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Suppression is the goal in most pest situations. This reduces pest numbers to below-damaging levels. Prevention may also be an option. Click Killian Pest Control to learn more.

Pest identification is one of the first steps to effective pest control. Accurate information about the type of pest infesting your workplace can help you determine the best methods for removing it, including non-chemical strategies. This is particularly important because different pests have unique damage patterns that need to be taken into account when planning control methods.

Pests can also carry bacteria that can harm human health, making it vital to identify and remove them promptly. They often spread these diseases through fur, droppings, saliva, or feet. This can lead to serious illnesses that negatively affect businesses and their customers.

Knowing how and where pest infestations enter your home or workplace is important to prevent pest infestations. Regularly inspecting doors, windows, and vents can help you find possible entry points for pests. You should also regularly check for gnawed wood, muddy trails, or insect tunnels in your walls and attics. This information will allow you to take the necessary precautions to block entry points so that pests cannotaren’t invade your space.

If you are unsure about a pest’s identity, it is a good idea to use an online identification tool. These tools can provide information about the specific species and pictures of the pest and its damage. This will help you determine if the pest is a threat to your plants and crops and can also guide your decision about what type of treatment is needed.

If you are still trying to figure out the identity of a pest, it is a good idea to submit a physical sample to your local plant pest lab. The entomologists at the lab can analyze your mystery pest and provide you with results and suggestions for treatment. They also specialize in the identification of insects that are a threat to crops. Before sending your specimen, it is a good idea to make sure you have filled out the appropriate submission sheet. In the past, samples were sent to the laboratory preserved in alcohol, but this method of preservation is a hazard for shipping. Instead, your county office may have or be able to order propylene glycol vials for safe and secure shipping.

Pest Prevention

A pest is any organism that spoils food or causes damage. Pests can also spread germs that threaten human health, such as those carried by cockroaches, mice and fleas. They can damage clothing, carpets and personal items, like books, toys and furniture. They can have an unpleasant appearance or odor, such as rotting fruit or feces from ants, beetles and cockroaches. Some have a fierce or scary appearance, such as spiders and silverfish. Others sting or bite people, such as bed bugs and bees.

Pest prevention is less expensive than pest control, and it’s easier to implement. Identifying and learning about the pests that are a problem helps to prevent them from entering buildings or sites. Physical barriers, such as screens for windows and caulking cracks, can help keep them out.

It is important to remove sources of food, water and shelter, as well as eliminate places for them to breed and hide. This includes regularly removing garbage from the site and storing food in sealed containers. In interior spaces, avoiding clutter that provides hiding and breeding places is critical, such as stacks of paper and cardboard. It is also important to close off areas where they might enter and reside, such as caulking cracks and using steel wool around piping.

Regular inspections, both exterior and interior, can help prevent problems before they start. This is a core principle of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which stresses monitoring and treating only those locations where there is evidence of a problem and where the pests can be readily identified. Identifying the pests that are present and their habitats helps to determine where to concentrate efforts and reduce the use of pesticides.

Ideally, pests should be prevented from entering food processing environments at all. This is often not possible, however, as they are attracted to these indoor spaces primarily for water, food and shelter. In addition, their presence can lead to physical contamination of foodstuffs by rodent droppings, insect parts and intestinal worms; odor nuisance; and deterioration of materials that affect the appearance and texture of food products.

Pest Control Methods

Managing pests requires a careful evaluation of the situation and the environmental conditions that allowed the infestation to occur. Then the appropriate control methods can be implemented. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies include natural, biological, chemical, physical and cultural controls. Natural controls, such as weather or topography, limit the number and distribution of pests by making their environment unsuitable. Biological controls use natural enemies to injure or consume target pests to manage population sizes. Chemical controls — including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and plant pathogens — disrupt pests’ nervous systems, metabolism or reproduction, allowing them to be killed or prevented from reproducing. Physical and cultural practices change the environment to make it less suitable for pests and more suitable for desirable species.

Physical and mechanical control methods use devices to physically block, remove or alter pests’ access to food, water and shelter, or to otherwise interfere with their normal activities. Examples of this type of control are traps, screens, barriers, netting, and removing contaminated soil or compost. Other techniques can also be used to reduce the attractiveness of the environment to pests, such as reducing the availability of food or changing the soil pH.

Suppression of existing pest populations is often a goal of pest control, but prevention may be a more realistic and attainable outcome. This requires determining the numbers of pests at which action is needed, which can be accomplished by monitoring pests on a regular basis using different methods depending on the pest. Monitoring insect, mollusk and vertebrate pests can be done by trapping or scouting, while weed and microbial pests are usually monitored by visually inspecting for injury or damage.

A variety of biological controls are available to help prevent plant diseases, including the use of beneficial organisms, such as nematodes and bacteria, that can destroy or suppress harmful microorganisms. Some of these organisms can be added to the soil, such as the nematode Steinernema carpocapsa that can eat grubs and other pests. Other organisms can be sprayed directly onto the plants, such as the fungus nematode Ustilago maydis that helps reduce rust and other fungal diseases on vegetables and fruit crops.

Pesticides

A pesticide is any substance used for preventing, controlling or eliminating pests. It can take the form of solids, liquids or gases and is applied to soil, plants or water. Pesticides control insects, diseases, weeds and rodents but can also be used to protect crops and control fungus.

Pesticides are very hazardous chemicals, and unless used correctly, can affect human health, pets and wildlife. Even low-dose exposures can lead to a variety of health problems, including cancers, reproductive disorders, neurological problems and organ damage.

Whenever possible, choose non-chemical pest control methods. If you must use a pesticide, read the label carefully and follow all instructions, precautions and restrictions. Apply pesticides only when necessary, at the lowest recommended rate, and avoid overuse or multiple applications. Always use a dilution device or sprayer designed for your pesticide of choice and never mix pesticides together. This increases the risk of overdose or incompatibility and can lead to unsafe residues.

When using a pesticide in a building or other structure, make sure people and pets are out of the area during application and that they stay away for the amount of time specified on the product label. If pesticides are sprayed inside, keep the area ventilated by opening windows and doors. Vacuum and clean floors after treatment to reduce dust accumulation.

Wear a mask to prevent inhalation of spray or powder residues. When applying pesticides outside, be mindful of runoff that could reach a well, stream or pond and pollute the environment. Keep pesticides out of the reach of children, and always wash your hands and clothing after handling them. If you must handle pesticides around children, select products with lower toxicity and volatility, and use impermeable gloves when touching them. Avoid spraying surfaces where a child might touch them, and be especially careful not to get any pesticides on children’s toys or equipment.

In general, consistently exposing insect and mite populations to high levels of pesticides can result in them developing resistance to the chemicals. Rotating pesticides with different modes of action can help delay the onset of resistance. Generally, it is best to switch to a new mode of action after about every two or three pest generations or about every 2-3 weeks.