Archive for the ‘Pest Questions’ Category

May 29, 2012 – A Catch And Release Policy

QUESTION:

I have a customer that has bees and bats. He does not want the use of chemicals on either but rather wants them to be migrated (taken from his property). How can I achieve this?

ANSWER:

If these bats and bees are currently living and comfortable within his home then you may have a problem. If so, the bats are probably going to be easier to deal with than the bees, and this customer may have to accept that killing the bees could be required. They certainly cannot be allowed to continue living within the walls of a home as the hive and honey ultimately will create awful problems for the home, and if these bees have an established hive with honey and larvae then that hive will have to be exposed and removed completely once the bees are gone. This is the reality of this situation – there is going to have to be some extensive and expensive work to open up the void where the bees are and remove it and then repair the damage. 

We could say much the same thing about the bats if they have been living in this home for a long time. There is probably an serious accumulation of feces in their roosting areas, and this really must be removed properly and the area sanitized. Animal feces will attract many insects and poses a serious health concern for people living around it. Your role on the bats is to find their entry points, create a one-way opening to allow them to leave but not return, and then to permanently seal those openings so no bats can get back into the structure. However, this time of year you may very well have baby bats in there, and since they cannot leave they would die without their parents, and this is not a reasonable thing to allow. Discuss with your local wildlife agency the likelihood of bats raising young at this time of year, and you may have to allow them to remain their until the young can also leave on their own. 
Once you are able to allow ALL the bats to exit the structure and then prevent their return you may encourage the customer to install “bat houses” around his property, offering the bats an alternative place to live. Since he likes the bats and the benefits of them this could be something he would go for. Otherwise, it really is not your role to capture the bats and relocate them yourself. 
With the bees, start by contacting local beekeepers to see if any of them are interested in obtaining more bees. There are ways to remove bees from an existing hive in a structure, but it is pretty elaborate and most beekeepers may not want to deal with it. If this is simply a swarm of honeybees outdoors then all that is needed is to ignore them for a couple of days and the swarm will move along. Also, if these are NOT honeybees, but some other kind of bee that may be just solitary bees finding existing holes for their young to live in, control could be just sealing the openings they are using. It is honeybees that pose the problems. 
If no beekeepers want to take part in this then I believe you have no recourse but to kill the bees and ensure the customer knows he then must have someone qualified to do the destruction / reconstruction open the voids, remove the hive and honey, and cleanse the area thoroughly. While it would be nice to salvage the bees and encourage them to live somewhere else, sometimes this is just not possible. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 31, 2012

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May 30, 2012 – Arachnid Relatives

QUESTION:

What is the spider that looks like a scorpion?

ANSWER:

It may actually be the other way around, particularly since you are in Arizona. You may be referring to the Solpugid, also called a sun scorpion, wind scorpion, sun spider, or erroneously in the Middle East the camel spider. This last name came equipped with a fairy tale listing of the horrors of this beast in the Middle East, stating it was 3 feet long, could run 25 mph, and was eating soldiers. The reality is that the  largest species probably get no longer than maybe 5 inches, and that is with their legs stretched out. In Arizona I myself have found one nearly 4 inches long with legs stretched out front and back, but the body is rarely longer than 2 inches. 

The proper name for these relatives of scorpions is Solpugids, and they are non-venomous and in some cases even incapable of biting people. They are equipped with strong tearing mandibles and a very aggressive personality, and are highly efficient predators that will eat just about any other arthropod, and thus they are highly beneficial and should be preserved and enjoyed. A landscaped yard is better off with them than without them. They have the 4 pairs of legs of spiders and scorpions, but their palps (the equivalent of the claws on true scorpions) are very long and extend out in front, looking much like another pair of legs. So, in your case it may be a scorpion that looks a lot like a spider. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 30, 2012

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May 27, 2012 – A Need To Kill?

QUESTION:

How do I control Eleodes armata in Arizona? I do work for a pest control company but I am only advised to look at the labels. I have and have used numerous products claiming to control these beetles, but with little to no results. I would also like to know if the heat in Arizona would have much effect on the concentrated chemicals I carry in my service truck.


