Pests often damage plants and crops but can also pose health risks to humans. Pest control measures can reduce the number of pests to a level that is acceptable.
Preventive methods include encouraging natural enemies, removing food, water and shelter, preventing access to plants and buildings, and physical manipulations such as traps and barriers. Contact Killian Pest Control now!
Pests can damage plants, contaminate food and create discomfort in people’s homes and businesses. Pest control methods focus on preventing or eliminating pests and their damage with a minimal impact on the environment and human health. Prevention techniques include inspection, monitoring and identification, trap crops, habitat manipulation, crop rotation, the use of resistant varieties and physical controls.
The first step in any pest management plan is to remove sources of food, water and shelter for the pest. This includes storing food in sealed containers and regularly removing garbage. It also includes removing any places where moisture can collect, such as under house plants and in the basement. It is especially important to seal cracks, crevices and holes around the outside of the home. In addition to caulking, using steel wool and wire mesh are effective ways of closing off entry points.
Other preventative steps include keeping shrubs and trees trimmed and away from structures, making sure to repair any overhanging branches. Insects and rodents can gain access through these overhanging branches, as well as through vents and open windows. Draining standing water is another essential step, as mosquitoes and other pests need it to breed. This is best accomplished by routinely checking gutters, flowerpot saucers and other areas for water accumulations. Regularly removing any garbage cans that contain food scraps also helps prevent attracting pests.
Observing and identifying the pests is an important part of monitoring, as this will allow for early detection. A pest sighting or indication of a pest problem should be reported to your Pest Control Operator immediately, along with the time, date and location of the sighting or indicator. This will help the PCO to determine what course of action should be taken to control the pest or protect the property.
A thorough inspection of the entire property, including landscapes, lawns and gardens, is important when identifying potential entry points for pests. The entire landscape must be considered together, as pest populations can be affected by other parts of the environment and vice versa. For instance, certain plant diseases can only thrive under specific conditions and can spread to other plants.
Suppression
Once pests have been detected and the decision made to control them, suppression techniques can reduce their numbers to an acceptable level without causing too much harm. Pesticides, traps, netting, screens, barriers and other physical controls all can be used to suppress pest populations.
Weather conditions are important both directly and indirectly in controlling pests. Plant-eating pests can be killed or suppressed by rain, freezing temperatures or drought. Populations of some weeds may be increased or decreased by the amount of water available for growth or by the presence of other plants that compete with them for water and nutrients.
Many pests are suppressed naturally by predators, parasitoids or pathogens. Various insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals are predatory or parasitic on some pest species. Fungi also can suppress insect and weed populations. The goal in using these natural enemies is to increase their numbers without disturbing the balance of the ecosystem or introducing other unwanted organisms.
Another type of natural enemy is an insect resistant crop cultivar. Crop varieties that are genetically engineered to resist a particular pest can reduce the need for pesticides and other control measures, especially when used in combination with prevention tactics.
Physical barriers can help prevent pests from getting to crops, buildings or structures. Window screens can keep flies, rodents and other nuisance pests out of homes; netting or screening can keep weeds, birds and other pests out of vegetable gardens and greenhouses; and barriers like cardboard bands wrapped around apple trees to trap codling moth larvae can be effective against cutworms and other insect pests.
Barriers can be physical or chemical. Physical barriers include tarps, plastic sheets, netting, cardboard strips and other covers that can be used to cover crops or structures. These can be particularly useful in horticultural crops, which need to be covered to protect them from weather and other environmental stresses.
Chemical barriers can be sprays or powders, mating disruption compounds that interrupt a pest’s reproduction or fungicides that inhibit the growth of fungal diseases that attack crops. These can be either organic materials or synthesized chemicals. The choice of which is to be used will depend on the kind and quantity of pest control needed, the environment in which it is being conducted, tolerance for injury, cost and impacts of the control measure itself.
Eradication
Pest control methods focus on preventing or eliminating infestations. They are divided into three broad categories: prevention, suppression, and eradication. Preventive pest control techniques include removing or blocking pests’ nests, destroying their food sources, and preventing them from accessing buildings or other areas where they can cause damage. These measures are often referred to as ‘pest proofing’ and can be carried out in the garden or at home, or by professional pest controllers in commercial premises.
Eradication is rare for outdoor pests, such as gypsy moths or fruit flies, but it is common in indoor environments. In offices, restaurants, health care and retail facilities, and the like, a wide range of animals can be considered pests, from pigeons and seagulls to cockroaches and mice. These creatures can damage the environment, contaminate products, or pose a risk to human health by spreading diseases.
Chemical pest control involves using chemicals to destroy or control pests, or to prevent them from damaging crops or property. This is the most widely used method of pest control. Chemicals can be applied as sprays, granules, or baits. Some of these chemicals are designed to be eaten by the pests, while others kill them directly or have other harmful effects on the pests, such as regulating their growth or removing their foliage.
Some chemical pesticides are also dangerous to humans, and may even be toxic to pets or livestock. They are also subject to a variety of environmental problems, such as runoff into waterways and groundwater contamination. Chemicals can also lead to the development of resistance in pests, making them more difficult or impossible to control. This is particularly a problem when one pesticide is used repeatedly over the same area, against the same pest species. Rotating pesticides and using different chemicals against a pest population can help reduce the development of resistance.
Biological pest control uses natural enemies of the pest, such as predators, parasites, or pathogens, to manage the problem. It can be as simple as releasing ladybugs to eat aphids, or it can be more complex, such as introducing nematodes that eat the roots of grubs and other soil-borne pests.
Biological Control
Biological control uses predators, parasites, pathogens and competitors to suppress pest populations. This is a safe and effective alternative to chemical pesticides. NIFA supports research in biological control to reduce our dependence on chemical pesticides.
Unlike chemical pesticides, which kill all of the pests they contact, biological agents target only the pests they specifically intend to affect. As a result, their effectiveness is less sporadic and more consistent than with most chemical pesticides. It takes time for biological control agents to develop and achieve their full impact. Like pesticides, biological control agents may need to be applied repeatedly. In addition, the specific biocontrol organism must be identified (often down to the species level) and bred or raised in the appropriate habitat in order to effectively attack the targeted pest.
Some biological control organisms can feed on or parasitize many different kinds of pests, while others are effective only against one or two particular species. For example, the caterpillar parasitoid Trichogramma spp. can be used against many lepidopteran pests, including the cotton bollworm Heliothis virescens and sugar cane borer Diatraea saccharalis. Likewise, the nematode Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki can be used against several different pests, from caterpillars to whiteflies to cabbage maggots.
In general, biological control is best used to prevent pests from reaching damaging levels. The goal of biological control is to keep pest numbers below an economic threshold, allowing crop yields or the aesthetic beauty of ornamental plants to be maintained. Damage tolerance varies between individuals and among plant species, so biological control methods must be carefully designed to meet the goals of the user.
There are three main biological control techniques: classical, augmentative and conservation. Classical or inoculative biological control is used mainly against “exotic” (not native) pests that have been introduced to new environments. Small numbers of the natural enemy are collected from the country or region of origin, then released in large numbers to establish a population capable of suppressing the pest.
Augmentative biological control is similar to inoculative control but is often used with short-term, annual crops. Biological control agents are commercially produced and periodically released to suppress the pest population. This is the method most commonly used in greenhouses, nurseries and some fruit and vegetable fields.
