Pests are organisms that damage or spoil crops, food, living and working environments. They can also spread disease.
Identifying a pest helps develop an effective pest control strategy. This includes finding out a pest’s life cycle and the time it is most susceptible to being controlled. For example, parasitic nematodes (microscopic worms) can be sprayed on the soil and kill pests like fleas and grubs. Contact North Vancouver Pest Control now!
Pest Identification
Accurate identification of pests is essential to determine the need for and extent of pest control. This is true for do-it-yourselfers as well as professional pest management technicians. Without a clear picture of the pest’s characteristics and level of activity, a control program is likely to be ineffective or even harmful.
Taking the time to identify a potential pest can pay off in saved dollars and prevented damage to collections. When a pest problem is identified, an integrated pest management (IPM) plan can be developed that uses the least-intrusive methods possible to manage the situation without harming people or the environment.
Proper pest identification provides important information, including how the pest behaves, what it eats, where it lives, and other biological clues. This knowledge can help develop preventative and control measures that avoid damaging or destroying the pests themselves, as well as their food sources and nesting areas.
The first step in the pest identification process is to examine the pest closely to note physical features, such as shape, size, color, number of legs or wings, and whether it has antennae. This information is then compared to a pest identification guide to see which species resembles the pest being observed.
A variety of resources are available for identifying pests, from simple printed guides to online image galleries and databases. When using any online resource, it is best to use at least two or more sources for verification; inaccuracies are common.
If you have difficulty determining what type of pest is present, contact your local NPMA-certified pest control professional for assistance. In addition to conducting an inspection and preparing a pest control plan, a qualified technician should be able to provide you with helpful tips for controlling the pests in your home or business, including the correct application of pesticides, the proper form and dosage of the active ingredient used, any safety instructions, and recommendations on how to reduce your exposure to the chemical while it is being applied.
Inspect the technicians who work at your property for a pest control company’s logo and license number. These should be prominently displayed on the vehicle the technician drives and on their uniforms. You can also ask the technician to show you a copy of their pest control certification.
Pest Prevention
Pest prevention involves economically and environmentally responsible methods that reduce the conditions that lead to pest infestations. Often these are simple things, such as regularly cleaning areas where pests live and storing food indoors rather than leaving it out. It also includes sealing entry points and maintaining drainage systems.
Properly executed, pest preventive measures can eliminate the need for more intensive control activities. When it is determined that a pest must be controlled, the goal is to reduce the pest population to a level acceptable for human safety and business operations. Pest suppression and prevention are the most common approaches to pest management.
Generally speaking, pests are easier to control when they are young or immature. For example, weeds are easier to kill in their seedling stage, and plants are typically easier to control when they are young or just beginning to grow (annuals) or prepare for dormancy (perennials). For many pests, determining their specific life cycle is critical information that helps determine the most appropriate and effective control tactics.
Vigilance in reporting pest sightings, especially when coupled with prompt follow-up actions, is critical to preventing pest problems before they escalate and require more extensive treatment. In addition, training staff on pest identification and habits is essential for effectively communicating potential pest issues to pest control technicians.
Lastly, using non-chemical methods to limit the presence of pests in areas where they are most likely to cause damage or nuisances is also important. For example, keeping trash receptacles and outdoor furniture securely closed and storing foods in the refrigerator can prevent flies, fruit flies, mosquitoes and other annoying pests from making their way into homes or commercial buildings. Maintaining drainage systems and removing standing water and other sources of moisture can keep pests away from structures, and trimming bushes and other vegetation, removing shelters, and denying access to food and hiding places can also be helpful.
While these methods may be time-consuming, they are far more effective than attempting to control an established pest infestation using chemical methods. Chemicals are often more harmful to humans and pets than the pests they target, so their use should be restricted to when other options have been exhausted. Only qualified, licensed pest control professionals should apply chemicals that minimize risks and are suited to the particular situation.
Pest Suppression
Pests are undesirable organisms such as insects, weeds, diseases, nematodes, viruses, or vertebrate animals that damage crops, landscapes, buildings, and structures; displace native plants and wildlife; or cause other adverse effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Pests can be controlled by using natural, biological, cultural, chemical, or mechanical controls. Natural controls include environmental factors that limit the number of pests, such as weather or topography. Biological controls use predators, parasites, and disease organisms that ordinarily occur in nature to reduce pest populations. Chemical controls employ synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals that either directly or indirectly affect the pest population size or its behavior. Cultural controls involve modifying management practices to make an environment less suitable for pests and more acceptable for desirable species.
Identifying the presence of pests is necessary before you can decide whether or not to control them. Proper identification also helps you choose the best control tactics and determine when to apply them. Pests are often concentrated in areas where they have been introduced, so monitoring your field, garden, farm, or landscape to determine the severity of a problem or the extent of damage can help you make informed decisions about the need for pest control. Monitoring may be done by checking a crop, landscape, or structure for signs of pest activity such as holes in plant leaves or fruit, infestation levels, pesticide resistance, and damage to the plant or structure.
Preventive measures are the first line of defense against pests. They include using pest-free seeds and transplants, avoiding irrigation scheduling that results in soil conditions favorable to disease development, cleaning tillage and harvesting equipment between fields or sites, sanitizing tools and plant debris, and eliminating alternative hosts and overwintering habitats for insect pests. Biological controls can be supplemented by releasing more of the pest’s enemies in an area where they are lacking, or by introducing new enemies that were not present before. Research has shown that multiple enemies attacking a pest at different stages of life or by using different methods of attack are more effective than a single enemy species.
Pest Eradication
Occasionally, some pest populations become so widespread and damaging that they must be eradicated completely. Eradication methods may include spraying, baiting, trapping or physical destruction. Pest eradication is usually done by professionals and requires thorough knowledge of the pest, its habitat and how it behaves. Professionals also use a wide variety of methods to prevent and control pest infestations. These methods include environmental, biological, cultural, mechanical and genetic controls. Environmental controls influence environmental factors that limit pest populations, and they can be natural (such as weather or topography) or cultural (how people manage a site). Biological controls are organisms that injure or consume pests, such as predators, parasitoids or disease organisms. Cultural controls modify the environment to make it less suitable for pests or more suitable for desirable species. Mechanical and genetic controls directly impact or limit pest populations.
A good manager understands when and how to apply these different controls. The goal is to keep pests at a level that does not cause economic or aesthetic damage and to reduce the need for chemical control measures. This approach is called integrated pest management, or IPM.
IPM involves monitoring, scouting, identifying and correctly assessing pests and the damage they are causing. It also includes using thresholds to determine when treatment is needed. For example, if a tree’s trunk is covered with shelf fungus or the bark has oozing cracks, it probably needs to be treated. However, if the tree is still healthy and the damage has not yet reached economic injury levels, it might not need to be treated.
Preventing pests is much easier and cheaper than getting rid of them once they have taken hold, so it makes sense to put preventive practices in place as soon as possible. Encourage customers to caulk cracks and seal gaps to keep out pests. It is also a good idea to inspect plants regularly for eggs, immature and adult pests. Often, it is possible to hand-pick these pests without disturbing the plant. A little time invested in scouting and identifying pests can be saved by not having to kill the pests later with chemicals.