ANSWER:

I will be very honest with you and say that there is just no reason to kill these large black beetles. Eleodes armata is one of about 120 different species in this genus found in the western U.S., and particularly in the dry areas of the Southwest. They are in the family Tenebrionidae, which is generally called the Darkling Beetles, but these large, slow moving beetles are variously referred to as Pinacate Beetles, Clown Beetles, or more accurately “Stink Beetles” because of the foul-smelling oils they exude when they feel threatened. They are often encountered walking slowly over the ground and when disturbed they immediately raise their hind end and lower their head, coming almost into a complete head stand. They cannot fly and move slowly and are far more of an interesting curiosity than any possible pest problem. They should be left alone and enjoyed. 

I understand that many of your customers want properties that are 100% free and clear of ANY kinds of “bugs”, but this really should not be our role in professional pest management. Attempting to use pesticides to kill every 6 or 8 legged creature on a property is unnecessary and an overuse of toxic materials, and it is only going to get us into trouble. Since these beetles pose no threat to people or to plants, feeding primarily as larvae on dead vegetation and seeds of weeds, they really are not “pests”. If for some reason they are managing to get into a home or garage then exclusion is the best approach to their management. If, for some reason, you absolutely had to treat for them you could use an insecticide labeled for “darkling” beetles, and there are many with this labeling. However, spraying for these beetles is very likely to have no success unless you managed to treat directly into whatever harborage it was occupying. Spraying generally over the ground in the hope of killing them when they wander about is not going to have any effect and should be avoided. 
However, hopefully your better approach of educating customers to understand, tolerate, and appreciate many of the bugs in nature will be successful. A managed landscape really is better off with bugs living in it than with none, and in Arizona you certainly have plenty of interesting bugs that are going to wander in and out of yards. Keeping them out of the structures is a better goal than preventing their presence altogether. Thanks for understanding. 
On heat and chemicals, I believe you are probably just fine carrying sealed containers of concentrates and baits in your vehicle, but you should make an effort to use them in a reasonable time, rather than carrying the same jug around for months. Heat definitely can work on the molecules of pesticides to degrade them, but within sealed containers their integrity should be okay for quite awhile. Your biggest problem is going to be with glue traps, and these could be carried in the cab or within a small cooler of some kind to keep them at least reasonably cooler until used. On the containers of liquids and baits and other pesticides you might even consider removing the containers from the vehicle for weekends or other extended intervals of non-use, and storing them instead in the company storage area which should be kept cooler all the time. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 29, 2012

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May 28, 2012 – Bugs On Rugs

QUESTION:

In checking out damage to oriental rugs I confirmed the customer’s suspicions. They were told by carpet cleaners that they should be treated first, if in fact it was carpet beetles. The rugs will be washed, not dry cleaned. Is this normal a procedure and would treating first actually help? It would seem the cleaning alone should solve the problem. If I were to treat would an adulticide plus an IGR be effective?

ANSWER:

Oriental rugs can be sensitive things to deal with. The concern with authentic rugs of this kind is that any chemicals you might apply could affect the dyes used on the rug to alter the color or appearance in some way. I think this was much more of a concern many years ago when many of our insecticides were EC’s that used solvents like xylene to get the active ingredient into solution, and then petroleum based diluents to dilute it to the strength of the concentrate. There also were issues in the 1980’s with some specific dyes in carpets dramatically changing color, and these were regular household carpets, not even exotic rugs. The named culprits in a couple of cases were active ingredients no longer in use inside structures. This also is the likely reason the carpet cleaning company chooses not to dry clean oriental rugs, as dry cleaning uses chemicals, and their effect on the colors in the rug would be an unknown. 

