Pests are organisms that damage or disturb natural environments. They can cause physical food contamination, contaminate surfaces with disease-causing bacteria, and destroy plants.
Columbia MO Pest Control aims to reduce pest populations to levels that will not harm the environment or people. Pest control techniques include prevention, suppression, and eradication.
The first step in any pest control strategy is to accurately identify the pest. This can be challenging. Many pests have similar physical forms and may be very difficult to distinguish from each other without close observation or inspection. A pest’s behavior and life history also provides important clues to its identification. For example, certain pests produce pheromones that lure other members of the same species to their location. These pheromones may be used to lure other pests to trapping stations or to help guide bait placement in a pesticide treatment.
In some cases, a pest’s identification is only possible by consulting with an expert or sending it away for laboratory analysis. This is especially true when the pest must be identified to species level. At a minimum, insect pests must be identified to Order so that the appropriate, approved insecticide can be selected for use. This is particularly critical when biological insecticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis are being considered, since they are highly specific to their target insect orders.
It is also important to know the time of year and season for a particular pest so that management tactics can be implemented at the most appropriate time. This is especially true for insects, which often have a number of “weak points” or vulnerable stages in their life cycle. For example, weeds are most susceptible to control in their seedling or early vegetative stage while the larval and adult stages of some insects are most difficult to manage because they can be protected by mature leaves and other structures on the plant.
Proper pest identification also helps to minimize the use of unnecessarily harsh, toxic chemicals. This is particularly true when an integrated pest management program is being implemented. In fact, most pesticides are labeled with the common and scientific names of the pest for which they are being used, so that the correct product can be selected. This ensures that the pesticide is being used to treat a targeted organism and not something else, which could result in unintended side effects or environmental damage.
Pest Prevention
Pest prevention is a proactive approach to denying pests access to a property. It combines trend analysis, risk assessment, sanitation and cleaning, maintenance and cultural practices to prevent pests from entering a commercial property and becoming a problem. Taking a preventive approach can help to reduce the frequency of more drastic, and often costly, reactive treatments. Preventive pest control is an excellent way to support a safe and healthy working or living environment.
The need for pest control is determined by identifying what level of damage homeowners can tolerate and approximating the pest population size at which unacceptable damage will occur. This is accomplished by monitoring and recording pest counts and determining the time of year when a certain species of pest will reach damaging numbers. It also takes into consideration weather conditions that may affect population growth or if the pest is seasonal.
A pest is any animal that poses a health or safety threat to humans. This includes small mammals (e.g., rats and mice), crawling insects (e.g., cockroaches and ants) and flying insects (e.g., flies, moths and bees). It also includes rodent droppings and nests, which can spread diseases and cause damage to structures and property.
It is possible to prevent pests from gaining entry into structures and causing damage by employing structural prevention methods. These methods include installing door sweeps and tight-fitting weather stripping to eliminate entrance points. Eliminating food sources, such as trash receptacles that are frequently overfilled and have loose lids, can also help to deter pests. Sanitation and cleaning practices can reduce pest populations by improving cleanliness, removing attracting food sources and eliminating hiding places. Using pest-free seeds and transplants can reduce carryover of agricultural pests between fields.
Biological methods, which use predators, parasites and disease organisms to reduce pests, are also effective at preventing pest infestations. For example, introducing pathogens to the insect population that kills it is one of the most successful ways to manage plant-feeding pests without harming people or domestic animals. Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly known as Bt, is an insect pathogen that targets caterpillars and other Lepidopterans.
Pest Control Methods
There are many physical, biological and chemical pest control methods. These include pest proofing which is creating barriers to entry, such as caulking cracks or sealing windows. It also includes eliminating the pests’ breeding ground by removing debris, such as rodent droppings or old nests. This stops future infestations from developing and keeps current ones under control. It can be very effective and doesn’t rely on pesticides. Physical methods include traps (such as snap and sticky traps, rat and mice snap traps, and flypaper traps) and bait stations. There are also pheromone traps for certain insects, and parasitic nematodes such as the cockroach-eating nematode Steinernema carpocapsae which are sprayed in the soil to control insect infestations.
There is an increasing interest in using biological controls to manage pests, especially as they are more environmentally friendly than traditional methods. This involves introducing natural enemies of the pests in order to eliminate them through predation, herbivory or parasitism. These may be natural enemies that occur naturally in the environment, or they could be laboratory-bred and then released in small batches or in a single large-scale release.
scouting – regular searching for, identifying and assessing numbers of pests and the damage they cause. This is a key part of IPM, as it allows the establishment of thresholds above which action should be taken. For example, a few wasps in the garden every now and then are unlikely to warrant action, but if you see them every day and their numbers are rapidly rising, it is time to find and remove their nest.
suppression – reducing the numbers of pests to below a level that is unacceptable or intolerable, usually by using a combination of prevention and control measures. Suppression is a common goal and can be accomplished without the use of pesticides, but some chemicals are necessary for rapid or long-term control.
When pesticides are used, they should be used sparingly and with great care, particularly where children and pets are present. It is important to read and follow the label’s instructions, warnings and safety precautions. Avoid ‘foggers’ and other bug bombs, and always use ready-to-use products rather than those that need to be mixed. Long-term exposure to any pesticides can be harmful, so only use them when absolutely necessary and only with a licenced professional.
Pesticides
A pesticide is any substance used to prevent, destroy or control unwanted organisms. These substances include herbicides for destroying weeds, insecticides to kill or control insects, fungicides to prevent the growth of molds and mildews, and rodenticides to kill or repel mice and rats. Some pesticides are biodegradable and break down into harmless compounds in the environment, while others are persistent, meaning they may take months or years to break down.
Chemical pesticides are generally very effective against targeted organisms, but they can also have a wide range of side effects. The type of effect depends on the product, its form (solid, liquid or gas), how it is applied and environmental conditions. For example, a spray can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled into the lungs. Inhaling a pesticide can cause damage to the respiratory system or nervous system, depending on the concentration, duration and mode of application. The effects can be acute or chronic.
Whenever possible, use non-chemical methods to avoid the need for pesticides. However, if pesticides are used, select products that are designed for the specific organism and follow the label instructions carefully. Ensure that they are stored and disposed of properly to minimize environmental impacts.
Pesticides pollute air, water and soil, poisoning or killing plants and other organisms that aren’t the target. They can also harm bees, butterflies and other helpful insects, birds and animals that support — or are essential to — crop production. In addition, pesticides can “sterilize” the soil by killing microorganisms that make it fertile and productive for growing crops.
In most provinces and territories, it is illegal to sell, purchase, use or apply any pesticide without first obtaining a provincial pesticide license. Check your local bylaws for details. To minimize the use of pesticides, keep landscape areas as free from pests as possible by practicing prevention techniques such as: