The Pest Monitor
Volume
7, No. 2 June
1999
That may both work well and hastily. Chaucer
The question from the last issue: You are asked by a real-estate agent to make an inspection and fill out the wood infestation report on a property. During the inspection, termites are discovered and the property is treated. When the WIR form is completed, do you check block 8A (subterranean termites) as active or inactive? The first thing some might do is check this box as inactive. One might reason that if the structure had been treated then the termites would be killed and therefore the answer would be inactive. What happens if the new owner after moving in observes a termite swarm, which sometimes will happen after a treatment. Some termites may be trapped (it may take the trapped termites several weeks to die) in the wall and the remaining reproductives will swarm - it might not be a large swarm, but it will be enough to upset the new owner. Or, the homeowner may do some remodeling and discover worker termites. If they go back and look at the WIR and see "inactive" listed, they will assume that you missed the termites. It is hard at this point to try to explain what had happened. The better approach would be to mark active termites and then show in box "8b" that the structure had been treated and attach a contract to the WIR.
This seems to be a forgotten topic; however, I have gotten more flea questions this year than I think got all last year. This may or may not carry over into your business, but it might not hurt to be prepared in case this is a high flea season. Of course, the pet is usually the focal point of a flea infestation and if something is not done to control the source, then the fleas will continue to be a problem in the yard or the house. A review might be in order, and one can divide controls between three treatment areas, pet, yard and/or house.
Pet. On animal flea control is a must, and the
products sold by veterinarians continue to give excellent
flea control. They are Program7 (lufenuron), Front Line 7
(fipronil), and Advantage7 (imidacloprid). The active
ingredient in Program acts as a growth regulator so control
is slower than with the other two products. Another growth
regulator, Petcor7 Flea Spray (methoprene) is also
available. This latter product is available to the pest
control professional, and you can sell it to your customers.
One drawback to this product is that it must be sprayed on
the animal and sometimes pet owners may not wet the animal
thoroughly enough to get good penetration through the
coat.
Yard. If adult flea populations have been high, larvae may be high in those areas used by the animal as resting or loafing areas. Targeting these areas will help in achieving good flea control. To some extent, covering the area thoroughly is as critical as choosing the insecticide. Some choices for this application are:
- diazinon 4-E. Apply 3 fl. oz. to 1,000 sq. ft. in three gallons of water.
- chlorpyrifos 4E. Apply : fl. oz. to 1,000 sq. ft. in one to two gallons of water.
- deltamethrin 0.42 pounds per gal. Apply 0.4 to 0.6 fl. oz. per 1,000 sq. ft. in 2 gallons of water.
- bifenthrin, Flowable two thirds pounds per gallon. For adult fleas apply 0.25 to 0.5 fl. oz. per 1,000 sq. ft. or for larval control apply 0.5 to 1.0 fl. oz. per 1,000 sq. ft. For both adult and larval control use two to five gallons of water per 1,000.
- lamda-cyhalothrin, 9.7%. Apply 0.4 fl. oz. per 1,000 sq. ft. The label did not list a volume of water per 1,000; however, two to five gallons of water per 1,000 should give good coverage.
Be sure to read the label of your product of choice for concentrations and volumes.
Inside Home. This can be a sensitive environment, given the nature of a flea treatment (broadcast): are there young children in the home; are there medical conditions which might need special considerations; are there infirm persons living in the home, etc. The only insecticide which I can find with a broadcast application on the label is propetamphos (Catalyst). The label calls for the application of one gallon of finished spray to 1500 sq. ft. of floor covering. Check label for mixing directions.
The growth regulator, methoprene, is available and it can be used within the home. Be sure to tell homeowners that it works slowly. This may prevent undue call backs if you do this up front.
I am not sure that I would not simply vacuum the carpet with a "Little Hummer" or some other high suction vacuum cleaner.
Specimen identification is important. You can plan your control procedures around an identification, if the odd insect shows up or you can reassure a client about what the insect is or is not. Two cases come to mind. In the first, a technician in Grenada was asked about some whitish-like insects which the homeowner found in a window sill. The technician responded that he did not know what they were but he would take them to his supervisor. They turned out to be the bodies of some aphids. How they got into the window sill is still not known; however, the client was pleased that they were not some damaging species as far as the house was concerned.
In the second case, a lady in Columbus found some critters crawling on the floor in her den and called a company to find out what they were. The technician showed up and told her they were beetle larva, and they were coming from some furniture in the den. She asked what she should do and was advised to move the furniture out of the house and that was all the technician knew to do. In an attempt to clarify the problem, she called another company and was advised to call the Bureau of Plant Industry. It turned out that the specimens were fly larva and were probably associated with a dead mouse in the wall or something which had fallen down the chimney. By this time, the woman was so worried that she was ready to burn the furniture. This could have been avoided on the initial visit. My guess is that this person will never call another pest control company.
There also seems to be some problems with the proper identification of de-alated termite reproductives (swarmers). In one case, it was reported that they appeared to be small cockroaches. This is a very important insect to the pest control business and one should be able to identify any caste member of this group. If you are unsure, get the specimen to someone who can help with identifications. The following are some sources of help:
Dr.
James H. Jarratt
Box 9775
Dr. Jerome Goddard
Louisiana:
Dr.
Dale Pollet
Tennessee:
Dr.
Karen M. Vail
Any of these individuals will be happy to provide you with an identification. Contacting the biology department at any nearby university or community college might also be a means of obtaining an identification.
Do you provide any pest control services for nursing homes? Does you contract include fire ants or does it exclude fire ants? If you are providing a total pest control service, what is included in your plans for fire ant control? Fire ant control in nursing homes has received a lot of attention lately with pending lawsuits from patients being stung while in the facility. The liability of providing fire ant control in any health care facility is tremendous. The following is a look at fire ant control in and around nursing homes.