In your question you do not actually state that you have found carpet beetles feeding on this rug, although by saying you confirmed the suspicions I guess that means you did find beetle evidence. I am not overly familiar with oriental rugs and the materials used in them, but is this a wool rug? If this is a more recent rug perhaps it is made from synthetic fibers that carpet beetles would not actually feed on. But, we’ll go with the idea that it is wool and there is feeding damage. Washing the rug in itself should kill and remove any beetles and larvae present on it. What might manage to get through the washing could be eggs that may be embedded in the fibers, and if the washing does not use really hot water the eggs could, I suppose, survive. The recommendation by the cleaners that the rug be treated first may just be their standard policy based on nothing more than it’s their standard policy, or it may be on the idea that you need to kill any bugs first. However, since it is only eggs that might survive the cleaning I suggest to you that the eggs are not going to be affected by your insecticide treatment either, so treating first is probably the cart before the horse. 
More logical to me would be to have the carpet cleaned and dried and THEN you apply an insecticide to provide some protection from any additional larvae that appear. Your management of this issue should extend well beyond these rugs, as carpet beetles are very active and wander all over a structure to seek other food resources as well. You should do your best to ensure that there are no other infestations in food items in storage, decorative things on walls or tabletops, no wool clothing or other fabrics infested, etc. It wouldn’t do to eliminate the bugs on the carpets only to have them reinfested immediately, and you should structure any guarantees on this based on the fact that you cannot keep these beetles out of the home. I also don’t think you can do anything to provide any long term protection of the carpets, other than constant insecticide applications, which is not reasonable. 
If you choose to treat use only water based sprays and I suggest using a wettable powder. The powders are most likely to have no other solvents or chemical diluents in them. It would be best to treat a very small area first and then wait a week to see if any change whatsoever occurs to the carpets’ appearance. Recognize too that whatever you apply to these carpets will likely be removed by an intensive washing, so no residual is going to exist following the washing and if you do not treat after the carpets are once again susceptible to beetle feeding. The IGR would probably be a good addition to whatever else you apply, and an IGR is more likely to last for many months. But, I agree with you that spraying ahead of time is of little value. Cleaning alone should remove all larva and perhaps the application of just an IGR afterward would provide some extended protection. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 28, 2012

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May 25, 2012 – Mice In The Food Source

QUESTION:

We have a tomato greenhouse account where the major pest is mice. Recently they also started growing spices and herbs. The basil is very popular and the mice population has exploded. We had control with bait stations in the four corners and at a work station. Now the desision has been made to place bait stations on the exterior of the greenhouse. My question is how do I determine how many bait stations I need? Is there a formula?

ANSWER:

No, there really is no formula for how many stations or traps to place, nor for how far apart they should be. Dr. Corrigan made this point at an NPMA conference recently, challenging the ages-old formula that we should place mouse stations 10 feet apart and rat stations 20 feet apart, which was sort of the industry standard for them for many years. This was based on the presumption that mice were real homebodies and might not venture further than 10 feet from their harborage, and rats no more than 20 feet. The reality is that both of these resourceful animals will travel as far as necessary to go from available harborage to available food, so you need to carefully evaluate these two circumstances and place your stations and/or traps based on what you find. You also need to think “vertically” as well as horizontally, as both rats and mice are excellent climbers, and the harborage could be overhead with the food directly below. 

In the case of exterior baiting you may not have a reason to place many stations along lengthy sections of the exterior walls if there is no reason. There may be no entry points for long distances, and your preferred station placements may be near entrances that you are unable to permanently seal. You want them where you have the best likelihood that the wandering rodents are going to stumble upon them, at which point they are likely to enter the station, perceiving it as a momentary secure place as they wander around exposed to dangers. Once inside they will find food available and hopefully accept it at that time. 
Interesting that you were achieving good control in the past with placements at only those 4 locations. Perhaps this tells you something about the dynamics of this problem. Perhaps the interior harborages were centered near those places, and this may still be the situation if nothing else has changed. Perhaps it was at the corners where the most convenient entrances were for the mice, or that immediately outside those points there was some harborage resource that was feeding the mice to the greenhouse. It might be of value to take a careful look around the exterior to see what can be changed to upset the routines that these rodents have gotten into. The further you can push them away from the greenhouse the more likely you will get them into stations you place on the exterior, causing them to have to travel further to get to the food resource and in that process to be more exposed to predators and other hazards. 
Another suggestion made by an industry consultant years ago is NOT to skimp on stations. Use lots of them initially until you determine how large the population is and where you are getting the best results. You can always remove stations that show zero activity, but leave those that are clearly being visited by the mice. Use a combination of snap traps, multiple-catch traps, and even glue traps within stations designed for them. And, do take a good look at ways to exclude the mice from the structure as well as eliminate contributing conditions outside. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 27, 2012

