Pests can cause damage to plants, structures and contaminate food. Regular pest control helps preserve property value and ensures health and safety.
Correct identification is the first step in successful pest control. Preventative measures include attracting organisms that feed on unwanted pests (such as parasitic nematodes) and modifying habitats to make them less favorable for pests. Contact Meridian Pest Control now!
Preventative pest control is a form of hygiene management that keeps pest infestations at bay. It focuses on prevention with regular inspections, maintenance and treatments to prevent the growth of pests in areas where they are undesirable, such as homes, business premises and retail or food preparation environments. Prevention involves creating barriers that stop pests from entering a building and removing the conditions that favor their development. It may include caulking cracks, modifying the landscape to avoid nesting sites, putting food scraps in odor-blocking containers, and keeping garbage receptacles tightly closed. It also includes reducing clutter where pests can hide or breed.
The main reason for taking preventive measures is that many pests cause a health hazard, like rodent droppings that spread diseases such as salmonella or have a displeasing appearance, such as cluster flies, fleas, bed bugs, and cockroaches. Some have destructive habits, like bees, wasps, house centipedes, or mice. Others can stain or damage buildings and personal items, such as clothes, moths, pine seed bugs, and boxelder bugs. Some even sting or bite, such as mud dauber wasps and yellow jackets.
There are three types of pests: continuous, which are nearly always present and require regular control; sporadic, which tend to occur in certain environmental conditions but do not need control at all under normal circumstances; and potential pests that could become a problem under the right conditions. Prevention is more effective for sporadic and potential pests, because the steps required to deter them are typically much easier and less expensive than eradication or suppression.
Achieving effective preventive control requires vigilance and a willingness to change the way things are done, such as keeping garbage receptacles tightly sealed or washing out empty food containers before putting them in the trash. It also means avoiding over-applying chemical sprays that can poison pets, children and adults. It requires a good understanding of the pests to be prevented and how they are most likely to be attracted to a given environment, such as the fact that ants have five times more olfactory receptors than their counterparts.
Suppression
Suppression involves lowering the level of a pest population to a safe and manageable amount. This may be achieved by natural or artificial means.
Natural forces that influence pest populations include climate, natural enemies, natural barriers, and availability of food and water supplies. These factors act on all organisms and can help or hinder pest control efforts.
Many pests carry disease, which can affect humans and other animals and cause plant damage. Viruses, bacteria, and fungi are commonly carried by pests and can spread on surfaces, in food, and even through air.
Chemical pesticides are often used to kill or control pests. These chemicals can be very effective, but are usually toxic to humans and other organisms, so care is required when using them. It is also important to know how to properly identify pests before applying any type of pesticide. For example, what might appear to be a rat in your roof could actually be a possum.
Physical pest control includes traps, screens, barriers, nets, radiation, electricity and other devices that alter the environment to prevent or limit the emergence of pests. This method is more common in enclosed environments such as offices, hospitals, and food service facilities.
In many cases, eradication is not possible for outdoor pests. However, it is a possible goal in some situations such as when an exotic insect species has become established and needs to be controlled. Eradication is also a possible objective for some pests in indoor areas, such as roaches, rodents, and flies.
The responsibilities of pest control are reflected in legislation that governs pest management practices. These include the Food Safety Act, which requires that establishments that handle food take appropriate measures to prevent pests from contaminating their products. It is also an enabling law that compels businesses to employ professional pest control services when needed to protect their employees and customers. This type of pest control includes inspections, treatment, and follow-up visits to ensure that the problem has been fully addressed.
Eradication
Eradication is the destruction of a pest to the point that it can no longer breed, grow or spread. Typically, it requires extensive and expensive research into the pest and its natural enemies, and a carefully planned sequence of releases. It also involves the development of diagnostic tools and biocontrol organisms that are sensitive to the pest and can be transported and released in a manner that is cost-effective.
The word eradication comes from the Latin verb eradicare, which means to “pull up by the roots”—a metaphorical action much like yanking a weed out of the ground. Its other meanings are exterminate, extirpate and eradicate. The latter is often used in a political context to refer to the complete destruction of a group, nation or idea.
For plant pests, eradication efforts are usually directed at the invasive species that pose the greatest threat to agriculture or biodiversity. These may be introduced for cultivation, such as the alfalfa weevil Anthonomus grandis or the brown rot of tomato Ralstonia solanacearum, or escaped from gardens and other habitats.
An eradication campaign is considered a success only when the organism has been officially declared eradicated. This is determined by the authority responsible for the eradication campaign. It depends on the level of threat, seed-bank longevity and a number of other factors.
The optimal classification tree for the factors affecting the success of eradication campaigns is shown below. It shows that the probability of eradication is highly dependent on the duration of the eradication campaign and the level of control effort. The chance of eradication decreases with increasing time since the emergence of the pest and with the size of the infested area. It is also likely that successful eradication campaigns are those that were initiated before the pest reached a critical threshold in a given region or country.
A study of the 173 eradication campaigns against invertebrate and vertebrate plant pests, pathogens (viruses, bacteria and fungi) and weeds showed that the likelihood of success is higher when the campaign is at the local rather than the international scale. This is likely due to the fact that a local campaign is more easily monitored and controlled. The chances of a successful eradication increase with the level of funding and commitment. It is also more likely that an eradication campaign will succeed if it targets high-priority pests that have the potential to damage large areas of agriculture or wild biodiversity.
Monitoring
Keeping track of pest numbers is a major part of any IPM program. It consists of scouting, trapping, and other methods for monitoring insect and mite populations and the damage they cause. Monitoring also involves watching for plant development and phenology. Phenology is a word that refers to the timing of certain life cycle events such as budding, blooming or dormancy in relation to climatic conditions. Correlating climatic conditions with plant development can help in forecasting when pest populations may reach threshold levels.
Insects, aphids and mites are often monitored with trapping devices, while weeds, viruses and disease organisms are scouted for by eye. Observing the damage caused by a pest can often tell if control measures are needed, although this method of monitoring is less effective for some organisms. For example, some insects are difficult to detect visually because they are small and have a cryptic appearance (like spiders, silverfish or earwigs). Others bite or sting and may cause allergic reactions (like wasps, bees, fleas or cluster flies). They stain fabrics or damage gardens, homes and personal belongings (like mice, rats, bed bugs or cockroaches).
Pest control technicians use a variety of methods for pest monitoring including checking traps, scouting, examining plants and recording observations. They also can use special devices called monitor traps that are designed to collect data on pest numbers over a period of time. These devices usually consist of a plastic or cardboard base covered with a sticky substance that attracts pests. When they walk or fly into the trap, they become stuck and can’t escape. There are many different types of monitor traps, some of which rely on pheromone attractants to lure insects into the trap, and others that can record a pest’s movements using electronic sensors.
Monitoring can be done by the pest manager himself, but is often more effective if employees at a home, office, farm, garden or other facility are encouraged to regularly report what they see. This can be especially important in areas that are highly susceptible to infestation, such as operating rooms and other sterile environments at hospitals.