Pests can cause damage to plants and structures and spread disease. They include rodents such as rats and mice, crawling insects such as cockroaches and ants, and flying insects such as mosquitoes and wasps.
Controlling pests involves preventing and reducing their numbers to acceptable levels, as well as eliminating or controlling their damaging effects. Contact Pest Control Nampa now!
Identifying pests is the first step to proper pest control. It is important to correctly identify pests because different species have different behaviors, damage, and requirements for prevention or control. Proper identification also helps determine the causes of pest problems and find methods that are most effective for managing the pest population without harming other beneficial organisms or damaging the environment.
Some common signs that pests are present include droppings and damage to items. If you see pest droppings, especially in hard-to-reach places such as in pantries or behind appliances, it is a good idea to call pest control before the problem gets out of hand. Different pests leave behind various types of droppings. Rodent droppings are small and pellet-like and can be found in cupboards, baseboards, and under sinks. Cockroach droppings, on the other hand, look more like coffee grounds or black pepper and are commonly found in kitchen cabinets and drawers.
Other signs of a pest infestation are holes in the walls, ceilings, and floors and odors from excrement or decaying organic material. Whether or not pests cause these depends on the type of pest and its life cycle. If you see these signs, calling a pest control expert is a good idea.
If you’re not sure what type of pest you have, there are a variety of online and print resources available to help with identification. These resources can include entomology and plant pathology textbooks, field guides, and pest management publications. In addition, many colleges and universities have insect or plant identification labs that can provide a more comprehensive examination of your specimen.
Another option is to submit a specimen to MMPC’s free Pest ID Center for analysis. This service allows a trained entomologist to examine the physical characteristics of a mystery pest and provide an accurate identification within two hours of submission. This is a critical component of the Pest Monitoring and Quarantine program, which protects the Nation’s agricultural and natural resources from harmful pests. The Pest ID Center utilizes advanced digital imaging technology, a network of national specialists with expertise in botany, entomology, and malacology, and molecular systematics to support USDA’s regulatory programs.
Prevention
Prevention involves a combination of physical and biological methods to keep pests out of homes and business establishments. This includes inspecting the premises regularly for signs of infestation as well as taking steps to prevent pests from finding food or water. These steps include removing sources of food and shelter, repairing leaks, storing food in sealed containers, cleaning up crumbs and other debris and using traps and baits to remove pests once they are present.
In order to effectively use prevention techniques it is important to know the pests that you are dealing with. This can be done by examining the area for pest parts, frass (excrement), or other evidence of infestation. A flashlight is useful to help locate dark, secluded areas where pests may breed or find hiding places. An extendable mirror can also be helpful to allow inspection behind and beneath equipment and furniture. A magnifying glass is useful to help identify the presence of pests and to confirm a diagnosis.
Eliminate harborage sites by routinely screening windows and doors. Caulking and plastering can be used to close off entry points into the building. Keep weeds and other plants away from the walls of buildings to reduce rodent nesting sites. Clean up food and other debris in and around the establishment.
Clutter provides hiding places for pests and can make it difficult to monitor the areas. Keep garbage cans tightly covered and remove the trash often. Eliminate places for pests to breed by removing standing water, reducing the number of eggs laid and keeping soil moist. Seal cracks and crevices around the exterior of the building with caulking and plaster. Use steel wool to fill holes that pests might use to enter.
A trained pest control operator can provide advice on how to keep insects, ants, bees was,ps, and rodents out of residential and commercial dwellings. This is called integrated pest management (IPM) and it focuses on preventing pests rather than just treating them once they have invaded. It also emphasizes monitoring for pests to determine when treatment is needed, and uses treatments that are least disruptive to humans, beneficial organisms and the environment.
Suppression
The goal of pest control is to reduce the number of unwanted organisms. This is accomplished through prevention, suppression, and eradication.
Preventing pest infestations is a great way to avoid the cost and stress of eliminating them. It is also less harmful to the environment. Prevention techniques include using pest-free seeds and transplants, timing planting dates to optimize plant competition with weeds and minimize insect infestations, using crop sanitation procedures in transporting and handling fields or sites, cleaning tillage and harvesting equipment between fields or operations, and reducing alternate host plants for insect pests and disease organisms.
Other methods of preventing a pest population from growing include utilizing field scouting and monitoring programs, planting “trap” crops, and using cultural practices in the landscape. Cultural methods in the landscape include amending soil, selecting plants adapted to site conditions and resistant or tolerant of pests, locating sun-loving plants where they receive full sunlight, mulching around plants, and managing weeds.
Biological management uses predators, parasitoids, and pathogens to reduce pest populations. Birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals that feed on pest species or their eggs or larvae often help suppress pest populations. Fungi and bacteria that kill or inhibit growth of plant-feeding pests also are useful tools in pest control.
Physical controls include traps, screens, barriers, fences, nets, radiation, and electricity. Chemicals, including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, can be used to kill or control many types of pests. These include both natural toxins, such as toxins produced by certain mushrooms or berries, and synthetic chemicals that can be made to mimic the action of natural compounds or hormones.
Sometimes, an entire population of a pest must be destroyed to stop its spread or cause significant damage. Eradication may involve spraying a house or other structure with pesticide gases, such as carbon dioxide or sulfur oxide, to kill all the pests inside. This is usually the last resort, and providers take care to protect people and property as well as the environment. A more common method is to apply baits or other nontoxic materials in places where people live and work.
Eradication
When a pest is causing serious economic damage, it may be necessary to eradicate it completely. Eradication is a long-term effort that requires monitoring, detection, and control activities at local, community, regional, national, and global levels. Often eradication is difficult because of the complexity of human behavior, the occurrence of multiple stressors, and the resiliency of some pest species.
Pests are undesirable organisms (insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes, weeds, or vertebrate animals) that negatively impact agriculture crops and foods, landscapes, lawns, and gardens; degrade human structures and yards; and alter environmental factors, including soil health, nutrient content, and available moisture, that support plants and desirable wildlife. In addition to their direct damage, many pests displace native species and disrupt ecosystems.
The word eradicate is from the Latin eradicatus, meaning “to pull up by the roots.” It was originally used to describe literal uprooting but has since evolved to refer to the idea of completely eliminating something. Eradicate is a tense, emotion-charged word that reflects the importance of eliminating pests.
In general, a pesticide is a substance that kills or incapacitates a specific pest. Pesticides come in a wide variety of forms and formulations. Most are targeted to a particular pest and must be applied correctly to be effective. Some of the most successful insect pest controls are biological control agents, which include parasites and pathogens. For example, the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produces a toxin that destroys the midgut of caterpillars. The bacterium is specific to caterpillars, so it does not harm people or other plants.
A pesticide’s effectiveness depends on how it is applied and how often, as well as the conditions under which it is used. Some pesticides require repeated applications to be effective; others wear off quickly, lose their effectiveness after rain or irrigation, or have other shortcomings. Rotating pesticides or using them in combination with other management practices may help prevent the development of resistance to a particular pesticide.
Sometimes, a pesticide fails to control a pest because the pest was not identified properly or the proper dosage was not used. Also, the pesticide may have been applied to a time of year or in a life cycle stage when it was not susceptible.