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May 26, 2012 – Sprayer Pressure Is Important

QUESTION:

Kind of an odd question – approximately how many full pumps are required on a nicely maintained B&G 1 gallon stainless steel sprayer? The label on Masterline Bifenthrin 7.9 states it should be used indoors at or under 25 p.s.i., and I kind of feel like buying and using a pressure gauge for such a basic task is unreasonable.
I have been under the impression that, in general, a surface area sprayed with a finer mist would allow the area to be more evenly treated, whether it’s carpet, tile, or something else. I know there are some cases where some of the spray actually bounces off (as I’ve learned in reading about flea broadcast sprays), but do you know why the 25 psi thing was mentioned? Also, would you recommend a very high (but reasonable and safe) pressure be used on outside band sprays?
Another question about application rates on granular products. If a label states 8 oz per 100 sq feet, is the easiest way to apply it to measure 8 oz of the product, place it in a little shaker, and try to place that pre-measured amount reasonably evenly throughout the 100 sq feet?

ANSWER:

These are REALLY important questions, so I’ll go on for awhile. First on the sprayer, and the nozzle tips on hand sprayers may be one of the most overlooked items in our tool box. They get clogged and worn as time goes on and eventually the spray volume and pattern that you THINK are coming out of them no longer are. I once had a technician complaining that the flea product he used was no good and was simply not controlling fleas. So, I watched him apply it one time and realized that instead of the even fan pattern he “thought” was being applied to the carpet, his clogged and worn spray tip was putting out two widely spaced pin streams. Probably 95% of the carpet wasn’t even being treated because he failed to check his equipment and to test it now and then to be certain it was in good working condition. 

Spray tips are designed to put out the proper GPM and spray pattern when the pressure in the tank is a specific PSI. When the pressure is not the ideal pressure for that sprayer and its parts you may be fracturing the droplets into too fine a mist or allowing it to dribble out and miss the proper pattern for that application. B&G Equipment Co. has an excellent article on this topic on their website, and I think I’d call it “must” reading for everyone. We can’t use spray tips as hammers or pry bars and expect them to perform properly forever. On this article they state that the B&G sprayer and 4-way tip work best at about 20 psi, but human nature is to want to have to pump that darned tank up as few times as possible during a job. And, we get some feeling of satisfaction hearing the spray pounding onto the surface. So, our tendency is to pump it initially until we absolutely cannot get another pump done, and then to spray until the liquid is barely coming out any more. The reality is that we probably start at 100 psi and go until it’s below 10 psi. 
This is the advantage that a pressure gauge provides – knowing exactly what the pressure in the tank is so you can keep it within the range that allows the equipment to perform as it is designed to, as well as to keep you within the legal requirements on many product Labels. B&G and others have tried over the decades to develop an effective and reasonably priced “electric” pump hand sprayer that maintains the tank pressure at the optimal level. Their Portable Aerosol System does this today, but only for void injection or crack and crevice applications. 
A surface application, for fleas for example, is done best when all of the spray droplets land on the surface you are aiming at. When fine droplets (“mist”) are created it is likely they will float off to someplace else, perhaps even onto surfaces that should not be treated. When the pressure is optimal and the spray tip is in perfect condition that “fan” pattern should be ejecting equal amounts of liquid from one side of that fan to the other, and you would not want stray droplets going to other places. Keeping the pressure where it is supposed to be helps to eliminate that “bouncing” effect, also known as “off site” application. For exterior uses the same rules really do apply. Pumping up the sprayer to an unreasonably high pressure only defeats the work of the spray nozzle, although it does give us the satisfaction of less pumping and faster wetting of the surface. Here is where it may be more appropriate to switch to one of the backpack sprayers instead of a small hand tank. 
For granular applications, just as with liquids and with fogging, it is critical to know exactly how much material you are applying to any given surface area or volume. I’m willing to bet that 95% of technicians in our industry do not calibrate their granular applications. If you don’t really know how much you are applying over that surface you easily could be under or over dosing, one that leads to ineffective control and one that leads to a fine for misuse. Perhaps the best way to calibrate is to accept that YOU turn the handle on the spreader at a rate “normal” for you and that you walk at a speed normal for you. So, mark off a 1000 square foot area, place a measured amount of granules in your spreader, and then treat that 1000 square feet in the normal manner for you. Then measure the weight of the material still in the spreader and the difference is the amount that YOU apply over 1000 square feet of surface. This also relies on using a consistent opening on that spreader if you have one that is adjustable. 
I know this is always going to be somewhat of an estimate, as we really don’t expect anyone to use a measuring tape to mark off 1000 square foot plots around the yard, but you should get a feel for what that area looks like so your application is reasonably within the Label allowances. Using your suggestion would work too, but instead of trying to make that 8 ounces evenly cover that 100 feet, and in so doing perhaps try to change your own normal application style, just find out how much you do use over 100 square feet and then you will know for other uses how much to put in the spreader. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 26, 2012