The fire ant is basically a soil nesting ant, with the nests occurring in open areas such lawns, parks, pastures, fallowed fields, road sides, etc. The worker ants forage out from the mound for food and will feed on a variety of foods, i.e., living insects, honey dew, and, to some degree, carrion.
As mounds build up in the lawn around buildings, they may eventually be located under sidewalks, splash plates, landscape timbers, or adjacent to the building foundation. Mounds located near to the building increase the chances for ants to forage into buildings. Adverse conditions such as an extended period of dry weather, rain to the point of soil saturation will increase this probability.
Given that fire ant infestations within a building probably have their beginnings outside, the exterior of the building is the place to start. The following steps are the basics of a fire ant management program:
- Inspection. The first 10 to 15 feet around the building will be the most critical. Look for mounds touching the building, evidence of mounds under splash plates, mounds under sidewalks approaching the buildings, mounds under concrete pads at doors, evidence of moisture accumulation around the foundation and note the locations of expansion joints within the building, if any. After checking this area, move to the lawn area at large. This may or may not be practical, depending on the size of the lawn area, but I would suggest moving out at least another 150 to 200 feet from the building. If mounds are present, this should be noted.
- Treatments. The first and most critical treatment are of those mounds which are within the first 10 to 15 feet of the building. Any mound which is touching the building should be treated using a mound drench with something such as chlorpyrifos (23.5%). Mix the product using 2 fl oz per 4 gallons of water and apply approximately 1 gallon per mound. A suggestion, use an injection rod and push the rod to the bottom of the mound and start treating from the bottom up. Do not use high pressure because you do not want to wash soil from under the footing. Follow the same procedure for those mounds which might be at or under the edges of sidewalks or landings at doors. This is similar to a termite treatment.
The next area to consider is the lawn. Baiting would be the treatment method of choice, and two products, Amdro and Logic are available. Logic is an effective material; however, it is a growth regulator and its mode of action is slow. The Amdro is faster, and it might be more desirable under the circumstances. Baiting seems to work best when there are a number of larvae present in the mounds. The larvae require a constant supply of food, and the worker ants are constantly foraging for any available food. If the bait is applied, it is readily accepted by the ants.
The bait can be broadcast or it can be used to treat individual mounds. Broadcasting gives uniform distribution across the area, and every ant in the treated area has access to the bait. It should be broadcast at a rate of 1.0 to 1.5 pounds per acre. I would prefer to see about 4 to 8 hours of dry weather following the application. It will take 7 to fourteen days before noticing a decline in ant numbers.
Continue to monitor the building and the area for the presence of ants. Repeat treatments as necessary.
The above procedures may seem impractical; however, it is what is required to prevent fire ants from entering the building. Consider what you would want if you had a family member in a facility you had under contract. Dr. Jerome Goddard contributed to this section.
The practice of "insect pest management" or "integrated pest management" within schools is an often discussed topic. The main goal of this plan is to reduce pesticide use within schools. Well, the concept is being considered as law. The bill is S. 1112 (U.S. Senate) and it is authored by Sen. Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ). The title of the bill is "Children's Environmental Protection Act of 1999." Some of the components of this bill are to reduce the use of pesticides in schools and/or no pesticide use in schools and other sensitive areas. It also details how schools will notify parents, create a national "Children's Environmental Health Committee" and conduct research into the effects of pesticides on children. The complete text of this bill is available on the internet; however, the address is long. If anyone is interested, drop me a line and I will supply you with the address.
I do not know if you have read or heard anything about deformities which are showing up in the frog populations around the world or not - I have heard it mentioned and seen it in the paper. Whatever the case, over the last 4 to 6 years various news organizations have speculated on the cause of this phenomena, and some of them have related it to chemical/pesticide use/pollution, whether they had any data to support their story or not. Examples: "What's Wrong With the Frogs? How Pesticides Are Creating Deformities in Frogs" (Sierra Magazine); "Chemicals Seen as Firm Link to Frog Deformities" (Minneapolis Star Tribune); "Deformed Frogs Spark Multi-State Investigation for Genetic Mutations Caused by Environmental Pollution" (CNN); "Deformed Frogs Stun Scientists----Stir Fears of Pollution=s Effects on Humans." In other cases, it was speculated that a depletion in the ozone layer was causing the problem. In this vein, we have "Yale Professor: UV Rays Could Explain Rash of Frog Deaths" (Yale Daily News); and "UV Link to Frog Deformities Suspected" (United Press International). If one could not make up their mind we have the following from the Palm Beach Post "Study Blames Deformed Frogs on Interaction of Sun's Rays, Pesticides."
Now we have a study published in Science (April 29, 1999) showing that the problem is not caused by chemicals, pesticides, pollution or the sun, rather the problem is created by Mother Nature herself in the form of small parasite, a trematode. This parasite burrows into the back leg of a tadpole causing infections that stimulate limb buds to divide and form multiple limbs.
Does this give pesticides, insecticides or pollution in general a clean bill of health. No, I do not think so; however, do you think that the public will read about this in their local paper or hear it on CNN? In my opinion, they will be left with the original speculations, and in their mind, the speculated causes will be the real culprit of the frog deformities. There is such a thing as unbiased reporting or at least one would hope there is.
Pesticide labels have two ways of stating the amount of active ingredient within a liquid formulation. One is the percent, and the other is an amount expressed as weight per gallon. For example, Dursban Pro is 23.5% and it contains two pounds of chlorpyrifos per gallon. For the purposes of this question, lets assume you are applying six fluid ounces per 1000 sq ft of a product which contains four pounds of product per gallon. The question AHow much active ingredient on a weight basis are you applying per 1000 sq ft?
James
H. Jarratt
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