Pests are animals or plants that harm crops, damage property, or spoil food. Preventative measures include:

• Cleaning up cluttered areas where pests breed and hide.
• Caulking cracks and crevices.
• Using traps and baits.

Biological control suppresses the population using a pest’s enemies—parasites, predators, and pathogens—and can also involve pheromones and juvenile hormones. Contact Pest Control Thousand Oaks now!

Insects are an essential part of the world’s ecosystems and serve many purposes in nature, including consuming or delaying the growth of undesirable plants. They also pollinate flowers, and their waste materials enrich the soil. In addition, some insects, such as silkworms for silk and honey bees for honey, provide direct economic benefits to humans. However, the vast majority of insect species do not benefit people, and some are destructive to crops. Insects are the most common pests in greenhouse horticulture, and they can cause substantial losses in yield and quality. However, threshold-based decision-making can help control their impact. A few bees and wasps patrolling a crop do not warrant treatment with chemical controls, while a large number of Japanese beetles infesting an entire row might require action.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques can minimize the use of chemical pesticides, with biological and cultural controls providing effective alternatives. Chemical pesticides can be broad-spectrum and may damage non-target organisms such as beneficial insects or contaminate soil and water supplies. Furthermore, they can accumulate in crops and negatively impact the health of future generations of plants.

The use of natural enemies, or “good bugs,” can be used to manage insect pests in greenhouse horticulture. These include predators, parasites, and pollinators. Predators such as praying mantis and certain thrips consume a wide range of insects, while parasitoids lay their eggs inside host pests to cause their death. Pollinators, such as bees, flies, and butterflies, are critical for the reproduction of flowering crops. Insect pathogens such as viruses, fungi, and nematodes also play important roles in IPM pest control. The timing of releases of these natural enemies can influence their effectiveness, as should the amount of pests introduced for proper balance.

Rodents

Rodents are a significant pest issue in commercial properties. They can damage building structures, contaminate food and cause fire hazards. Commercial property owners must address rodents if they want to maintain a safe, healthy, and reputable operation.

The most common rodents that invade homes are rats and mice. Rodents can enter a home from the outdoors or through holes under doors or windows, as well as through openings in walls and attics. They can cause serious damage by chewing through electrical wiring, causing fire hazards and expensive repairs.

They can also gnaw through pipes and structural elements, resulting in water and air leaks. Their droppings can contaminate food and cause diseases such as Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, Salmonella, and Leptospirosis.

Rodents are prolific breeders and their numbers increase in urban areas because of abundant food, shelter, and water. They reproduce rapidly and have short gestation periods, allowing them to produce many offspring in a relatively short time. Depending on the species, rodents can be important ecologically by spreading seeds and spores. They are also prey for meat-eating predators like cats, snakes, large birds, and foxes.

Although some rodents are considered a nuisance, others play an important role in the natural environment as food for other animals and prey on insects and small mammals. Moreover, some rodents are used as test animals for biomedical and genetic research due to their short pregnancy, high fertility, and well-characterized embryology. Some rodents are even kept as pets because of their pleasant appearance, simple husbandry requirements, and interesting behavior. Despite their utility, most rodents must be controlled because of the potential health and economic impacts they have on humans.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are small, rusty red insects that bite and are usually found on beds and upholstered furniture. Their bites can cause a variety of symptoms, from skin irritation to psychological effects, such as insomnia. They are a serious problem in homes, apartments, hotels, dormitories and other public accommodations as well as on commercial flights and trains.

Unlike other pests, which can be controlled with over-the-counter sprays or traps, bed bugs require professional treatment to control. There are many methods that can be used to rid a home or business of bed bugs, including encasement and heat treatments. However, fumigation is the most effective method for eliminating severe infestations.

Fumigation is similar to a heat treatment in that tents are set up around infested furniture, but it uses pesticides instead of heat to kill the bugs. In order to prepare for a fumigation, you should put away any sensitive belongings so they are not affected by the chemicals. It is also important to stay out of the home or office during the treatment and overnight.

There are several types of pesticides that can be applied to homes or businesses to help prevent and eradicate bed bug infestations, including insect growth regulators, pyrethrins and pyrethroids. These products are sprayed into cracks and crevices where bed bugs like to hide, such as behind headboards and along the sides of beds and furniture. Other areas to treat include the inside of drawers and cupboards, under baseboards and around heating units. In addition, householders can use interceptors on the legs of beds and other furniture to keep bed bugs from climbing up and biting people. It is important to only use products that have been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for residential use.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes, or Culicidae, are 3,500 species of insects that suck blood to survive. Although mosquitoes are often perceived as pests, their role in the ecosystem is significant. As pollinators, female mosquitoes transfer flower pollen from one plant to another as they sip nectar, thereby fertilizing plants and enabling them to produce seeds and reproduce.

Despite this important role, mosquitoes can also transmit disease. The Aedes vexans (commonly known as the dengue mosquito) is especially problematic, as it can carry human pathogens including Zika fever, yellow fever and malaria.

The persistent use of insecticides to target adult mosquitoes has resulted in the evolution of resistance. As a result, many communities have transitioned from targeted adulticides to more comprehensive IMM strategies that include larval control.

Mosquito larvae are more sensitive to environmental conditions than adults, so controlling the conditions in which they develop and rest can reduce mosquito populations over time. Larvicide applications typically focus on water-holding containers such as abandoned tires, buckets and discarded plant containers. Chemicals used to control mosquito larvae include contact poisons, stomach poisons and surface films. Contact poisons can include methoprene (a compound that interferes with natural growth hormones in the mosquito larvae) distributed in a briquette form for application to breeding sites, and temephos and temefos, which are administered as time-release granules to treat standing water.

Removing standing water and eliminating dense ground covers where mosquitoes can hide will also help reduce the need for adulticiding. These measures are part of a larger strategy for reducing the need for any pesticides, which should always be used with care and in accordance with the label instructions. The Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Home and Grounds: Pest Management Guide is a good resource for information on effective, safe, and rated control options for both larvae and adults.

Fleas

Fleas are tiny, blood-sucking pests that can make life miserable for both people and pets. They are wingless and have no mouth, but their bodies are designed to optimize their ability to extract blood from unsuspecting hosts. A flea bite can cause itchy, red welts that often bleed and lead to secondary infections. The bites can also cause allergic reactions in certain individuals. Fleas reproduce quickly, making them a difficult problem to control without help from a professional pest control expert.

Fleas typically enter homes by hitching rides on the backs of pets. When they find a suitable host, they lay eggs that easily fall off and hatch into tiny worm-like larvae. These feed on organic debris and the excreted blood of their parents and later transform into pupae within silk-like cocoons. The pupal stage can last for one to four weeks, during which adult fleas emerge and start the cycle all over again.

Proper pest control for fleas involves treating all stages of the flea life cycle. For indoor infestations, carpets, rugs and furniture where pets spend much of their time should be treated with insecticides and flea growth regulators. These products are available in both powders and liquids, and are applied either directly to the pet or by using a topical solution (spot-ons) that is placed on the pet’s back.

Treatments should be repeated at regular intervals to provide maximum protection. Outdoor areas where animals rest or sleep should be treated as well, including animal pens, kennels and dog runs. Yards should be mowed and raked regularly, and crawl spaces and areas under porches should be cleaned and sealed.