Pest control is any action taken to eliminate unwanted organisms. It may involve inspecting the pest problem, removing breeding/harborage areas, and treating the pests themselves.
Physical controls include sticky barriers, heat killing, and flooding (storage pests). Preventive measures involve removing sources of food, water, and shelter. These include storing foods in sealed containers, regularly eliminating garbage, and fixing leaky plumbing. Click the Website to learn more.
Taking steps to prevent pest problems before they occur is the best way to avoid costly and stressful pest control efforts. Depending on the type of pest, this may include sealing cracks in buildings and crop fields, practicing good sanitation and hygiene practices, planting resistant or tolerant crops, and controlling sources of pest carryover such as manure and trash.
Pests primarily seek food, so making it difficult to find what they want can help prevent infestations. Keep food in sealed containers, and regularly clean counters and other surfaces where crumbs or spills might accumulate. Keep garbage cans and dumpster areas covered and emptied frequently. Keep yard debris away from the foundation of buildings and other structures, and trim trees and bushes to avoid letting them rub against walls or roofs.
Regularly inspect indoor and outdoor spaces for cracks, gaps, squeaking or chirping noises, and other signs of possible pest activity. These sounds are often louder at night and could indicate the presence of insects, rodents, or other pests, which should be addressed as soon as they’re noticed.
Keeping the environment in which pests live as hospitable as possible can also prevent them from becoming problematic. This includes reducing their access to water, since pests are able to thrive in damp or wet environments. It’s essential to fix leaks promptly, and regularly clean up and sanitize sinks, drains and other utility areas. It’s also helpful to remove standing water sources, such as puddles or buckets, since pests like frogs and beetles need water for survival.
Other environmental factors that can affect pest populations include air circulation, temperature and moisture. Ensure that vents are working properly, and use dehumidifiers in basements or other areas where excessive moisture might build up. Providing adequate light and warmth can also discourage pests by limiting the amount of food they are able to gather and store.
When all preventive measures fail to stop a pest population from growing out of control, it’s time to consider suppression or eradication. These are more commonly used methods in enclosed environments, such as homes, schools, offices, and health care, food processing, and food preparation facilities, where certain pests cannot be tolerated.
Suppression
Pest control measures are used when a pest problem exists and the damage it causes is not acceptable. The goals of pest control are prevention, suppression, and eradication. Prevention is the most desirable goal, but sometimes pests build up to a level that requires action. Suppression reduces the pest population to an acceptable level, and eradication destroys the pest completely. Pests that are controlled by a combination of preventive and suppressive methods often can be kept below the threshold where control is required without using pesticides.
Some pests can be controlled by preventing them from getting food, water, or shelter. For example, a rat or mouse infestation can be prevented by cleaning up rodent droppings and removing clutter where the mice or rats can hide. Other pests are best controlled by removing their breeding sites. Plowing, crop rotation, and the removal of infected plant material all are cultural controls that limit pest populations by depriving them of food or shelter. Natural barriers, such as mountains or large bodies of water, restrict the spread of some pests.
Noises such as scurrying or scratching can be warning signs of a pest infestation. In addition, certain odors can indicate a pest problem. For instance, a musty smell suggests mold from excessive moisture and an ammonia smell indicates a rodent problem.
When pest populations are small, preventive controls can usually keep them below the economic or aesthetic threshold. However, when the pest population reaches an unacceptable threshold, or the preventive controls fail to work, chemical control may be needed to achieve a desired level of pest suppression.
Chemical pest control includes a wide range of products. Some are designed to deter pests by disrupting their nervous systems or affecting their growth or development. Others are designed to kill pests or their eggs. Examples of chemical controls include pheromones (manmade copies of the odors that female insects give off to attract males), traps, lures, and poisons. Juvenile hormones are a chemical control that keeps immature pests from developing into normal adults, reducing the pest population.
Biological control harnesses microorganisms such as predators, parasites, and pathogens to manage pest populations. For example, nematodes are tiny, worm-like organisms that attack and kill the larvae of some pests. Nematodes are a non-toxic alternative to conventional insecticides, and they can be applied directly to the soil where the pests live.
Eradication
Pesticides kill or repel specific pests by disrupting their nervous systems, but often the chemicals do not work as advertised. This is often due to pest resistance, but may also be because the wrong pesticide was used or the application time was not right. In addition, pesticides can harm other plants and animals if not used properly or if they are applied too often. These other damages can far outweigh the benefits of pesticide use, especially when it comes to home usage. Foggers and bombs, for example, can spread dangerous chemicals around the house and are not recommended.
Preventive measures, such as removing the conditions that promote pests and regularly cleaning areas where they live, prevent infestations from developing. IPM strategies include regular scouting and monitoring of pest populations to determine when action is required. For example, a single wasp flying around does not warrant reaching for the bug spray. But if you see several wasps every day, a nest should be located and removed.
Suppression methods limit the population growth of existing pests by quickly applying controls after they are detected. This includes spraying for pests such as mosquitoes, ants and fleas with insecticides that kill them or cause them to dehydrate. The goal is to prevent the population from growing to an unmanageable size, which can cause a serious health risk to people and pets.
Eradication is rarely a goal for outdoor pests, but in indoor environments such as dwellings; schools, hospitals and offices; and food processing, food preparation and storage facilities, it may be necessary. It is possible to eradicate some pests in enclosed environments with the help of biological control, a type of prevention that relies on natural enemies such as parasites, predators and pathogens.
In a home, eradicating pests usually requires a combination of physical and biological pest control techniques, including regular inspections and monitoring and the use of baits. Store food in sealed containers and keep garbage and compost bins tightly closed. Clean up crumbs and other sources of food in and around the house, and make sure to check behind the refrigerator, oven and kitchen sink – pests love to hide here.
Biological Control
In this method pests are controlled using living beneficial organisms, known as natural enemies, which include predators, parasitoids, nematodes, and microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. Biological control is an important part of an IPM program and is a viable option for many growers. It can be used to help manage pest populations that have developed resistance to synthetic chemical pesticides.
Many different kinds of natural enemies occur naturally in the environments of agricultural crops and managed forests. Natural enemies usually have a major impact on pest populations and can keep them below damaging levels. In fact, a number of pests are controlled naturally in the landscape by birds, mammals, and other vertebrates, as well as by soil microorganisms, fungi, and other microscopic organisms.
However, in order to be effective, natural enemies must be conserved and considered in all pest management decisions. This is particularly important in conventional cropping systems where the use of high-residue, long-lasting pesticides can disrupt the activities and well-being of natural enemies. It is also important to carefully consider the placement and timing of spray applications, and to limit the areas treated in order to minimize the contact between natural enemies and pesticides.
In some cases, natural enemies may need to be augmented by the introduction of new species. This is done by periodic releases of relatively few natural enemies (inoculative release) or literally millions of them (inundative release). Often, the cropping system is modified in order to favor the activity of the introduced natural enemy, a practice known as habitat manipulation.
The goal of classic biological control is to allow the natural enemy population to build up to a point where it can significantly reduce the population of the target pest. This will typically take several generations. However, it is important to remember that the intent of classical biological control is to bring the target pest below an economic threshold and not eradicate it. Therefore, the application of other control tactics will likely be necessary once pest populations recover from a reduction in their numbers due to biological control.