Gilbert Pest Control is the process of managing pests in order to minimize their impact on human health and the environment. This can be done through preventative measures, monitoring, suppression, or eradication.
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The primary goal of preventative pest control is to reduce the risk of infestation by reducing the conditions that promote them. This approach greatly lowers the possibility of costly and time-consuming repairs. It also supports better living and working conditions for people and animals.
The following are examples of preventative measures:
Sealing Entry Points
Pests typically enter buildings through cracks, gaps, and crevices. Regularly inspecting and sealing these openings will dramatically reduce the chances of pests entering buildings. Proper waste management practices will also keep pests away, including keeping trash cans closed and removing them regularly. Landscaping maintenance will help, as well. Regular trimming of bushes and removing overgrown vegetation will prevent pests from finding food or shelter.
Removing Precursors
Pest-causing organisms are often aided by other organisms, especially bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These organisms can degrade the structure of a plant, contaminate food, and trigger allergies or asthma. Biological controls, such as the release of natural enemies (parasites, predators, pathogens) or other organisms that will suppress pest populations, are an effective way to supplement preventative methods.
Changing Weather Conditions
Seasonal changes in temperature, day length, and humidity will affect a pest’s population growth rate. This, in turn, will affect the amount of damage a pest causes. Weather conditions can also directly influence a pest’s behavior and activity.
Eradication
In outdoor situations, eradication is rarely attempted, as it can be very difficult to achieve. Most pest control programs focus on prevention and suppression. However, in rare cases when eradication is possible, eradication strategies may be implemented. These strategies are often supported by the Government, such as the gypsy moth and Mediterranean fruit fly programs.
Monitoring
Monitoring is the first step in a proactive integrated pest management (IPM) program. It identifies pest numbers, activity level, and damage levels and helps determine when control actions are needed. It also enables pest control to be targeted at the right time of the pest life cycle.
IPM programs include several different monitoring tools, including random plant inspections, sticky traps, and indicator plants. In addition, a tool like an extendable mirror can help inspectors reach behind equipment and furniture. A flashlight is also indispensable because many pests, especially collection pests such as silverfish and fungus-eating plaster beetles, seek shelter in dark, secluded spaces where they are difficult to spot.
Traps can be passive, using a physical shape or attractant to lure pests; or they can be baited with an attractant like a food source or a synthetic copy of the pheromone that a female insect uses to communicate with males. The use of pheromones in traps often doubles as a control strategy, as they can confuse male insects and prevent mating, thus lowering pest population levels.
Insect light traps, for example, can be used to monitor and identify pests such as cigarette beetles, Indian meal moths, and warehouse beetles. They can also be used to see if an infestation of these stored-product pests is increasing, allowing prompt action before the problem gets out of hand. Other types of traps use pheromones to lure and capture specific pest species, such as aphids, flea beetles, fruit flies, thrips, or mites. IPM programs also incorporate regular monitoring of environmental conditions, such as temperature and moisture levels, which may influence the occurrence of weed or vertebrate pests. Ideally, pest monitoring and scouting are done by trained individuals rather than by automated devices.
Prevention
Prevention is a crucial component of pest control. It involves taking steps to avoid the conditions that attract pests, such as food, water, shelter and light. This is accomplished by reducing the presence of these factors in and around buildings or homes. The goal is to keep the environment unattractive to pests, which will result in fewer infestations and less damage.
For example, removing or reducing sources of food and moisture will prevent aphids, ants, spiders and other insects from entering structures. Sealing cracks and gaps, repairing leaky faucets, and installing door sweeps and weather stripping can eliminate entry points for insects and rodents. Regularly sweeping and vacuuming seldom used rooms and storage areas will reduce the accumulation of crumbs, dust and other debris that could attract pests. Keeping closets, attics and basements clean and dry will discourage the growth of mold that can draw pests.
Biological methods, such as the use of predators or parasites to kill or control pest populations, are another option. These are usually preferable to chemical treatments because they don’t pollute the environment and do not require repeated applications. One example is nematodes, which are microscopic organisms engineered to attack and kill insect pests. These are applied to the soil and are ingested by insect pests, killing them from the inside out.
Threshold-based decision-making is also a part of prevention, such as noting the number of wasps and deciding whether or not they warrant action. Observing a few wasps on occasion does not typically merit control efforts, but seeing increasing numbers of them may indicate that the situation is getting out of hand and that action should be taken to limit the number of wasps.
Suppression
Pests that are not controlled may become so numerous that they cause unacceptable damage to plants, animals, or structures. This is why pest control focuses on reducing the number of pests to a level that does not cause harm. This goal is often referred to as action thresholds and can be based on esthetic, health, or economic considerations.
To reduce the number of pests, growers use biological, physical, or chemical controls to keep them below harmful levels. These methods use natural enemies such as parasitoids, predators, or pathogens to control the population of a pest organism. They can also include physical controls such as screens, barriers, traps, or fences. Physical controls can also involve modifying the environment by altering light, temperature, or food and water availability to prevent pests from growing or reproducing.
Suppression may be achieved by conserving and releasing biological agents such as beneficial mites that feed on mite pests in orchards or parasitic nematodes that kill harmful soil grubs. This may be combined with monitoring and scouting to help determine when the pest population needs to be suppressed.
Some biological control agents are also being developed to reduce the reliance on synthetic pesticides. For example, the fungus Brevibacterium linens produces antifungal compounds that inhibit plant growth and kill pathogens. By combining several natural enemy species to suppress a pest, a “natural enemy guild” can provide more effective control than any single enemy. For instance, a study found that both predators and parasitoids attacked the crop-infesting pollen beetle in oilseed rape fields, but when these enemies were present in varying numbers throughout the field, their overall effect was much greater than either species acting alone.
Eradication
Insects and other pests often rise to pest status because they escape normal control by natural regulating organisms. This can occur through direct importation into a new region or through human activities that reduce the effectiveness of natural enemies (e.g., application of broad-spectrum chemical pesticides that kill off natural enemies in addition to target pest species). Without controls on population growth, organisms may quickly achieve levels at which they cause economic injury. Biological control involves the use of organisms that naturally regulate pest populations, including predators, pathogens and parasitoids. It can be supplemented by importing these organisms from their area of origin or introducing them in a new way, such as through pheromone releases.
Eradication is the total elimination of a pest from an area, or a geographic region. Because eradication is so difficult and costly, it is usually considered the last resort for pest control. It is important to remember, however, that a pest will recur once it has been eliminated. It is therefore more practical to concentrate efforts on suppression and containment as opposed to eradication.
Identifying the pests that threaten collections is an important first step in any pest management plan. Correct identification can help prevent unnecessary and expensive pesticide application. Educate yourself on the physical characteristics of each pest, and be sure to record any identifying marks. This information will be useful when consulting your commodity or industry organization, Cooperative Extension agent or State land grant university for pest advice and guidance.
