Pests are unwanted organisms that cause damage or devalue property. They may also displace native species and disrupt terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Eliminate the sources of food and water that attract pests. Store foods in sealed containers and remove garbage regularly. Keep wood piles away from the house and trim back plants that provide places for rodents to hide. Click https://armispestmanagement.com/ to learn more.
Integrated pest management (IPM) controls insect infestations without relying solely on chemical treatments. IPM programs use preventive techniques such as monitoring, identifying risk factors, and targeting specific conditions that allow pests to thrive. These tactics are often easier and more economical than applying broad-spectrum chemical controls. Reducing reliance on chemicals protects people, wildlife, soil, and water resources by minimizing the likelihood of resistance development.
IPM begins with a detailed problem assessment to determine if pest control is necessary. Once a threshold is determined, a comprehensive plan focuses on eliminating the elements that encourage pests to survive and grow. The goals are to deny pests food, water, shelter and temperature, and to disrupt or suppress their reproduction.
Prevention includes addressing building conditions and pest exclusion, such as caulking cracks to keep insects and rodents out of homes and businesses. A key part of this approach is routine inspections, typically conducted weekly or more often in industrial facilities. Inspections are focused on areas where pests are most likely to appear, such as receiving docks, storage rooms and sites of recent ingredient spills.
When prevention methods aren’t effective, an IPM program relies on a combination of safer to more aggressive treatment options. Depending on the situation, these may include removing or disguising baits, using predatory and parasitic species that naturally control pest populations or selecting and planting resistant varieties. The use of stronger controls is delayed until other strategies fail, avoiding unnecessary harm to the environment and people.
IPM plans should be continuously reevaluated. Because of the complex interaction between pests and their natural enemies, IPM practices need to be constantly adapted as environmental conditions change. This is especially important in agricultural settings where crop rotation, varying irrigation practices, and changing fertilizer sources can affect how pest populations behave and react. In addition, IPM programs should keep a record of both successes and failures so that managers can learn from their experiences and continue to improve. The federal Integrated Pest Management Coordinating Committee (FIPMCC) facilitates this process by collecting and analyzing data on IPM, and sharing information through its regional centers.
Biological Management
A largely overlooked but important part of pest management is the use of living organisms to control pest populations. This approach is known as biological management. Its goal is not to eradicate the pest, but to keep it below damaging levels with minimal intervention. It involves the conscious use of beneficial organisms, or natural enemies, including parasitoids, predators, entomopathogenic nematodes, plant pathogens, microorganisms that compete with or hyperparasites of insect pathogens and herbivores. These natural enemies are found in the environment around crops and in the gardens and landscapes of urban and suburban areas.
In most cases, naturally occurring populations of these natural enemies provide a major reduction in pest numbers when the conditions are right. However, there are many situations where these natural enemies must be augmented to produce adequate results. Fortunately, time honored approaches to this form of pest management have evolved into today’s sophisticated methods for rearing and releasing natural enemies to achieve significant biological control.
Three types of biological control are available: classical biological control (importation and establishment); augmentation, which involves the periodic release of natural enemies; and conservation, which involves preserving existing populations of natural enemies. Importation and augmentation techniques are constantly being refined and improved to maximize their effectiveness.
Classical biological control is primarily used against exotic pests that have inadvertently been introduced to new locations. These pests usually have no natural enemies in their native habitat, which causes them to overabundantly populate the new location. To overcome this, researchers go to the pest’s native habitat and collect the natural enemy that kills it there. This natural enemy is then tested and, if successful, shipped back for release.
Biological control products are produced at a wide range of facilities, from open air insectaries to mechanized plants that employ advanced genetic improvements and standardized rearing practices. The products may be relatively few organisms released periodically throughout a growing season, such as parasitoid wasps to control greenhouse whitefly; or literally millions of an organism (e.g., Trichogramma spp.) inundatively released to suppress sugarcane borer in sugar cane fields.
Physical Barriers
The goal of physical barriers is to make it difficult for pests to access a building or area. This may be done by sealing cracks, using netting to protect fruit trees, or installing screens to deter insects from entering windows and doors. Physical barriers can also be used to disrupt pest habitats by tilling soil, removing weeds, or creating physical obstacles that prevent pests from flying.
One of the leading products in this category is an aggregate termite barrier. A particle barrier is a mix of sized aggregates that, when installed correctly, can stop tunneling subterranean termites from reaching structures. Research has shown that a specific blend of sieve sizes 8, 10, and 12 with a mean angularity of 3200+ and 40% interstitial space is most effective against termites.5
Another physical barrier to pests is a mesh barrier that can be placed around foundations, basements, and porches. This can be made of wire mesh, aluminum, or steel and can block the path of pests to a structure. This type of barrier can be installed during construction or as a post-construction application.
When physical barriers are not enough, a pest control expert can use chemical barriers to keep pests out. These can be used in residential and commercial buildings as well as in gardens and yards. They are most effective when combined with a thorough pest exclusion plan that includes identifying all entry points into the building and surrounding areas, sealing any nooks and crannies that pests could use to gain access, and keeping all plants, weeds, and debris away from the house or garden.
Pest exclusion is a key element of integrated pest management, but it can be expensive. The best way to reduce the cost is to use physical barriers whenever possible and combine them with other methods of pest control, such as monitoring and trapping. In addition to barriers, a pest control professional can help you choose and maintain the right tools for monitoring your property.
Chemical Management
Chemical management uses chemicals to control pests, diseases or overgrowth of weeds. They are applied only after monitoring identifies them as being needed according to established guidelines, and treatments are designed to remove only the target organism. They may be used in conjunction with other IPM techniques.
Agricultural pesticides are based on toxic substances, either natural or synthetic. They include herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. These products are formulated to be specifically toxic to the targeted pest. They also kill beneficial insects that eat the pests, and they can affect the health of plants by disrupting their growth. They are often carried into streams and other water bodies by rain or wind, and can cause unintended environmental consequences.
The most common form of chemical management in IPM is spraying a plant with an insecticide or fungicide. These are typically liquids, although they can also be powders or granules. They can be sprayed onto leaves, flowers, fruits or other parts of the plant. They can also be drenched in a solution of water and insecticide or fungicide or sprayed as an aerosol.
Another option for applying chemical management is to heat or steam soils, which are effective in eliminating eggs and larvae, pathogens, weed seeds and other microorganisms. In addition to using heating and steaming, a field can be burned, sterilized or otherwise heated through the use of fuels such as gasoline, propane, kerosene or coal.
Pathogenic microorganisms are bacteria, viruses or fungi that infect and destroy pests by releasing disease-causing agents that reduce their population. For example, the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis releases toxins that kill caterpillars. This type of biological control is useful because it eliminates the need for toxic chemicals and is usually specific to a particular pest species.
There are several other types of chemical management that can be used in IPM, including cultural practices, habitat manipulation and modification of the environment. Some of these practices can be more cost-effective than other options for controlling a pest, and they can help to preserve the environment by keeping chemicals out of ecosystems.