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May 23, 2012 – False Or Wind – What Kind of Scorpion

QUESTION:

I had a women contact my office the other day stating that she had pseudo-scorpions in her closet. My office is in Northern Ohio (Toledo). Is this possible and what would the treatment be?

ANSWER:

There could be a case of mistaken identity here. Where she says “pseudo” scorpion, which is another name for the small False Scorpions that are found under bark, she may be meaning “wind” or “sun” scorpion, which is more properly called a Solpugid. I suppose it is perfectly possible that you could have either one, but the larger solpugids are more likely to be seen walking around inside a home. These predatory animals are harmless and non-venomous cousins of true scorpions, and rely on a very aggressive nature and excellent shredding mandibles to capture and subdue their prey, which is other small arthropods. They are most common in arid regions such as the Southwest states, but we get them in the mountains of California where it gets cold in the winter, so no reason some couldn’t exist just fine in the Upper Midwest. 

False scorpions are very small and also are predatory, but they are usually found under bark or leaf litter. They have tiny poison glands in their claws that they use to subdue the tiny insects they feed on, but they are completely harmless to people. I found them in numbers under the wings of a huge beetle in South America one time, likely there to feed on the mites that parasitize the beetle. A win-win for both beetle and false scorpion. 
Control is unnecessary other than putting the critter in a jar and placing it back outside where it can serve some benefit to the landscape by eating other bugs. If the customer is too fearful to do this a vacuum works well, and exclusion to seal off entry points under doors in order to keep them outside. If it actually turns out to be the tiny false scorpions and not a Solpugid then they were brought into the house in some material where they were hiding, and examining thing before bringing them in will stop this. 
By the way. Solpugids are also erroneously called “camel spiders” and a myth spread around the internet some years ago about the terrible dangers these awful creatures posed to soldiers in Iraq. None of the information spread about them was true, other than the fact that some large species do live in Iraq. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 25, 2012

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May 21, 2012 – One Organ, Different Uses

QUESTION:

What is the cockroach cerci?

ANSWER:

Cerci is actually plural for the pair of devices sticking out the back end of the abdomen on many insects, and singular is “cercus”. In cockroaches they are the pair of small and pointed appendages that the roaches use as sensory devices, sensing the slightest air movement on them that might signal an enemy is near, and triggering the muscles of the legs to take immediate flight to escape. On earwigs the cerci are the “pincers” at the back end, and these are used by these insects to capture prey that they eat or to defend themselves with a pinch. On male earwigs the cerci tend to be curved and long, with teeth at the base, while the cerci of the females are untoothed and more parallel along their length. 

