Pest Control involves reducing the number of pests to an acceptable level with as little harm as possible to people, plants, animals, and the environment. This can be done by prevention, suppression, or eradication.

Preventing pests starts at home. Store food in containers with lids and clean up spills and crumbs. Inspect and repair any cracks or holes that could serve as entry points for pests. Visit our Website to learn more.

Pest identification is the first step in a pest control program. This involves recognizing what type of organism is causing damage, whether it’s an insect, weed, disease, or other organism. Correctly identifying your pests makes it easier to manage them using methods other than direct application of chemicals. It also helps prevent unnecessarily risking human health and the environment with ill-timed treatments that may be ineffective or even cause more harm than the original infestation.

A pest’s life cycle and behavior will vary depending on the species, but all have certain “weak points” or windows of opportunity that make them most vulnerable to treatment. These can be specific to the species, such as in their immature or egg stages (insects) or at certain times of the season (weeds).

Sampling and monitoring will depend on your pest type, but should be done on a regular basis. Look for signs of pest activity on the underside of leaves, in fruits, inside trunks and bark, or in the soil. Insects are easiest to sample with traps and sweep nets, but other sampling techniques like sticky bands on plants and pheromone lures can be used as well.

Maintaining a logbook that details pest sightings will also help you identify them when they occur. This can include a description of the pest, when and where it was seen, and what action was taken. Ideally, this will be recorded on a daily basis and shared with all relevant personnel. In addition, a pest logbook should contain general information about your pest management company and staff (pest control technician qualifications and licenses, names of daily contact people, etc); materials and resources applied to the crop/plant (including pesticides overview, material safety data sheets, and applied pesticide labels); and monitoring devices and traps deployed on-site.

If you’re unsure of what a pest is, contact your local County Extension office or a professional pest management professional to see if they can help. In some cases, they can provide a physical specimen for analysis or send you a picture of the mystery pest with their results.

Pest Prevention

Pests cause problems in our homes, restaurants and commercial environments primarily because they spoil and damage food and other items, create odors, introduce and spread diseases, and chew wires leading to fires. They also contaminate surfaces and spread bacteria, parasites, and viruses. These harmful organisms can cause allergies and breathing disorders, destroy fabrics, clothing and heirlooms, and deteriorate the quality of materials.

While pest control focuses on the treatment of an existing infestation, it can also be very effective in preventing pest problems from occurring at all. Preventative pest management strategies are generally less expensive and more environmentally friendly than controlling a pest infestation once it occurs.

The best preventive strategy involves monitoring and inspection of the environment. This is accomplished by regularly checking fields, landscapes, buildings and other sites to determine whether a pest has been present and how many there are. It also means considering the characteristics of the pest, such as its biology, habitat and behavior. This information helps the operator decide if it is appropriate to tolerate the pest or if a control measure should be applied.

If a pest problem is determined, it is necessary to identify what type of pest it is and what conditions are needed for its survival. This will help the operator to select the proper control measures and to apply them correctly. It will also help to determine if the pest can be controlled by natural enemies, such as predators and parasites. Biological control methods involve the release of these natural enemies and may include other techniques such as sterile males or pheromones to disrupt mating.

Some other preventive measures are sealing all openings into structures, such as using pest screens in windows and doors, and ensuring that garbage cans have tight-fitting lids and are kept away from the building. Regular trash removal and a regular calendar of waste collection days, which includes recycling, helps to deter pests. Food storage should be in sealed containers and kept away from areas where pests can easily access it, such as under sinks or behind refrigerators. Keeping landscaping trimmed and free of overhanging branches or vegetation can also help to deter pests.

Pest Suppression

Pest control involves limiting the damage caused by a pest to an acceptable level. This is achieved by preventing pests from getting to the point where they cause unacceptable harm and then quickly and easily controlling them once they get there.

Preventive methods reduce the conditions that lead to a pest infestation, for example cleaning areas where food is stored or handled regularly prevents rodents from entering buildings. Insect traps and bait stations can help keep insect numbers low. Cultural controls like changing irrigation practices can reduce the amount of water available to weeds and other plant-eating pests, which can limit their growth and development.

Natural enemies, which are predators, parasites, pathogens, and competitors, are often effective in suppressing pest populations. These organisms naturally coexist with plants and can be found in all types of ecosystems. Some examples of natural enemies include birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, soil microorganisms such as nematodes, and plant diseases. These organisms can also affect a pest population by releasing chemicals that disrupt its behavior, for example pheromones which interfere with the insects’ ability to reproduce.

Climate influences how fast a pest population can grow or die, for example weather that keeps flowers from blooming, or that promotes disease or drought in a crop can have an impact on the size of a pest population. Other natural factors that influence pest populations are the availability of food, shelter, and water.

Chemical controls may be used to limit a pest population in order to protect plants, crops, and human health and safety. These may include sprays, fumigants, baits, and other forms of chemical treatment. While these methods can be very effective, they have to be applied promptly once a pest problem is identified and the decision made to take action.

In some cases, eradicating an entire pest population is required. This is usually the case when a pest poses a serious threat to human health, well-being, and livelihoods. In such cases, a comprehensive eradication program must be implemented using multiple pest control techniques that are appropriate for the specific situation.

Pest Eradication

Pests, whether they be ants, flies, rodents, worms, beetles, or whatever, can cause significant problems for organisations that need to keep their spaces clean and safe, such as hospitals and food outlets. The services offered by expert FM companies include monitoring, prevention, and suppression of pests.

Preventive methods are economic and environmentally responsible ways to reduce conditions that promote pest infestation. Frequently cleaning areas where pests are likely to live prevents them from being able to establish themselves and inhibits the growth of existing populations. Quickly applying pest control measures at low population levels suppresses their growth and may kill them.

Biological pest control methods use a pest’s natural enemies, including predators, parasites, and pathogens, to control its numbers. Natural enemies, which typically require a certain amount of space to live and feed, are not as effective in close-up environments. Human activities often compromise the effectiveness of these natural regulating agents, allowing organisms to experience virtually uncontrolled population growth and reach pest status (e.g. locust swarms stripping landscapes bare).

Natural ecosystems have many complex interactions that influence organisms’ numbers, behaviour, and damage potential. Some natural enemies directly consume or parasitise pests, others interfere with their life cycle in some way, and some suppress their populations by competing with them for resources such as water or nutrients.

In addition to the above, the weather and other environmental factors affect pest activity and damage potential. Plant-eating pests, for example, are usually dependent on the growth of their host plants, and can be influenced by rainfall, cool temperatures, or other weather events. Some insects are attracted to roosts or overwintering sites, and can be disturbed by humans or other animals.

Pests are controlled by a range of methods that are classified as chemical, cultural, biological, or physical/mechanical. All have their advantages and disadvantages, but it is important to consider all options and choose the most appropriate one for a particular situation. In most cases, pest eradication is not an option, but reducing their numbers to an acceptable threshold should be the aim. Chemical methods are most common and include the use of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides in agriculture; ant baits, cockroach gels, or fly traps in homes; and nematodes (microscopic worms that kill harmful weeds and fungi, such as the roach-eating genus Steinernema carpocapsae) in gardens.