The occurrence of pests often disrupts balances between organisms that share an environment. This can occur in agricultural and urban settings.

Many predators and parasitic insects help control pest populations. Pheromones and pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi) also suppress pests. Contact Pest Control Mesquite TX now!

Suppression and prevention are goals in most pest situations. Thresholds have been set at which pest numbers are unacceptable and force action.

Prevention

Pest infestations can be costly to homes and businesses. Not only do they destroy property, but they also pose a health risk. Rodents and cockroaches can spread disease, while mosquitoes and other insects can cause asthma and other respiratory problems. In addition, pests like termites and carpenter ants can damage structures, creating unsafe conditions for people and pets.

The best way to avoid pests is by practicing preventive maintenance. Regular inspections by pest control professionals help identify potential issues before they become full-blown infestations. A professional will check areas that are likely to attract pests, including food sources, moisture, and shelter. In addition, he or she will remove debris that can serve as hiding places for pests, and will keep trash bins from overflowing. Keeping indoor areas clean and storing food in airtight containers can also help prevent pests from entering the home.

When infestations do occur, it is important to respond quickly. By taking fast action, you can limit the amount of damage caused by the pests and the impact on your property value. In addition, the sooner you address pest infestations, the less likely they are to spread to neighboring properties.

Pests are often more of a nuisance than a health hazard. However, some pests can carry diseases and bacteria that are harmful to humans, and pest droppings, skin cells, and saliva can trigger allergic reactions in certain individuals. In addition, some pests, such as rodents and cockroaches, can chew through wires and other materials, causing structural damage.

A pest control strategy should focus on prevention, suppression, and eradication. Prevention is the most important part of controlling pests, as it involves preventing them from entering an area or doing damage. Suppression is reducing pest numbers to an acceptable level, and eradication is eliminating a pest population. Pesticides can be used to achieve these goals, but they should always be used according to the label instructions and kept out of the reach of children and pets. In addition, alternative methods should be explored before resorting to pesticides. These alternatives include biological controls, habitat manipulation, changing cultural practices, and using resistant plant varieties.

Pest Identification

Pest identification is a critical first step in planning a pest management strategy. Accurate identification allows you to determine the life cycle, habitat requirements, feeding and breeding habits of pests. You can then select the best control techniques and target specific pests instead of using broad-based strategies that could be harmful to other organisms.

Pests can be identified based on their physical appearance or the signs they leave behind in host plants, in structures or on people and pets. Plant deformities, discoloration or reduced growth may be caused by many things including insect feeding, diseases, competition from weeds, poor watering and fertilization, other plant pathogens and other factors.

Insects are particularly difficult to identify by sight alone. Their physical forms change as they develop from eggs to immature and adult stages, and many are difficult to distinguish from other related species. Getting close to the pest and looking for distinct features like size, shape, color and number of legs or wings will help you make an accurate assessment. A field guide can also be helpful.

You can use online pest ID tools to assist you with your evaluation. These web-based resources allow you to compare a photo of your suspected pest with images of similar pests and will identify the likely species for you.

If you are using a biological control agent, it is especially important that you accurately identify the pest. Many biological products, like bacillus thuringiensis or nuclear polyhedrosis virus, are species specific and must be used to control the correct pest. For example, if you are monitoring for forest tent caterpillars on your oak trees, you cannot use a product designed to control any other insect species because it would be indiscriminate in its activity.

Accurate pest identification also provides clues to preventing infestations and controlling them without the need for chemical controls. For example, if you are dealing with fruit fly infestations in your home, the key to keeping them under control is not spraying your entire house; it is eliminating their food source by changing storage practices and sealing off entry points.

Pesticides

Using chemicals to prevent and control pests has been an important part of the worldwide effort to produce food crops. Pesticides are any substance or mixture of substances intended to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pest — from insects (insecticides), rodents (rodenticides) and weeds (herbicides), to fungus (fungicides) and microorganisms that cause diseases in plants and animals (bactericides and nematodes). Pesticides may be natural or synthetic and can be ingested or inhaled. They are most often sprayed on crops, but are also found in ant baits, lawn products, pet flea collars and disinfectant wipes.

Generally, pesticides are designed to kill the targeted organism quickly and effectively. However, a large percentage of the pesticide reaches a destination other than the target organism, and this can have negative impacts on nontarget organisms such as wildlife, honeybees, aquatic ecosystems, soil microorganisms, natural enemies of insect pests, etc. The negative impacts of pesticides on nontarget organisms can be immediate or delayed, and occur both at the time of the spraying and in later stages when the pesticide breaks down.

Pesticides can be classified as biodegradable, persistent or long-lasting. Biodegradable pesticides break down into harmless compounds by the action of living organisms, while persistent and long-lasting pesticides persist in the environment for a significant amount of time or even for years.

The main goal of most pesticides is to kill the targeted organisms, but a great deal of research and development goes into making sure that the chemicals used in the manufacture of pesticides are safe for human consumption. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency regularly tests foods to ensure that they contain the lowest levels of pesticides.

The provinces and territories are responsible for registering, testing, responding to spills and incidents, and training and certification of pesticide applicators, growers, vendors and grower/applicator assistants. Pesticides are available in liquid, solid and gaseous forms and come in a wide variety of packaging and labelling formats. Some are more toxic than others, but all have the potential to adversely impact human health, wildlife, plants, the environment and the economy.

Integrated Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management is an approach to controlling pests that avoids reliance on chemical control methods. Its principles involve monitoring, scouting and accurate identification of the pests to decide whether they are dangerous, and what action should be taken. Monitoring also includes tracking soil/planting media fertility, water quality and plant health.

The goal of IPM is to suppress pest populations below the economic injury level, with priority given to less-toxic techniques. When strong treatments are necessary, they are used with caution, minimizing risks to people and beneficial insects and plants.

IPM incorporates physical, biological and cultural methods to discourage the growth of pest organisms, with the understanding that some level of infestation is expected in all natural landscapes, including lawns and urban environments. IPM focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage using methods such as biological control, habitat manipulation, changing of cultural practices and use of resistant plant varieties.

The first step in IPM is to evaluate a landscape for its capacity to support weed or pest populations. For example, an area with plenty of native grasses and wildflowers is less likely to support aphid or crabgrass populations. Then, a treatment strategy can be developed.

Monitoring and scouting allow the identification of pests at early stages of their life cycle. This allows a gardener to choose the best time to implement an action, such as hand picking, leaf removal or mowing. This prevents a pest population from growing out of control while not harming native species.

Biological controls reduce the population of pests by using predators, parasitoids or disease organisms that ordinarily occur in nature. For example, gardeners can encourage green lacewings and lady beetle larvae to prey on aphid colonies. Or, they can plant shrubs that provide nectar for these natural predators, such as serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora) or asters (Aster spp.). IPM also utilizes bacterial biocontrol agents, such as Bacillus thuringiensis. These are sprayed on crops as a preventative measure. They are effective at inhibiting aphid growth by blocking an enzyme involved in cell reproduction. In addition, the bacterium is not harmful to humans or pets when applied according to the label instructions.