Cerci are present on most other Orthopterans, which is the group that includes grasshoppers and crickets, and these also may be elongated, narrow appendages sticking out the back. On grasshoppers they actually have sound receptors in the cerci, although most of the reception of the chirping by male crickets is detected by a tympanum on the front legs. Because of that distinct difference in the shapes of the male and female cerci in earwigs, as well as in some crickets, it is suggested that these devices must also play a role during mating. 
So, in cockroaches the cerci are important defensive devices that signal the possible presence of predators. This is one reason they immediately run when we enter their area, as our movement of the opening of a door causes the tiny air movement that their cerci detect. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 23, 2012

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May 22, 2012 – Importing Problems

QUESTION:

I work in a hospital for mental patients. One of the “services” provided here is to have Native American ceromonies for our Native American patients. One patient has asked if he can bring in dried Pheasant wings for one of the ceremonies and then they can remain here in the hospital. I have tried to explain about carpet beetles and even furniture or hide beetles. Am I wrong to be concerned about the possibility of secondary pests concerning these wings?

ANSWER:

I think it is a very good idea that this hospital has someone on staff who is familiar with pests and their possible sources, and you are correct in at least evaluating the possibility that some unusual materials brought into the facility could attract pests. I would guarantee that, given enough time, carpet beetles would eventually find feathers lying available within any building, even a hospital. Hide beetles could still be a concern, I suppose, since there will still be original skin on these wings. 

I think it should be possible for these objects to be stored in the hospital in a manner that would be sure to exclude any pests. The trick would be to ensure they always are placed back into the sealed containers and kept there until used again. I don’t know how large the overall area of these wings is, but in my mind I am picturing placing them within a plastic bag that has no holes in it, sealing this bag, and then placing the bag into a larger plastic tub with a tight lid so that the tub could easily be labeled and stored. 
If you wanted to be extra cautious you could even place a Nuvan Prostrip in the bag periodically to absolutely ensure any beetles or their eggs or larvae are killed. If the use of a chemical is forbidden for these religious objects then perhaps you can find a way to place them in a large freezer, and this is going to take the cooperation of the dining facility staff and permission to store such an object in that food freezer. I don’t know how often they would be used for ceremonies, but a month in a freezer should be adequate to ensure the kill of any bugs that may have managed to get on the feathers. Certainly a good visual inspection of the feathers each time they are brought out should show you any insects on them as well, since the hide beetles and their larvae are fairly large and carpet beetles are smaller but still fairly obvious. 
I can see where this could be a ticklish situation that you need to be very sensitive to. Outright denial of the right of these folks to have their religious ceremonies in their traditional way could bring the media in to make a scene, and I’m sure that there are proper ways to accommodate the request. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 22, 2012

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May 19, 2012 – Got Wings, Barely Fly

QUESTION:

We all know that drywood termites have their short swarming flights in search of light, but how short are they really? Ten meters, one kilometer?
Thank you and have a good day.


ANSWER:

Termite swarmers in general are very weak fliers, and according to one major resource they typically fly only a few feet away from where they emerged before dropping to the ground, shedding their wings, mating, and seeking that new place to establish a new colony. Their wings are so poorly attached to their thorax that they have little more than a fluttering flight that gets them up and out of the escape holes or tubes from the colony. If there is any breeze, though, they may get carried quite a long distance, since they may not have the strength to overcome that breeze that is carrying them along, and one observer noted they were transported up to a mile in this manner. The stronger the wind the further they may go. 

Presumably it is consistent among the related drywood termites that they normally swarm in the middle of the day, their release from the colony triggered by bright light intensity and warm temperatures. This is also about when native subterranean termites will swarm, whereas dampwood termites swarm after the sun has gone down and it is still light enough to see. I have been camping in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California in July when swarming began, and it was really a sight to see. Clouds of these weakly fluttering termites floating around near the ground. In still air they probably went no further than those 10 meters before pairing off and starting things over again. 
As you say, swarmers may be strongly attracted to light once they emerge, and may gather at porch lights for the kinds that swarm after sundown. I often find dampwood swarmers at my own porch lights, and it is common to find subterranean swarmers in window sills after they emerged indoors. 

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Pest QuestionsMay 21, 2012

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