female cockroach to be sterile or lower in vigor. A look at the labels of a few IGR’s shows that they state they can kill or affect all stages of certain labeled insects, including the eggs. So, an IGR may be your best bet.

The problem with eggs of ants is that they are not likely to be exposed where they can be treated directly. Flea eggs are going to start on a pet, which may be treated with an IGR in Precor 2000, for example, and affected right at the beginning. The eggs fall into the carpet and may be treated with an IGR applied to that area, so we have the ability to directly treat the eggs of some pests. But, ants are somewhere down in the soil in a well protected colony, so how do we get the IGR active ingredient to them? This could occur if foraging ants were able to pick up the IGR on the surface and carry it down into the colony. I don’t know that there is any evidence that liquid IGRs can adhere to the body of a foraging ant and be re-distributed to other colony members, in particular the Queens, so even if that does work I am not aware of it. 
But, some insect baits are IGRs, so that would be a possibility. Unfortunately, the only bait products I can think of that are IGRs are labeled for fire ants and a few other ants, so using them for general nuisance ant control may not be legal. A number of IGRs are labeled for exterior use for ants and other insect pests, most of these containing Nylar as the active ingredient. These are not baits, but they are labeled for use directly onto or into ant nests, and this direct application could really enhance the ability to get that IGR down into the colony where it finally will contact the eggs, larvae, or the Queen as she develops eggs. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 05, 2012

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Aug 4, 2012 – Protecting Home Gardens

QUESTION:

Can you please give your thoughts towards some basic pest protection for home gardeners here in the Southwest? Between the fat finger-resembling green worms on tomatoes to the smaller caterpillars leaving black frass on the basil leaves, to thoughts on barrier treatments
(deltamethrin granules for soil around the beds & permethrin spray for the beds’ wooden
structural surfaces?), I am a little uncertain how to approach this. Also not sure, since the food is not commercial crop and will instead be consumed by homeowner and residents of the house, if that too opens up other viable treatment methods.


ANSWER:

Since you more or less specify pests on food-bearing plants it does dump this into a sensitive area. Even though this is a home garden and not a commercial crop you still would be considering applying insecticides to plants where something from that plant will later be consumed, so the first consideration is that a product labeled for these plants must be chosen. Then, the label needs to be read and adhered to VERY carefully with respect to the timing of the application. In particular there will be restrictions on how close to “harvest” the application can be made. You also should bring the customers into the decision making process to see if they have any strong thoughts on synthetic versus natural products. 

Quite often, for caterpillars on food plants in this small of a garden, it may just be better to rely on a good visual inspection and hand removal of the caterpillars, and to be honest I suggest the customer be drawn into this. For the tomato hornworms you may only have 1 or 2 larvae on the plants, although that couple of big, fat, green larvae can quickly strip all the leaves off a single plant. Providing a “preventive” treatment to the tomatoes may not be feasible, but instead you may be better off waiting until the first damage is noted or the first large fecal pellets seen, and then apply a labeled product. Hand picking one or two sounds like an easy way to resolve it, but I have spent many hours visually checking for them on my own plants and their camouflage is fantastic, making it difficult to do. 
So, given the difficulty of knowing exactly when these kinds of larvae are going to appear – or reappear – makes it difficult to do “protective” treatments of the vegetables. Your customer probably would prefer NOT to have a constant presence of insecticide on their plants, but instead prefer that the pests be killed quickly once they show up, and this relies on the customer having some involvement too. Since the caterpillars do not crawl to the plants from somewhere else, but instead come from eggs deposited directly on those plants by the adult moths, making treatments around the beds with residual insecticides will likely do very little to prevent the problem. This may be okay for eliminating some other kinds of crawling plant feeders, but not the caterpillars. 
“Natural” insecticide choices when the first evidence of caterpillars is noted could include insecticidal soaps and bacteria, such as Dipel. These work well when applied directly onto the larvae or when eaten by the larvae shortly after the application, and work best on early instars rather than waiting for the caterpillars to get too large. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 04, 2012

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Aug 1, 2012 – To Repel or Not To Repel

QUESTION:

Which pesticide chemical families are considered repellent and which are considered non-repellent?

ANSWER:

Traditionally we think of the Synthetic Pyrethroids as the main group having some level of repellent effect on many insects. This has been known for a fairly long time and some manufacturers, initially, even lobbied for this repellency as a feature that could be exploited in managing certain bugs. For example, early on cyfluthrin (in Tempo) was known to be highly repellent to ants and it was suggested that the repellency could form a barrier around a structure that might keep ants away, thus protecting the structure. However, what was found was that it also could be a barrier to ants already within or under a structure, preventing them from leaving to the outside to forage for food, and in some cases it may have caused ants that otherwise were not a problem to begin foraging within that structure in their effort to find food. 

Pyrethroid termiticides also have been shown to act as a repellent to the movement of foraging termites, and I recall at least one discussion of this at a major educational conference. One of our university researchers presented findings showing that foraging subterranean termites would quickly turn away from soils treated with pyrethroids. Again, this could be a benefit or a detriment. If the treatment of the soil was thorough and without any “breaks” those termites would continue to be repelled from the structure, but if there were breaks in the treatment the termites could eventually find them and move on through in their pattern of continuous wandering and searching. 
Even WAAAYYYY back in the Olden Days when I started in this industry we relied on Organophosphates (diazinon, chlorpyrifos) and Chlorinated Hydrocarbons (lindane, chlordane) and loved the fact that those hydrocarbons might last for 30 years or more in the soil beneath a house. We could treat a landscape for ants with chlordane and not see any more ants the rest of the season. But, one respected industry leader suggested that the reason those ants stayed invisible was due to the long lasting repellency of the chlordane, so repellent the ants preferred to stay in their colony and starve rather than come out and walk on that chemical residue. We knew that OP’s were repellent to ants and to roaches, and found that hiding the active ingredient within capsules (“microencapsulated” products like KnoxOut 2FM) would minimize that repellency and allow the ants to wander on our treated surfaces. 
Now, of course, we have an ever-expanding arsenal of “non-repellent” active ingredients and the obvious benefits of them. Since our goal is to achieve contact time between the active ingredient and the pest bug we must provide a treated surface that they willingly stand on. We still should, whenever possible, make the application directly INTO the harborage point of the bug, rather than on nearby exposed surfaces where the bug may spend minimal time and the a.i. will more rapidly degrade. 

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Pest QuestionsAugust 03, 2012

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