Pests are rodents, birds, insects, and other organisms that damage plants, animals, buildings, or their contents. They can also transmit disease.
Minimizing the amount of food and water that attracts pests is important. This includes keeping storage areas clean, picking up fallen fruit, and ensuring bird feeders and baths are not near the house. Contact Pest Control Basking Ridge NJ now!
In the simplest terms, pest control is about preventing pest infestations. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. Regular inspections of homes and businesses by professional pest control services can identify potential problems before they get out of hand. Such inspections look for conditions that might attract pests such as food sources, water and shelter. They also look for entry points that might allow pests to enter buildings.
Preventive measures might include removing attracting materials and sealing openings. These might include removing stacks of newspapers, magazines and cardboard that can provide hiding places for pests, fixing leaky pipes and closing cracks around the home or business. Store foods in sealed containers and remove garbage regularly.
Certain pests, such as rodents and cockroaches, can cause serious health problems. They carry and spread bacteria, which can lead to a variety of diseases. They can also contaminate food and increase the severity of allergies. In some cases, they can also damage building structures and wiring.
Chemical pest control involves spraying chemicals that kill or repel pests. It is the most common form of pest control. It can be effective in some situations, but it is usually less desirable than preventive methods. It can also be dangerous to human beings and pets, but it is an important part of pest control when other methods are not practical or effective.
Mechanical pest control includes traps, barriers and screens that physically keep pests out of an area. This form of pest control is typically less expensive and safer than other types of pest control. It is also often more environmentally friendly than chemical methods.
Biological pest control uses natural enemies of the target pest to keep it in check. This form of pest control is sometimes called ecological or natural pest control. It can be effective in controlling some pests, but it may take longer than other forms of pest control.
Threshold levels are the populations of a pest at which action must be taken to prevent unacceptable injury or damage. These thresholds are based on esthetic, economic or health considerations. For example, many people will not tolerate rats in their homes because of the health risks they pose.
Suppression
Pest control may involve any number of tactics, including prevention (keeping a pest from becoming a problem), suppression (reducing pest numbers to acceptable levels) and eradication (destroying an entire pest population). Prevention and suppression are usually the main goals in outdoor settings, while eradication is sometimes possible in indoor environments such as hospitals, schools, food processing facilities, and households.
Preventive measures include planting disease-free seeds and transplants, scheduling irrigation to avoid situations conducive to disease development, cleaning tillage and harvesting equipment between fields or operations, using field sanitation procedures, eliminating alternate hosts or sites for insect pests, and monitoring the presence of pest populations by scouting or trapping. Monitoring may also be done through surveys, soil testing, and weather observations.
Physical barriers such as fences, screens and door sweeps can be used to keep pests out of buildings and yards. Eliminating clutter provides less desirable hiding or breeding places for pests, and can help reduce the need for chemical controls.
When preventive measures are ineffective, the next step is suppression. This may involve the use of natural enemies such as parasites, predators, or pathogens, or it may involve biotechnology methods that alter a pest’s biological characteristics. Examples of biotechnology include the release of sterile males, pheromones, juvenile hormones, and mycoplasmas.
If a pest population exceeds a threshold level, it is time for intervention. Suppression strategies may include spraying or baiting with chemicals such as rodenticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides. Chemicals must be used with care to minimize risks to people, pets, and the environment.
Eradication is a rare goal in outdoor pest situations. It is often difficult to achieve and usually requires the cooperation of many agencies and individuals. Nonetheless, it is an important goal in some instances such as for invasive species such as the Mediterranean fruit fly and gypsy moths.
Eradication
A pest infestation can be a huge problem. Various methods exist for managing pest populations in order to protect human health and safety, natural resources, property and crops. Preventive measures can be inexpensive and environmentally responsible. They include regularly cleaning areas where pests are likely to live, and swiftly applying control techniques when they are noticed. Suppression methods restrict pest activity and population growth, while eradication methods eliminate existing populations.
Whether a pest management strategy is preventive, suppression or eradication, it should always be followed by monitoring to ensure that the target species has been successfully eliminated and does not return. Invasive foreign weeds, for example, are notoriously difficult to eradicate. They often taint agricultural crops such as hay, costing farmers millions of dollars annually, and invade forests, riparian corridors, estuaries and other natural habitats, where they create monocultures that displace native wildlife. They also contaminate water and destroy soil, making it less fertile. In addition, invasive plant species can threaten human health by causing respiratory, digestive and other health problems.
To determine what factors influence the success of an eradication campaign, we analyzed data from a global database of eradication campaigns against invertebrate plant pests, plant pathogens (viruses/viroids, bacteria and fungi) and weeds. Campaigns started between 1914 and 2009 were considered, and were classified as successful or unsuccessful. The classification tree shown in Figure 1 shows the odds of a campaign being successful given various predictors, including taxonomic kingdom, biogeographic region and reaction time between detection and start of the eradication effort.
The probability of an eradication was higher when the campaign was conducted in man-made habitats than in (semi)-natural habitats, and when critical sanitary measures were applied. In addition, the odds of a campaign being successful increased threefold when the reaction time was between 11 months and the date the infestation was first spotted.
However, a campaign may fail even when all the above conditions are met, due to factors such as pesticide resistance. When this occurs, the best action is usually to try a different pesticide. Always be sure to follow product labels and use basic personal protective equipment, such as long-sleeved shirts, pants, closed-toe shoes and nonabsorbent gloves.
Identification
In order to control pests effectively, it is important that pests be identified correctly. Identifying pests to the species level allows a full understanding of their biology, life cycle and behavior, which ultimately leads to more effective control measures. Depending on the species, different methods will be used to manage them, and proper identification helps avoid wasting resources or damaging other organisms.
Insect identification often focuses on the structure of mouthparts, wings or antennae; for rodents, size and shape are key identifying characteristics. While scouting, look for distinct features and take notes. This can help in recalling the specifics of a pest later, if necessary. A scouting kit with items like sweep nets, forceps, vials containing rubbing alcohol for killing and preserving collected specimens, and a magnifying lens will also make identifying pests easier.
It is also important to consider environmental factors when determining appropriate pest management strategies. For example, weather conditions (temperature, day length, moisture) impact both the behavior and population dynamics of many pests. A change in climate may cause pests to increase or decrease in number, or to move to new environments where they will be more likely to find food and shelter.
Other factors that influence pest populations include the presence of natural enemies (predator, parasitic and pathogenic insects and other microorganisms) and host plants. Many plant-eating pests are dependent on the growth of their hosts; therefore, a decrease in the growth of a host can significantly increase or decrease pest numbers.
In addition, different pests will attack crops at different times of the year or under particular environmental conditions. Identifying a pest as continuous, sporadic or potential will help in determining when and how to treat the crop for best results.
Identification is the first step in any weed, insect or disease problem. Scouting fields regularly and accurately identifying the pest that is causing damage are vital for developing effective management strategies. The Michigan State University Diagnostic Services laboratory offers several options for submitting samples to get accurate pest identification. Accurate identification begins with a quality sample; it is essential to collect the pest in its entirety, including roots, stems and foliage.