All posts in “pest control”

Talk buggy to me baby, why Bed Bugs might be resistant to pesticides?

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All the bugs are talking about it, and it turns out a lot of Entomologist/Scientists are talking as well. “How Bed Bugs shrug off pesticides and simple measures to deal with it.” I don’t care how much we complain but the EPA will never let certain pesticides come back, gone are DDT, Chlordane and all of its little partners. Once gone from their books and it’s never coming back, trust me on this one.

“Every living thing on Earth has a unique set of strategies to adapt to life-threatening situations in the environment,” said Fang Zhu, Ph.D., a leader of the research who spoke at the meeting.”The surprise discovery we never expected is that most of the genes responsible for pesticide resistance in the bedbug are active in its outer skin-like shell or cuticle. This is the unique adaption that has not been discovered in cockroaches, termites, ants or other insects.”

It is research like this that will continue to be the mainstay of pest control, using their bug weakness to fight them. The pest control industry can still use their super powers daily to combat these little blood suckers.

This is just way to cool, scorpions under black light are fluorescent?

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Thanks to David H. for the pictures, I just love these black-light pictures.

Boy the scorpions this year have really been on the bad side of things, lots of calls and lots of scorpions getting into homes. Maybe its the rain or maybe the heat but these scorpions are crawling towards your home and eventually they will get in. A home-seal is really the best move towards keeping them out. Here is my list for keeping them out.

  1. Home-seal including the garage door seal.
  2. Reduce harborage, that’s where they live and hangout like block walls and any crevice or crack.
  3. Reduce their food, pest control.
  4. Black-light them at night and remove them – less equals  a good thing.
  5. Don’t let trees touch the house, super high-way for all kinds of bugs.
  6. Don’t clutter the foundation, don’t put sheds against the house – leave a space.
  7. Don’t think that a one time anything will work – you must stay be consistent with all the above.

Why does it look like the ants are marching?

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The ants go ing in one and one…

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We have some very artistic pieces of folk art here in Arizona.  If these ants invaded your picnic it would be all over. Once an ant finds food they lay a trail and head for home, once home all the other ants follow that trail right back to the food. So if you stop that first ant, you may stop the party for the ants. Have a nice time at the picnic but beware the bugs.

Detective ProBest, what does it take to be smarter than the bugs?

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I often get calls that appear to need a lot of detective work. Here are the facts

  1. Large single story building.
  2. Some type of bugs on employees desk when they come into work.
  3. Several desk involved.

additional clues on my arrival

  1. All desk involved are under one a/c duct-work, there are several runs of the a/c duct-work.
  2. There are multiple water sources outside – water features.
  3. These bugs are very small.
  4. A/C guys there the day before.

my observations

  1. Number of insects before the A/C guy arrived – probably 10 to 20 per night, with the A/C inspection many less.
  2. A/C guy found filters clogged and extremely dirty on roof.
  3. A/C guy also found that the unit wasn’t sealed tight enough, he adjusted the cover and it is now sealed.

my remedy

  1. Very small flying insect (fly, midge or gnat) see picture.
  2. Since the number has reduced, I believe the A/C guy solved the problem.
  3. No treatment necessary, keep eye on issue and continue to install new filters.

It’s not always about making money, it’s about doing the right thing.

“Honesty shouldn’t be the best policy, it should be the only policy”.

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My favorite bug is on the prowl – Assassin Bug

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While teaching at the Chandler Environmental Education Center one of the parents asked me what this bug was? Why of course it’s my buddy the Assassin Bug. I really love the look and often times checkered pattern of this insect.

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They prefer to attack animals such as cattle and horses but if they get trapped in your home they will bite whatever they can. So keep those doors closed and those screens repaired. Stay safe and check your homes frequently.

Is knowledge really important?

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Do you really care whether someone has all the right knowledge on a given subject? I think that it is important to continue to gain knowledge. In my industry there are some that never let their employee’s go to class or other events because someone might steal that employee. I’m just the opposite – if they were looking and then left, they were looking anyway. So you need to figure out why they left.

I have always encouraged my employee’s to learn new stuff. One employee has his Qualifying Party license and he is excited that in just 6 months he can take his A.C.E. (Associate Certified Entomologist) test. I insist that each month they take an additional Continuing Education unit from a site like Univar and the best part is that it is FREE. Here in Arizona we are required to earn 6 CEU’s and in Florida where I also have a Certified Pest Control Operator Pest License I’m required to earn 2 for each category that I have and 2 for Core. On average I think I always have about 30 or so, you can earn them at places like Pestworld (which will be held in October 2013 in Phoenix) and other events sponsored by various groups throughout the year.

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Did you know these unbelievable facts about Bed Bugs?

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  1. Not reacting to their presence or hiding your head in the sand won’t help.
  2. They are excellent travelers, they are excellent at hiding and these days they are everywhere.
  3. Bed Bugs don’t care who you are – rich/poor, old/young, Republican/Democrat – they will suck your blood.
  4. Bed Bugs don’t care how clean or dirty your home is.
  5. Bed Bugs carry 28 different pathogens, but so far nothing proven on transmitting them to humans.
  6. Probably came from Europe in the 17th century.

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Should you have your baseboards treated monthly?

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Many years ago we constantly sprayed inside and outside on a regular basis, times have changed. Baseboard spraying just isn’t the way of the time. These days with new and improved pesticides most pest can be controlled by a really good and through outside service. Now you noticed I said a really good service, particular attention is paid the place where bugs hide. If you can control them where they live or hangout then you have done the best job. Only occasionally do I see a bug on a baseboard and usually it is ants that are trailing and in this case baits work best. So spraying baseboards really isn’t going to help much, is it?

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Scorpions are a real pest here in Arizona, monthly pest control is about the only thing that keeps them down. Get rid of the food source and you help to eliminate the scorpions.

How about a kids trip in Arizona for BUGS?

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First off I don’t like promoting someone else especially in my own backyard but I must. ORKIN – you know them as the BIG boys of pest control have created a roving bug exhibit. They have a bigger budget than I do, so if you want to see a smaller exhibit you will have to stop by ProBest in Gilbert for that. Now I haven’t seen this exhibit yet,  but it is on my agenda of must see!

Orkin’s Summer Pestology on exhibit at Arizona Science Center from now until September 9, 2013.

Freaky nature show in New Orleans

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I have spent many days and many hours in New Orleans, LA working on and studing termites. Termite swarms occur at different times of the day generally on the east coast of the U.S. Subterranean termites generally swarm in eary afternoon, drywood termites usually in late afternoon and Formosan termites in the evening. As an avid bug guy, I have to say that I love swarms. Whether its a Harvestor ant swarm or honeybees, I love them all. It is kind of funny, but many years ago when some of the termite baits came to the market and then Termidor came – many people thought that the termites would just go away. Never happened and probably never will. As great as those products are – the bugs continue to win.
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