Pests are organisms that damage or disturb plants and other living things. They may also carry disease-causing pathogens or spoil food and other possessions.
Regular pest control preserves property value and protects health and safety. Preventive measures include staking or covering plants, timing plantings to avoid insect peak infestation periods and encouraging natural predators such as praying mantises, lacewings, ladybugs and ground beetles. Contact Bakersfield Pest Control now!
Identifying pests is an important first step in any pest control program. Proper identification can help you learn about the life cycle of the pest, factors that favor its development and conditions under which it thrives, as well as procedures for prevention or control. Incorrect identification can result in costly mistakes. For example, a pesticide application may fail to control a pest because the pest was in a different life stage or location at the time of the spraying or because the wrong type of pesticide was used.
Many common household pests such as ants, flies, worms, beetles and spiders can be identified with the help of a good field guide or by visiting websites that provide pest identification services. Some sites offer photographs of the pests, their damage, habits, habitats, threats and management options. Others allow you to enter information about the pest such as its size, color and wings or antennae. You can also compare pest characteristics to images of the species and click on the category that best resembles your pest.
Vertebrate pests such as rodents and birds can be difficult to identify, particularly when they are juvenile or in the nest. The USDA’s Wildlife Service website offers a series of online tools to help you narrow down potential vertebrate pests based on their tracks, droppings or damage. Other online resources can help you identify bird and bat species.
Biological pest control uses predators, parasitoids and disease organisms to reduce or eliminate pest populations. Examples of biological management include the use of bacteria to kill caterpillars and other insects by targeting their digestive system. Bacillus thuringiensis, for instance, produces toxins that destroy caterpillars in the midgut. Several formulations of the bacteria are available to manage various insect pests.
The best way to protect plants from insect infestations is to prevent them by providing a suitable environment, including water, food and shelter. Regular inspection of the garden and landscape can also help detect an infestation early. Many insect problems can be managed with traps or baits that are placed where the pests are located or with relatively low-risk sprays of horticultural oil, neem or other nontoxic products.
Pest Control Strategy
A pest control strategy is the plan used to manage a pest infestation. It should include prevention, suppression and, in some cases, eradication. Prevention methods focus on preventing an infestation from occurring in the first place. They can include inspecting all incoming and outgoing products, labeling everything to be shipped and following the first-in/first-out (FIFO) inventory management system. Cleaning consistently, focusing on cracks and crevices, is also very important.
Suppression techniques reduce the number of pests below an unacceptable level. These can include barriers, such as screens, floating row covers and fences, as well as traps, baits and lures. Changing the environment can also be an effective control method. Altering soil temperature and moisture, reducing weeds and using resistant plant varieties can discourage pests.
Eradication, which destroys the entire pest population, is rarely an option in outdoor settings. It can be more easily achieved in enclosed environments such as health care, food processing, and commercial storage facilities.
The best way to use pesticides is to prevent or suppress the infestation with non-chemical controls before resorting to chemical treatments. Incorporating the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach, which includes scouting and threshold-based decision making, is a good place to start.
Biological control is the use of predators, parasites and disease organisms that naturally occur in nature to control pests. Examples of these organisms include the lady beetles that eat aphids, nematodes that suppress turfgrass pests such as green June beetle grubs and pathogens like viruses that infect insects.
In addition to biological controls, non-chemical control measures include cultural and sanitation practices that can discourage pests. These include maintaining clean tools and the work area, rotating crops, keeping aphid populations low by spraying with neem oil, and planting beneficial flowers such as asters, dandelions and serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) to attract natural predators and parasitoids.
If a pesticide is used, it is recommended that only the lowest risk product be applied. This will reduce the potential for off-target movement of the pesticide and its toxicity to other plants or animals, as well as the need for frequent applications.
Pesticide Tactics
Whether by killing, deterring or repelling pests or changing the environment in which they live, chemicals are among the most powerful pest control tactics. They are also the fastest way to get results, which is why pesticides are often used as the first step in a control program. However, using chemical pesticides as your only method of managing a problem is not sustainable. Chemicals are most effective when used in combination with other methods, as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy.
IPM strategies are designed to minimize the use of pesticides while achieving the best possible result. This approach is more ecologically friendly than attempting to eliminate all pests, and can be applied to urban, agricultural, or wildland and natural areas.
Thresholds are the point at which a pest population begins to cause unacceptable damage. Scouting and monitoring help you to determine the threshold for each pest. For example, if you spot a few wasps flying around your vegetable garden, it may not be necessary to take action; but if you see hundreds of wasps gathering in the same place, it is time for a control measure.
Preventive and suppressive tactics aim to reduce the size of a pest population before it becomes a problem. Preventive measures include scouting and monitoring, but can also involve planting crops that are less attractive to pests or providing barriers to them, such as a fence or row covers. Suppressive measures include trapping, physical removal, and chemical applications of pesticides.
In addition to chemical pesticides, biological and cultural pest control techniques can be useful. For example, the bacteria Bt israelensis and Bt kurstaki provide effective control of more than 400 insect species by producing toxin that destroys their midguts. Changing irrigation practices can also help reduce pest problems, by eliminating excess watering that leads to root disease or weeds, or by providing more even moisture in the soil.
Whenever using pesticides, always read and follow the product label, and never mix different products unless instructed to do so. Choose pesticides that you feel comfortable handling and using, and make sure to wear protective clothing and equipment. In cases of accidental exposure, immediately wash affected skin and contact a medical professional.
Monitoring
Pests pose a risk to people and products; they can carry diseases, contaminate food or cause structural damage. By monitoring, a facility can detect a pest problem before it becomes too severe and expensive to treat or prevent. The key to effective monitoring is working with a professional pest management company. They can provide the right tools for your situation and teach you how to use them.
Monitoring is the process of identifying and recording pest activity to determine when pesticide control is needed. It is typically done with the help of visual inspection, trapping and scouting. Visual inspection is important because pests can hide in dark places, secluded areas or behind equipment and furnishings. Using a flashlight and a magnifying lens, inspectors can identify signs of pests such as debris, frass (excrement), and droppings. A telescoping mirror allows inspectors to get into corners and under machinery. Other monitoring tools include sticky traps, pheromone traps and indicator plants.
Ideally, pest identification and monitoring occur throughout the production area and warehouse to locate problems before they become serious. However, most facilities don’t have the time or resources to monitor every square inch of their facilities. In such cases, an action threshold and a specific pest target are used to guide monitoring efforts. In addition, a phenology calendar can help correlate pest behavior with seasonal climate changes, making it easier to forecast when a pest infestation will occur and what action should be taken.
The goal of most IPM programs is prevention and control, not eradication. Eradication is rarely the goal of outdoor pest situations, but is a common goal for indoor environments such as restaurants and hospitals.
Advanced monitoring devices and pest technology can save a lot of time for technicians by sending instant notifications when they are activated by a pest. This can give the technician the time to inspect and solve the problem, rather than simply putting traps in and waiting for them to be filled. This can also help a facility to detect a problem sooner, which means the pest control service can take action before the problem gets too severe and costly.
