Pests can damage property and make people sick. They can also carry diseases such as bacteria and viruses.

Control measures include prevention, suppression, and eradication. Preventive control keeps pests from doing harm, while suppression reduces their numbers to an acceptable level and causes minimal harm to non-target organisms. Contact Pest Control Columbia MO now!

Eradication is the destruction of an entire pest population. Natural enemies, such as parasites and predators, can be used for biological control. Other methods such as pheromones and juvenile hormones can also help with biological control.

Biological Control

Biological control relies on the actions of natural enemies to suppress pest populations. Typically, it is employed when the introduced pest poses a threat to agriculture or ecosystems. Scientists identify natural enemies from the pest’s native habitat, conduct rigorous testing to ensure that they won’t harm native species and then rear them in large numbers before releasing them into the environment. Unlike synthetic chemicals, biological control agents pose no health risks to humans or pets. There are three primary types of biological control: classical, conservation and augmentative.

Classical biocontrol introduces non-native natural enemies, such as predators or parasitoids, to a region where the target pest is not found. The process begins by accurately identifying the pest species and surveying for coevolved natural enemies in the area of origin (usually overseas). Next, the potential control organisms are collected, shipped to the United States and quarantined until they are certain that they will not negatively affect the local environment. Depending on the situation, the natural enemy may then be released directly into the pest-infested area or introduced into the cropping system.

Ideally, the introduced natural enemy will establish self-sustaining populations and keep pests under control. However, the success of a biocontrol program depends on many factors, including the availability of food for the natural enemy, environmental conditions, competition with other species and resistance to the biological control agent itself. Generally, the natural enemies are highly specific to their intended prey.

In contrast, a generalist insect like a predatory beetle can switch readily between different pests. Specialists, such as some parasitoid wasps, often have more restricted host ranges. In addition to the targeted pest, a parasitoid might also kill its host in order to gain access to its prey.

The third type of biological control, called augmentation, involves enhancing the populations of existing natural enemies or introducing additional natural enemies to a pest problem. This is usually done through the supplemental release of predators and parasitoids, or by altering the habitat to favor them. For example, weeds are left untreated in the margins of sugarcane fields so that they can provide shelter for a naturally occurring parasitic wasp that reduces the number of white grubs damaging the roots.

Physical Control

Unlike chemical pesticides or biological control methods, which use other organisms to control pests, physical controls directly attack the pest’s environment, life cycle or body. Barriers such as netting, fencing or traps prevent pests from reaching plants; picking them off by hand reduces their numbers; and devices that deter the pests or interfere with their activities — like radiation, electricity and heat — control them.

The climate also influences pests. Weather conditions such as temperature, day length and moisture affect pests’ activity, the growth of their hosts and the availability of food. Extreme temperatures and sudden rainfall can destroy or suppress pest populations.

Eradication is a rare goal in outdoor pest situations, but eliminating the pests’ ability to reproduce or cause damage is an important part of most management programs. Physical controls such as tillage, grazing, fire and removal by hand are effective for this purpose.

Physical pest control is also used to protect crops during harvest and storage. Methods such as the entoleter, an impact device that crushes insect eggs in flour and hot water immersion of mangoes to kill tephritid fruit fly immature stages can be helpful in these areas.

Other types of physical controls include screening, tarping, traps and rodenticides. Screening keeps pests out of the garden or workplace; tarping, which can be done by home owners themselves, helps control fruit rot and other diseases; and traps can capture both insects and rodents.

These and other physical methods are often more effective than chemical sprays, which can be ineffective or toxic to the surrounding plants and animals. They also require more careful planning and timing.

The choice of pest control techniques depends on a combination of factors, including the type and severity of the pests, the economic cost of each option, and environmental and human health concerns. Integrated pest management, or IPM, is the practice of using all three control methods — physical, chemical and biological — in concert to achieve sustainable and economical pest control. It is common for the IPM plan developed by the plant or food crop grower to incorporate a mixture of the three approaches.

Chemical Control

Pest control involves preventing and/or removing pests from homes, commercial buildings and other structures. It includes the use of traps, barriers and screens to block pest access, tillage to expose soil insects to bird predation, and various sprays and methods of watering that can reduce plant diseases or weed growth. Chemicals are used as a last resort to other management strategies. They include insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, which can kill pests by interfering with their nervous systems, metabolism, molting processes or reproduction. The term pesticide literally means “pest killer” and can be applied to a variety of compounds, some of which simply repel or confuse pests, while others, such as some botanical and conventional insecticides, are more broad-spectrum in their toxic effects.

Some plants, wood and animals are naturally resistant to certain types of pests. The use of these tolerant varieties, when available, can help keep pest populations below harmful levels and limit damage.

Using natural predators and parasitoids to manage pest populations is one of the most environmentally friendly pest control options. These organisms don’t destroy ecosystems as do most other pest control measures, and they can be effective against difficult-to-control pests like caterpillars and aphids.

Beneficial microorganisms such as nematodes can also be introduced to the soil to control pests. These tiny organisms attack and eat pests, competing for space or consuming nutrients, and they don’t harm non-target species.

Eradication is rarely the goal in outdoor pest situations, but it may be possible when a foreign pest has been accidentally introduced and doesn’t have established breeding or feeding habitats in an area. This can be the case with Mediterranean fruit fly, gypsy moth and fire ants. Indoors, eradication is more of an objective, as pests such as rodents and mosquitoes can cause health problems in dwellings and other enclosed environments, and food processing or preparation establishments cannot tolerate infestations by these pests. In these cases, eradication can be accomplished by targeting specific populations of pests, such as rodents in dwellings and mosquitoes in retail or food service settings.

Prevention

The goal of prevention is to stop pests before they become an issue. A preventative approach can be less expensive than using pest control treatments and may also be more environmentally friendly.

Preventive pest control relies on a thorough understanding of pest behavior and routine inspections. It involves implementing specific enhancements to the environment in order to reduce the attractiveness of the property for pests, which is called “pest proofing.” This includes removing any sources of food or water that could attract pests, keeping garbage cans tightly sealed and covered, and ensuring that all entry points into a building are properly caulked and secured. It is also important to monitor moisture levels, as pests can flourish in damp areas.

Sanitation practices can also help prevent pests, particularly in food processing environments. Proper sanitation techniques include preventing pests from entering food through the packaging, reducing contamination with harmful bacteria or intestinal parasites that are carried by the pests, and minimizing the carryover of pests between harvests.

Biological control is the use of natural enemies to control pests, including parasites, predators, and pathogens. Biological controls are often combined with physical and chemical control methods to achieve maximum effectiveness.

Physical and mechanical pest control uses traps, screens, barriers, fences, or devices that physically alter the environment to prevent pests from getting into a facility. These devices can be used on their own or in conjunction with sanitization techniques.

Chemical pest control uses a variety of chemicals to destroy or repel the targeted pests, such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, or rodenticides. These chemicals are generally diluted and applied through a spray, fogging, bait, or other direct application method. They can be sprayed directly onto the targeted pests, or they can be ingested or absorbed through the skin.

Prevention is the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to manage pests. It is also the most effective way to minimize damage caused by pests, and it can work well in conjunction with other control methods. It is important to remember that preventative measures are not foolproof, and it is possible that eradication treatments will still be required at some point.