If you see unexplained damage to your home, or if you smell a strange odor, contact a pest control company right away. It could save you money in the long run by preventing further damage to your home or property.
A good pest management plan should focus on prevention, suppression, and eradication. Eliminating sources of food, water, and shelter is essential.
Pest Identification
Identifying pests is the first step in developing an integrated pest management strategy. It helps determine what cultural practices, tools, and pesticides are needed to control them. Identifying the specific species of pest also allows for more precise targeting of controls. For example, plant disease organisms may be controlled using different methods than insect pests. Similarly, beet armyworms on chrysanthemums respond to different insecticide products than other leafminer species.
Proper pest identification requires a combination of techniques such as visual inspection, trapping, and monitoring. Visual inspection includes observing physical characteristics such as size, color, shape, and other behavioral traits. Trapping and monitoring involve examining a site regularly to look for the presence of pests. This approach is called “field scouting,” and is critical to effective pest management. In some cases, a more accurate identification may require consultation with an expert or sending samples to a laboratory for testing.
In addition to identifying pests, learning about their life cycles and habits helps develop better preventive measures. For example, a knowledge of a pest’s egg-hatching cycle and growth stages can help managers time treatments to coincide with the most vulnerable stage of development. Preventive measures include limiting access to food sources by keeping garbage in tightly closed containers, removing debris that can provide harborage, and sanitizing areas where pests are likely to appear, such as under hoods of vehicles where rodents commonly hide.
Barriers and Exclusion
Many pest control treatments are reactive measures that focus on killing the pests once they’ve invaded your property. But preventing the pests from getting in the first place is far more effective, not to mention less costly over time. This approach is called exclusion, and it’s one of the key components of integrated pest management (IPM).
Exclusion involves using physical and chemical barriers to keep invading critters out of homes and buildings. This includes everything from installing mesh screens and door sweeps to caulking cracks and filling holes. For areas that can’t be sealed, such as vents and drainpipes, copper or metal mesh can be used to block pests while still allowing water and air to flow through.
When it comes to identifying potential entry points for pests, thorough inspection both inside and outside the building is essential. Look for signs of infestations, and pay special attention to identifying “hot spots” where pests commonly gather for food, water, or shelter. These locations are often obvious, but some are less so: rodents will squeeze underneath doors, for example, while cockroaches can enter through tiny holes in walls or foundations.
After identifying potential entry points, it’s important to seal them as soon as possible. Using caulking and weatherstripping to seal cracks is a good start, but for larger gaps, metal screens or spray foam may be required. Lastly, reducing the availability of food, water or shelter is also an important step in preventing pests. Store food in containers with tight lids, and promptly clean up spills and crumbs. Trimming vegetation and keeping lawns mowed and free of debris can also help prevent pests from finding attractive hiding places.
Baits and Traps
When it comes to baits and traps, there are many different options available when dealing with pest control. Traps can range from traditional snap or glue traps to pheromone-based traps that release synthetic pheromones designed to mimic the natural signals produced by a pest’s body. Pheromone traps are particularly useful when targeting insects like moths, beetles, and fruit flies.
Depending on the type of pest targeted, there are also specialized traps. For example, to target Japanese beetles, which cause turf damage, there are commercial traps that intercept flying beetles and capture them inside a disposable bag or container. This allows the beetles to be relocated away from susceptible plants without being killed. In general, traps are best used in conjunction with barriers and exclusion, especially when a pest infestation is widespread and has become resistant to baits and other controls.
When using traps, it’s important to know the biology of the pest you are targeting. For example, rodents are more likely to visit bait stations if they’re located along runways, behind walls, or in corners. Likewise, it’s best to place bait stations in trees only if they’re tamper-resistant and anchored securely to prevent access by livestock, dogs, or native ground-dwelling species like weka. It’s also important to ensure that non-target species are not exposed to poisonous baits by correctly positioning and regularly servicing traps and bait stations.
Pesticides
Pesticides are chemicals that kill or prevent insects, weeds, rodents, mildew, nematodes, or other organisms that damage plants or threaten human health. They are available as sprays, dust, liquids, gases, or absorbed through the leaves of the plant (systemic). A pesticide may be designed to kill, harm, or deter an entire species, a group of species, or specific individuals. It may be used as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) plan.
Pest control tactics like scouting, physical barriers, and biological controls are most effective in preventing pest problems without resorting to toxic chemicals. But even if they are used properly, the use of pesticides can have unintended consequences that harm ecosystems and people as well.
Whenever possible, we try to avoid using pesticides by applying non-chemical methods. But if we must use them, we follow all applicable rules and regulations for the application of each product.
The most commonly used pesticides are insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. They are manufactured from chemical compounds such as organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids. They are also found naturally in some plants such as chrysanthemums, where they act as natural pesticides. Most pesticides are reviewed and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before being sold in the country. They are also subject to state regulations and review processes. Pesticides can be dangerous to children and pets if they are not handled and stored correctly.