Identifying pests allows you to tailor control methods to the kind of organism you are dealing with. This helps reduce the chances of off-target impact. Contact Pest Control Bakersfield CA now!
Threshold levels have been determined for many pests, defining their presence at unacceptable levels based on esthetic and health concerns.
Pheromones can be used to monitor pest populations; and juvenile hormones can be applied to prevent some pests from maturing into adulthood.
Many pest control strategies focus on prevention. Preventative measures aim to change the conditions that favor a pest’s presence and abundance, such as providing an alternative food source or changing the moisture level in an environment. They also aim to alter the population of predators and parasites that feed on pests.
When a pest infestation is still in its early stages, preventive methods often prove most effective. These can include sealing off points of entry, such as repairing cracks in walls and caulking leaky pipes, or making it more difficult for pests to find their way inside by removing attractants such as water, food, shelter or light.
Clutter is a common attractant for pests, including rodents, spiders and insects. Eliminate wood piles and debris near your house, and trim back shrubs and bushes that might give pests access to the foundation. Ensure that there is a clear path of at least 18″ around the foundation of your home to deter pests from entering.
Indoors, be sure to store all foods in tightly sealed containers, and remove trash regularly. Keep indoor garbage cans closed and sanitized, and don’t place them right up against the house. Don’t let dishes and utensils sit out overnight, and clean up spills or crumbs as soon as they happen. Keep humidity levels low by adjusting air conditioning settings and using dehumidifiers.
Rodents and bugs need water to regulate their bodies, and they will enter a home or building seeking it, particularly in warm weather. Make it hard for them to find their way in by closing doors and windows, utilizing bug zappers or screens on windows, and cleaning up bird feeders and baths regularly.
Some pests may be more easily controlled by preventing their access to food or water sources, but others cannot be prevented altogether. When this is the case, prevention must be followed by suppression or eradication.
Suppression
Pests can be controlled by preventing them from getting what they need to live and reproduce: food, water, shelter, and air. Eliminating these factors also stops them from spreading and causing damage. The simplest form of suppression is to use a barrier such as a fence or net to keep out pests. More sophisticated methods include the use of traps and baits to kill or capture the pests. Chemical controls may be applied directly or through barriers such as sprays, fogging, or vaporizing insecticide.
Some types of pests are a continuous nuisance and require regular control; others are sporadic or migratory, and only need to be controlled occasionally or intermittently. A pest’s potential to cause significant harm is what determines whether it should be controlled.
Preventive pest control is generally preferred, but when the threat of disease or physical damage to people or property cannot be ignored, pesticides may need to be used. The best approach is to minimize the need for pesticides by removing food, water and shelter from the environment and by cleaning up refuse and other sources of infestation. Other preventive measures include storing foods in sealed containers, and making sure garbage cans are tightly closed, and that trash is removed regularly. Closing off places pests can enter and hide, such as caulking cracks, plugging holes with steel wool, and fitting screens on doors and windows, is also helpful.
Regulatory pest control uses quarantine and eradication strategies to contain large pest problems. This type of control is often necessary for agricultural crops, and it is used in health care, food processing, and commercial storage facilities. The goal of eradication is to eradicate the pest completely; however, this can be difficult in outdoor settings.
Biological pest control is the conserving or releasing of natural enemies to reduce pest populations. This includes predators and parasitoids of the pest, such as mites that feed on mite pests in orchards or nematodes that kill harmful soil grubs in greenhouses, and wasps that attack greenhouse whitefly. These natural enemies can be purchased commercially and released to supplement preventive controls.
Biological Control
Biological control, also called biorational pest control, involves using non-toxic predators or parasitoids (insects that kill the pest insects that they attack) or disease organisms (fungi, viruses) to reduce unwanted insect pest populations. In a typical biological control program, the goal is to get pest population levels below an economic threshold without damaging the crop. Biological control can be used to manage all kinds of plant pathogens and unwanted plants (weeds) as well as insects.
Several different types of natural enemies (including insects, fungi, and bacteria) are effective at controlling pests. Many of these are found in the home garden or in agricultural fields and are adapted to local environments. Examples include lady beetles, lacewings, hover fly larvae, and parasitized aphid mummies. Unfortunately, most of these are not used as pest control agents and their activities often go unnoticed.
When they are successfully used, biological control can replace chemical pesticides and can be cost-effective and sustainable if properly managed. However, there are many factors that must be considered when managing any kind of biological control agent. The proper selection and timing of biological control agents, their introduction, and the management of the host plant can all influence how effective they are.
There are two general approaches to biological control: conservation and augmentation. Conservation biological control is practiced by encouraging and protecting natural enemies in the landscape through changes in landscape management practices. This is a practice that can be readily applied in the home garden and in commercial production systems.
Augmentation biological control is the mass production and periodic release of biological control agents to provide effective levels of pest suppression. The most widely augmented species of natural enemy is the endoparasitized wasp Trichogramma, which has been used in classical biological control programs for over 70 years. In a typical augmentation program, the number of Trichogramma wasps is increased in an insectary and then released in crops or forests at times when the number of target pest eggs is high.
Successful biological control requires detailed research on the biology of the pest, its natural enemies, and their possible interaction. Once an appropriate natural enemy is identified, it must be studied, quarantined to ensure it will not introduce pathogens to native species, and then approved for use.
Natural Forces
Some pests are controlled naturally by predators, parasites, diseases and other organisms that compete for resources or kill the organism. These natural forces, known as natural enemies, are an important part of the ecosystem and play a role in keeping pest populations low. Natural predators and competitors can also restrict the growth of some pests by limiting their food or shelter supplies. Geographical features such as mountains and large bodies of water limit the spread of some pests.
In some situations, a threshold level is defined at which action must be taken to control pests. This may be based on esthetic, health or economic considerations. For example, the presence of rats or cockroaches in homes and food preparation environments usually forces action to be taken to prevent infestations. In outdoor settings, eradication is rarely a goal except where the pests pose a threat to human health, as in the case of rabies and some other diseases.
Mechanical or physical controls include traps, screens, barriers and fences that block pest access to food or shelter. Altering the environment by limiting resources can also be effective. Temperature, light and humidity can all influence pest population levels. Physical controls such as these are sometimes combined with chemical solutions to enhance their effectiveness.
Chemicals can contaminate the environment or cause health hazards when used incorrectly, so care is required to limit exposure. In addition, the use of chemicals often carries the risk of pesticide resistance. For these reasons, most pest control methods involve the use of prevention and suppression rather than eradication.
Other methods of control include the use of pheromones and juvenile hormones to control insect pests. Pheromones are chemicals that attract and confuse male insects, preventing them from mating and thus reducing the number of pests. Juvenile hormones are chemicals that reduce the number of immature pests by disrupting their development cycle.
Classical biological control is the introduction of one or more natural enemy species of foreign origin to control a pest that is also of foreign origin (often called exotic, invasive or alien). For example, decapitating flies are used to control fruit flies, and stem borers are used to control alligator weed. This approach to pest control is generally conducted by scientists and requires substantial funding.
